Morgan Lewis has continued to bolster its IP presence in key markets as it announces the hiring of a quintet of partners from boutique IP firm Knobbe Martens on the US West Coast.

IP litigators Ali Razai, Benjamin Anger, Benjamin Everton and Brandon Smith are joining the Orange County office of Morgan Lewis, while Jacob Peterson is joining the Seattle office.

The group’s work includes patent and trademark disputes in state and federal district and appeals courts, and before the International Trade Commission and the US Patent and Trademark Office. They represent clients in the technology, life sciences, retail and consumer products sectors.

Commenting on the team’s appointment, Morgan Lewis chair Jami McKeon said: “California and the Pacific Northwest are two regions at the forefront of innovation, where companies face mounting pressures to protect their technologies, brands, and designs while contending with increased regional, national and international competition.”

She added that the team’s experience in resolving complex patent and trademark cases, from medical devices to software to consumer product innovations “creates fresh opportunities to strengthen our clients’ market positions and unlock new growth”.

Razai spent 18 years at Knobbe Martens and, according to Morgan Lewis, has an “extensive record of accomplishment in high-stakes situations” across a broad range of issues including patents, trademarks, trade secrets, false advertising, unfair competition and breach of contract.

Anger spent more than 15 years at Knobbe Martens. His practice focuses on IP rights including utility and design patents, trademark and trade dress.

Everton began his career at Knobbe Martens 16 years ago and focuses his practice on disputes involving patents, trademarks, trade secrets and licensing agreements.

Brandon Smith and Jacob Peterson also began their careers at Knobbe Martens advising clients in IP protection and disputes. Smith spent nine and a half years at the boutique IP firm while Peterson spent more than 13 years at the firm.

Commenting on his new role, Razai noted that Morgan Lewis helped companies from Southern California to Germany and beyond deal with enforcement, litigation and strategy challenges, offering “a comprehensive platform for IP work and one that I’m thrilled to contribute to in support of our clients”.

Louis Beardell, leader of Morgan Lewis’s global IP practice, said: “The growth of our global platform – particularly along the US West Coast, in the UK and across the EU – underscores how we align with our clients, who rarely operate in silos or single jurisdictions.”

He added that the team bring “immediate industry depth” to the firm’s 200-plus group of IP lawyers, contributing “a proven track record that enhances the capabilities and value we bring to clients”.

Morgan Lewis has made a series of IP hires in Europe, the UK and US in recent months. It kicked off the new year by hiring patent litigator Alexander Ritter in Munich from Baker McKenzie and partner Mathilde Carle from Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel in Paris. This was part of Morgan Lewis’s absorption of its 50-lawyer plus office in the French capital ahead of Herbert Smith Freehills’ planned merger with Kramer Levin.

Ritter joined as Morgan Lewis’s seventh partner in Munich, according to its website, and will work alongside IP duo Alexander Klett and Christoph Mikyska, who joined last July from Reed Smith.

In September, the firm recruited leading IP litigator Hiroshi Sheraton from Baker McKenzie in London, around the same time as it secured prominent London patent lawyer Tim Powell, a co-founder of boutique IP firm Powell Gilbert.

IP litigation partner Sarah Guske joined the San Francisco office from Baker Botts in October.