Morgan Lewis has hired three patent litigation partners from US rival Knobbe Martens as part of its plan to expand its IP presence in key markets.
Patent litigators Colin Heideman and Christie Matthaei will be joining Morgan Lewis’s Seattle office, while Jeremy Anapol will be based in the Orange County office.
The three lawyers represent a range of tech companies in disputes before courts nationwide and the US Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
Patent litigator Heideman spent more than 20 years at Knobbe Martens and represents medtech and other technology companies in patent cases at US district courts and at the Federal Circuit. He also has experience in inter partes review proceedings (IPRs) and has served as lead counsel in such proceedings.
He co-founded the Canadian American Bar Association and has served as its vice president and secretary-treasurer.
Anapol focuses on patent litigation and IPRs involving computer hardware and software. He spent 13 years at Knobbe Martens, beginning as a summer associate and becoming a partner in 2019. A former software engineer, he has been involved in patent disputes focused on many computer technologies, including authentication, media streaming and speech recognition, among others. He has also litigated in other areas such as antitrust, contracts, fiduciary duty and trade secrets.
Patent litigator Matthaei spent 14 years at Knobbe Martens, starting her legal career there. She represents a wide variety of clients in all aspects of IP disputes, including prelitigation matters such as analysing patent infringement and validity. During her time in law school, she interned for the White House, working in the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Their hire boosts the number of IP partner lateral hires secured by Morgan Lewis to 11 in 2025, following the arrival of a five-partner West Coast team that also joined from Knobbe in February and a three-partner trademark team from Perkins Coie in April: Washington DC-based lawyers Fab Vayra and Lindsay Allen and Colleen Ganin in the New York office.
Chair Jami McKeon said: “This accomplished trio enhances our litigation bench, strengthens our capabilities across key markets and deepens long-standing relationships with shared clients.”
Louis Beardell, leader of Morgan Lewis’s global IP practice, added: “As technology companies advance in fast-moving, high-stakes global markets, the expansion of our IP litigation team reinforces a platform focused on full-spectrum IP support.”
A Knobbe Martens spokesperson said: “We thank this group for their contributions to the firm, and wish them the best in their future endeavours.”
Morgan Lewis hasn’t limited its IP expansion to just the US. Last year, it hired Alexander Klett and Christoph Mikyska in Munich from Reed Smith and Baker McKenzie. Furthermore, in London it has also recruited leading IP litigator Hiroshi Sheraton and prominent patent lawyer Tim Powell, a co-founder of boutique IP firm Powell Gilbert.
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