Biography

Matt serves as a go-to intellectual property advisor for leading innovation businesses, including the in-house legal teams and other decision-makers at many Fortune 500 companies. Matt focuses his practice on developing U.S. and global IP strategies that support his clients’ business objectives, as well as day-to-day patent prosecution, protection, and counseling in the areas of electrical and mechanical technologies. He assists clients with post-grant proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, including handling ex parte and inter partes reexaminations, broadening reissue applications for design and utility patents, and public use proceedings. He also conducts due diligence investigations in support of product releases. Beyond his patent focus, Matt taps into the firm’s deep IP bench to meet clients’ licensing, trademark, and other needs.

A business-savvy counselor, Matt prides himself on being personable and highly accessible to clients, many of whom he considers to be friends. While earning his engineering and law degrees and throughout his career, Matt has looked to his hardworking parents and grandparents as role models, including his maternal grandfather, who built a hardware business in southern Ohio, and his fraternal grandparents, who spoke no English when they immigrated to the San Francisco Bay area from the Azores in the 1950s.

Matt was recognized as an outstanding young attorney in the 2011 and 2016 – 2019 Illinois Rising Stars® lists. He was also included in the 2015 – 2019 editions of Emerging Lawyers Magazine, which recognizes the top up-and-coming attorneys in Illinois who are under 40 or have been practicing fewer than 10 years. In 2020, Matt was recognized as a "Leading Lawyer" by the Leading Lawyers division of Law Bulletin Media.

Representative Experience

Matt has experience involving electrical and mechanical technologies in diverse industries:

  • Gene sequencing and array technologies
  • Medical systems, including centrifuges and related computer code
  • Microfluidics
  • Hydrocarbon exploration and recovery
  • 3-D and other printing technologies
  • Image sensors and other applications of CMOS technologies
  • Spectropic/fluorescence imagers for use in various industries
  • Image processing including diagnostic imaging and autonomous vehicle applications
  • Smart devices, including watches, clothing, and other wearables, as well as sports equipment
  • Semiconductor structures, design, and fabrication
  • Process control valves, regulators, and related equipment and systems
  • Braking and other automotive systems
  • Aerospace technologies, including commercial airplanes and propulsion systems for satellites
  • Firearms, including handguns, rifles, and grenade launchers for military applications
  • Autonomous technologies, including driverless vehicles and drones for military and civilian use
  • Loading dock and warehouse systems, including high-speed industrial doors, safety barriers, industrial fans, and rail shelters and seals
  • Remotely readable utility meters
  • Window treatment systems
  • Earth-moving and farming equipment
  • Cannabis, including cultivation equipment and systems, lifecycle product tracking, and packaging
  • Electronic cigarettes

Background and Credentials

Prior to joining Marshall Gerstein, Matt practiced for more than a decade at another IP law firm in Chicago. Earlier in his career, he served as a first-line supervisor of UAW employees for an automotive products manufacturer.

Education

  • DePaul University College of Law (J.D.)
  • Michigan State University (B.S.)
    • Mechanical Engineering

Bar Admissions

  • Illinois
  • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
  • Supreme Court of the State of Illinois
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois

Community and Professional Involvement

Drawing inspiration from his mother’s career as an elementary school principal and his maternal grandmother, who was a schoolteacher, Matt donates his time to a variety of organizations, many of which focus on mentoring and other assistance for children and young adults.

  • Legal Prep Charter Academy, member of the Associate Board
  • Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago – vice president of the Chicago Educational Foundation
  • Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois, member of the JD Mentors Committee
  • Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago, member of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee
  • Intellectual Property Owners Association, member of the Industrial Designs Committee
  • Michigan State University, member of the Mechanical Engineering External Advisory Board
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