Seyfarth Shaw LLP announced today that Dean Fanelli, Ph.D. and Thomas Haag, Ph.D., co-founders of top intellectual property boutique Fanelli Haag PLLC, have joined Seyfarth as partners in the Litigation department in Washington, D.C.

In addition to Dean and Thomas, the Fanelli Haag team of lawyers and patent agents that has joined Seyfarth includes King Lit Wong, Ph.D., Maria L. Maebius, Parithosh K. Tungaturthi, Ph.D., and Alex Li, Ph.D.

“It is exciting to welcome a group of such respected and well-regarded intellectual property lawyers to Seyfarth who are advising on a variety of leading-edge pharma and other life sciences matters around the globe,” said Kate Perrelli, chair of Seyfarth’s Litigation department.

“Dean and Thomas’ team brings a unique combination of scientific technical expertise and years of legal and life sciences business experience — including many years working in private equity, the bio/pharma industry and with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Their practice includes a full range of services including patent prosecution, counseling, licensing, due diligence, and litigation. They will be a tremendous resource for our clients, and a phenomenal addition to our firm and national IP practice group,” added Brian Michaelis, chair of Seyfarth’s Intellectual Property practice. “This top-flight group of lawyers and scientists immediately strengthens our nationally recognized IP practice and will create new opportunities for growth across the firm.”

“We are very excited to launch Seyfarth’s Life Sciences and Chemical Patent team in Washington, D.C. Due to the high quality of Fanelli Haag’s services, we were being asked by clients to perform increasingly complex transactional work, take on USPTO Post Grant and Inter Partes Review proceedings, and handle associated district court litigation. These are services we are looking forward to providing through Seyfarth which has far greater legal resources than those previously available to us at Fanelli Haag. Joining Seyfarth allows us to continue to serve our clients in the same manner to which they have become accustomed while providing a broader legal platform to more completely attend to their needs,” explained Thomas Haag.

Founded in 2009, Fanelli Haag rose to prominence as a leading intellectual property boutique focused on issues facing the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, nanotechnology and chemical industries. Clients ranged from multinational chemical and pharmaceutical corporations to early-stage nanotechnology and clinical-stage biotech companies, as well as venture capital firms. In 2015, corporate counsel ranked Fanelli Haag as a “Most-Favored IP Boutique — One of the best firms in IP,” according to a report from BTI Consulting Group.

“As we continue to expand our Washington, D.C. office, Dean and Thomas’ team provides an important and sizeable presence for our clients with IP needs, in particular those that require boots on the ground here or before the USPTO,” explained Robert Bodansky, managing partner of Seyfarth’s Washington, D.C. office.