BakerHostetler Adds Significant IP Group to West Coast
3/21/2022
BakerHostetler Adds Significant IP Group to West Coast
Mark Itri and Michael Dreznes lead a nearly 20-person team, comprised of partners, counsel, associates and patent agents and specialists, joining the firm’s Costa Mesa office.
Key takeaways
Itri and Dreznes are market leaders in IP and represent extremely well-known Fortune 500 companies. The addition of their team expands and further strengthens the firm’s IP Practice Group on the West Coast and continues its bold California expansion.
Key quote
“Mark and Mike are prominent leaders in intellectual property, with an elite client list. With almost 20 lawyers, agents and specialists, this outstanding lateral group is a terrific cultural fit with our full-service IP group.” said Mark Tidman, chair of BakerHostetler’s Intellectual Property Practice Group.
About the team
Itri, Dreznes and Bentley’s team advises leading companies, including dozens of leading high-tech corporations, on the full spectrum of IP matters.
The team advises on strategic IP planning, patent and trademark portfolio management, freedom-to-operate and other opinion work, and due diligence in connection with technology and trademark acquisitions. They regularly negotiate and draft technology transfer agreements, joint development agreements and licenses.
Both Itri and Dreznes have a specialty in computer and electrical arts, including emerging technology areas such as machine learning and augmented reality. They help clients build strategic patent portfolios around a wide array of industry standards, including long-term evolution (LTE), 802.11x, H.266 and Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA).
Before joining BakerHostetler, Itri was the global head of IP for a leading international law firm. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from Suffolk University and his B.S. in electrical engineering from Boston University. He also worked in research and development for microprocessor designs and flight control systems in the private aerospace industry before attending law school.
Dreznes earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law and his B.S. in computer science engineering from the University of Notre Dame. Prior to attending law school, he worked as a software engineer.
Bentley focuses his practice on patent portfolio establishment and management. He has extensive experience in preparing and prosecuting patents in a range of technical areas across industries. Bentley has a Juris Doctor degree from Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School and a B.S. in applied physics, also from Brigham Young.
Key quotes
“Growth on the West Coast continues to be a strategic firm priority. Adding in this group of outstanding IP attorneys and professionals exemplifies our commitment to recruiting top talent, particularly in California,” said Paul Schmidt, BakerHostetler’s chairman. “Mark and Mike, in particular, are known to be among a handful of the most exceptional IP attorneys in Southern California, and I am thrilled to have them join the firm.”
“They are at the top of their field, and this reflects the firm’s commitment to expanding our brand through strategic lateral additions on the West Coast,” remarked Eric Sagerman, a member of the firm’s Policy Committee and managing partner of the firm’s Los Angeles office.
BakerHostetler Adds Significant IP Group to West Coast
Key takeaways
- A fully operational intellectual property (IP) team, led by renowned attorneys Mark Itri and Michael Dreznes, joins BakerHostetler.
- Itri and Dreznes, along with Mark Bentley, join as partners in the firm’s IP Practice Group on the Electrical, Mechanical and Computer Science Prosecution team.
- The group arrives from a leading AmLaw 100 firm as BakerHostetler continues a robust expansion of its West Coast capabilities.
- This arrival marks more than 75 additions to the firm’s West Coast offices since 2019 and follows the arrivals of Jeff Diener (real estate), Jennifer Mitchell (data and privacy), Matt Kane (labor and employment) and Sylvia Kim (labor and employment).
Itri and Dreznes are market leaders in IP and represent extremely well-known Fortune 500 companies. The addition of their team expands and further strengthens the firm’s IP Practice Group on the West Coast and continues its bold California expansion.
Key quote
“Mark and Mike are prominent leaders in intellectual property, with an elite client list. With almost 20 lawyers, agents and specialists, this outstanding lateral group is a terrific cultural fit with our full-service IP group.” said Mark Tidman, chair of BakerHostetler’s Intellectual Property Practice Group.
About the team
Itri, Dreznes and Bentley’s team advises leading companies, including dozens of leading high-tech corporations, on the full spectrum of IP matters.
The team advises on strategic IP planning, patent and trademark portfolio management, freedom-to-operate and other opinion work, and due diligence in connection with technology and trademark acquisitions. They regularly negotiate and draft technology transfer agreements, joint development agreements and licenses.
Both Itri and Dreznes have a specialty in computer and electrical arts, including emerging technology areas such as machine learning and augmented reality. They help clients build strategic patent portfolios around a wide array of industry standards, including long-term evolution (LTE), 802.11x, H.266 and Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA).
Before joining BakerHostetler, Itri was the global head of IP for a leading international law firm. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from Suffolk University and his B.S. in electrical engineering from Boston University. He also worked in research and development for microprocessor designs and flight control systems in the private aerospace industry before attending law school.
Dreznes earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law and his B.S. in computer science engineering from the University of Notre Dame. Prior to attending law school, he worked as a software engineer.
Bentley focuses his practice on patent portfolio establishment and management. He has extensive experience in preparing and prosecuting patents in a range of technical areas across industries. Bentley has a Juris Doctor degree from Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School and a B.S. in applied physics, also from Brigham Young.
Key quotes
“Growth on the West Coast continues to be a strategic firm priority. Adding in this group of outstanding IP attorneys and professionals exemplifies our commitment to recruiting top talent, particularly in California,” said Paul Schmidt, BakerHostetler’s chairman. “Mark and Mike, in particular, are known to be among a handful of the most exceptional IP attorneys in Southern California, and I am thrilled to have them join the firm.”
“They are at the top of their field, and this reflects the firm’s commitment to expanding our brand through strategic lateral additions on the West Coast,” remarked Eric Sagerman, a member of the firm’s Policy Committee and managing partner of the firm’s Los Angeles office.
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