Knobbe Martens Partners and Practices Recognized in 2024 Edition of Chambers USA
Firm achieves standout rankings for patent prosecution, patent litigation, life sciences, and trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets work in premier legal guide
IRVINE, Calif. & SEATTLE, Wash., June 6, 2024 – Knobbe Martens is proud to announce that Chambers & Partners has recognized the firm, multiple offices, and five of its partners in the prestigious 2024 Chambers USA guide.
Knobbe Martens once again ranked Band 1 – the highest possible tier – for Patent Prosecution in California for the seventh consecutive year. The firm also received noteworthy rankings in California for Patent Litigation, Life Sciences, and Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secrets, and again ranked in Intellectual Property in Washington State.
In its profile of the firm, Chambers recognized Knobbe Martens’ strengths in patent portfolio and transactional work, highlighted the firm’s “highest level of expertise” in trademark and brand management matters, and recommended the firm for patent and trade secrets litigation and PTAB proceedings. Firm lawyers were broadly commended for their strengths in understanding clients’ “business, process and [culture],” ability to explain “complicated concepts and issues in a really understandable way,” and “excellent service and responsiveness.”
In addition to firmwide rankings, Chambers has also ranked five of the firm’s partners as distinguished leaders in their respective fields:
- Maria Anderson, consistently recognized as a leading IP lawyer by numerous legal and industry outlets, was ranked for Intellectual Property in Washington State. Well-known for successfully counseling clients in all aspects of patent and trademark issues, Ms. Anderson has been praised by Chambers as “a fantastic lawyer” and recognized by clients as someone who “understands our technology and the competitive landscape to a very high degree.” With over three decades of experience, she has successfully represented clients in diverse industries such as consumer electronics, e-commerce, cloud computing, food and beverages, and medical devices, and is a recognized thought leader in IP with respect to patent subject matter eligibility and AI.
- Salima Merani, Ph.D., is co-chair of the firm’s medical device practice. With nearly 25 years’ experience, she serves as lead IP counsel in developing global patent strategy and negotiating successful transactions for her clients. Consistently recognized in Chambers and multiple other publications for her legal acumen and stellar reputation in the industry, Dr. Merani was lauded in the 2024 Guide as a lawyer who “has superb experience and is a wonderful negotiator.” She was praised as someone who is “very client- and business-focused, and combines a good command of the law with business acumen.” Clients also commended her for being “very knowledgeable, insightful, helpful, personable and easy to work with” who “gets the best for her clients.” A graduate of Berkeley Law and McGill University, Dr. Merani was doubly ranked in Chambers, where she was honored in both the Patent Prosecution category and the Life Sciences: IP/Patent Litigation category, in California, for her “sophisticated representation” of emerging companies and investors in patent strategy, licensing and transactions.
- Susan Natland, co-chair of the firm’s trademark and brand protection practice, was recently recognized as among the Top 250 Women in IP and has been honored by numerous business and legal outlets. Ms. Natland, a former Chair of the USPTO’s Trademark Public Advisory Committee, has more than 25 years’ experience advising clients on all aspects of domestic and international brand protection and enforcement, advertising law, unfair competition, copyright, internet law, and data privacy. She is ranked in the 2024 Chambers Guide in California for Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secrets. In the Guide, clients describe her as “an exceptional attorney with a strong solutions-oriented practice,” “a trusted advisor [on] even the most complex trademark matters,” and an attorney with “deep experience in the trademark and branding areas [who] provides the highest level of services.”
- Joseph Re, a nationally recognized trial and appellate attorney, has long been one of the firm’s leading first-chair litigators. A partner at the firm since 1990 and a former President of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and Federal Circuit Bar Association, Mr. Re has once again been ranked in California for Patent Litigation. Mr. Re has been ranked by Chambers for 18 years and has been consistently ranked in numerous other publications. In this year’s Guide, clients laud his “ability to distill complex technical details in a way that juries understand” and who is “very impressive to watch.” Over his thirty-five-year career, all at Knobbe Martens, Mr. Re has been leading numerous trial teams, successfully trying high-stakes technology cases, the majority of those before juries in federal courts throughout the country.
- Lynda Zadra-Symes, co-chair of the firm’s trademark and copyright litigation practices, was ranked in California for IP trademark, copyright & trade secrets. Chambers recognized Ms. Zadra-Symes as a lawyer who is “frequently called upon to handle complex IP disputes for clients from a wide array of industries.” She has experience handling disputes across many areas including social media, domain names, anti-counterfeiting and advertising. In her Chambers profile, clients described Ms. Zadra-Symes as “a strong IP litigator” who is “fast and responsive” and “always comes up with alternative solutions which consider the realities of the IP market in the U.S.”
Published annually, the Chambers USA guide recognizes and ranks the country’s top lawyers and law firms through in-depth market analysis and comprehensive independent research conducted over the course of several months by a team of experienced analysts. The research team conducts thousands of interviews with peers, clients and industry experts, to assess the experience and reputations of lawyers and law firms across the country.
You can view the firm’s 2024 Chambers rankings here.
About Knobbe Martens
Knobbe Martens is a highly respected intellectual property law firm, offering legal services in all aspects of intellectual property and technology law. The firm’s litigation group handles cases throughout the U.S. and coordinates strategy for disputes worldwide. Founded in California in 1962, the firm has about 300 lawyers and scientists based in offices located in Orange County, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington D.C. Knobbe Martens serves a diverse international client base, from multinational corporations to emerging businesses of all stages. More information about the firm can be found at www.knobbe.com.
