Merchant & Gould Adds Seven to its Denver Office

(May 2008) - Merchant & Gould, an intellectual property law firm, is pleased to announce that seven new attorneys and one patent agent have joined its Denver office, including two partners. The eight, previously with Greenberg Traurig, are experts in the technology, chemical, biotechnology and related industries.

"We are excited to grow our Denver office with the addition of these talented individuals," says Tim Scull, managing partner of the Denver office of Merchant & Gould. "Their breadth of experience will allow us to further protect and defend our clients' intellectual property."

John Burke

John Burke rejoins the firm as a partner. His practice focuses on chemical patent law, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, biochemistry, genomics and bioinformatics, including related prosecution, opinion and licensing matters, litigation support and client counseling. Burke graduated from Rutgers School of Law in 1990 and holds a B.S. in biochemical engineering.

George Matava

George Matava joins the firm as a partner. His litigation practice covers all fields of intellectual property law, including patent, trademark, copyright, and related antitrust and contract claims. Matava has thirty years of litigation experience, including twenty-three years of intellectual property litigation experience. He has litigated or tried cases in the areas of automotive products, biomedical devices, computer hardware and software, telecommunications, cable and satellite television, and biodegradable plastics. Matava received his J.D. from the Wake Forest University School of Law and his B.S. from Trinity College.

George C. Lewis P.E.

George Lewis rejoins the firm as a senior associate. His practice focuses on strategic intellectual property portfolio management in the broadcast media, electronic, medical device, and chemical arts. Mr. Lewis uses his extensive industry experience as an engineer to assist in the development, rollout and protection of new products and to coordinate patent, trademark and copyright protection in competitive markets. He received his J.D. from the University of Denver College of Law in 2002, and holds a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Colorado as well as a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Cornell University.

Steve Hird

Steve Hird joins the firm as an associate. Hird focuses his practice on pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, genomics and diagnostics, including related prosecution, opinion and licensing matters, and client counseling. He received his J.D. in 2001 from the University of Colorado, a doctorate degree in cell biology from the University of Cambridge, and a B.S. in molecular biology from the University of Glasgow.

David St. John-Larkin

David St. John-Larkin joins as an associate. His patent law background spans a wide range of technologies, including telecommunications, computer hardware and software, data communications and protocols, networking, digital and analog circuits, signal processing, and semiconductor technologies. His technical background includes extensive programming experience in several programming languages on platforms such as Microsoft and UNIX-based client-server networks. St. John-Larkin earned his J.D. at the University of Colorado School of Law in 2003, and graduated magna cum laude from Michigan Technological University with a B.S. in computer science.

Kelly Lusk

Kelly Lusk joins as an associate. Her practice focuses on intellectual property litigation, including patent and trademark infringement and defense as well as copyright law. Lusk earned her J.D. at the New York University School of Law in 2007, and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2003 with a B.S. in molecular, cellular and developmental biology.

Heather Kroona

Heather Kroona rejoins as a patent agent. She has 12 years of experience in industrial R&D in biotechnology and medicinal chemistry, and has spent the last several years in patent prosecution. Kroona earned a doctorate in medicinal chemistry from the University of Minnesota and a postdoctoral fellowship in medicinal chemistry at the University of Michigan.