DETROIT — Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione, announces the new opening of their Detroit office.
The Detroit office is located in the same building as the new Elijah J. McCoy United States Patent and Trademark Office. The Detroit location provides an on-site location for Brinks and its domestic and international clients to participate in on-site patent examination and administrative trial proceedings. Brinks now has offices at both Unitesd States Patent and Trademark Office locations with its Detroit and Washington, D.C. national offices.
Kelly K. Burris, formerly a shareholder in Brinks’ Ann Arbor office, is the managing partner of the new Detroit office of Brinks, and she is joined by Brinks shareholder Margaret Dobrowitsky and associate Keith D. Weiss.
Burris chairs Brinks’ Green Technology Practice Group and focuses her practice on patents in the mechanical, electrical, and materials science arts. She also performs intellectual property due diligence for mergers and acquisitions and manages corporate IP portfolios and policies.
Prior to her law career, Burris was an aeronautical engineer with McDonnell Douglas and Boeing for over 11 years. A licensed pilot since 1984, Burris serves on a variety of volunteer missions through Angel Flight/Air Charity Network to transport people with medical conditions who are unable to fly commercially to and from medical appointments, military personnel and their families, and medical supplies. In 2009, Burris won the Unsung Hero Award from the State Bar of Michigan for her efforts with Angel Flight. In 2010 she was a recipient of the Women in the Law award from trade publication, Michigan Lawyers Weekly.
Dobrowitsky chairs Brinks’ Licensing Practice Group and focuses on drafting and negotiating intellectual property and commercial agreements. Prior to joining Brinks, she was senior patent counsel for the engine and energy management business operations of a multinational U.S. automotive technology corporation, where she also served as intellectual property counsel for its mergers and acquisitions, information technology and telecommunications groups. In addition, she was patent counsel for the company’s Mexican operations. Dobrowitsky has served as Treasurer of the U.S. Group of the Association Internationale pour la Protection de la Propriété Intellectuelle, and is a past Chair of the International Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan.
Weiss brings a unique background to Brinks with more than 20 years of corporate experience in R&D management, product development, and technology licensing prior to becoming an attorney. He is listed as an inventor on 26 U.S. patents and nine pending U.S. patent applications regarding advanced materials, components, and systems used in the automotive, aerospace, coatings, plastics, and microelectronic industries. Weiss focuses his practice on patent prosecution and intellectual property agreements with an emphasis towards IP portfolio planning, development, and management.
In addition to Detroit, Brinks has an office in Ann Arbor, which opened in 2000.
