Biography
Randy Rueth was elected as the firm's Managing Partner in April 2026. Prior to that, Randy played a significant leadership role within the firm as a member of the Executive Committee for three years. He also previously chaired the Electrical & Computer Technologies Practice Group, the firm’s Strategic Planning and Finance Committees, and was also actively involved in the Pricing and Profitability Committee.
Randy’s intellectual property practice, which he will continue even as he serves as Marshall Gerstein’s managing partner, focuses on patent prosecution and post-grant patent proceedings. Randy guides innovators across industries, including electronics, software, e-commerce, AI, FinTech, and insurance services, to protect the value of their technologies through skillful prosecution and strategic counsel. Randy delivers a notable mix of strengths: a quick technical understanding grounded in his electrical engineering training, and know-how gained from applying that experience at AT&T.
Randy has been named an “IP Star” in the Managing Intellectual Property IP Stars Survey since 2014. He has also been recognized as one of the “World’s Leading Patent Practitioners” by Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine, a "Leading Lawyer" by Leading Lawyers, a division of Law Bulletin Media, and he was selected for inclusion in the Super Lawyers® lists. Since 2024, Randy has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© list in the practice areas of Litigation - Intellectual Property and Patent Law.
Recent Client Work
- Successfully obtained patent protecting specialized software to divide tasks and centralize pharmacy functions for a large national firm. The result was a major advantage for the company because it allowed small town pharmacies to stay open 24 hours and redefined pharmacist roles to work more closely with customers.
- Gained patent for new and easier way to manage flexible spending accounts.
- Conducted worldwide patent search to assist financial services giant in navigating around pre-existing products so they could distinctively meet demand for new customer products and services.
- Secured patents for computer-aided cancer detection software used on x-ray machines.
Representative Experience
On behalf of Fortune 100 companies, Randy has managed numerous global patents related to front-end and back-end inventions involving complex web-based product orders, tracking, distribution, and accounting.
He has gained patents for risk management companies regarding business transactions related to electronically perfecting premium finance agreements, business practice audits, and portfolio management.
Randy has also handled matters in a wide variety of such products, systems and processes as:
- Computer software, architecture and networking
- Flash memory circuit design and fabrication
- Trading systems for financial products
- Telecommunications and switching architecture
- Modeling algorithms for pharmacy industry
- Internet applications and data management
- Healthcare information management software
- Extensible firmware interfaces for server networks
- Database management software
- Process control systems
- Electronic gaming technology
- e-commerce system architectures and business processes
- GPS navigational systems
- Medical imaging systems/software/methods in various modalities including X-Ray, 3D
- Computed Tomography, and Ultrasound
Background and Credentials
Randy's varied experience includes domestic and international patent portfolio management, patent validity and infringement analyses, due diligence analysis of patent portfolios, reexamination and opposition practice, and pre-litigation management of patent disputes.
Prior to joining the Marshall Gerstein, he was a patent attorney with a patent litigation firm in Chicago.
He worked at AT&T from 1990 to 1995 as an electrical engineer and in technical sales. While there, he received AT&T's Engineering Achievement Award and AT&T's Sales Manager of the Year Award.
Randy graduated from DePaul University College of Law where he received his J.D. degree in May 1998. He graduated from University of Illinois in 1990 with a B.S. in electrical engineering and Western Illinois University in 1988 with a B.S., cum laude, in mathematics.
Education
- DePaul University College of Law (J.D.)
- University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (B.S.)
- Electrical Engineering
- Western Illinois University (B.S., cum laude)
- Mathematics
Bar Admissions
Publications and Presentations
- "Current Trends in Patent Law: Biotech/Life Sciences and AI/Computer Technologies Perspectives," Association of Corporate Counsel’s (ACC) 2026 IP Palooza, February 26, 2026
- "Inventorship vs. Authorship vs. Ownership," The Penn State College of Engineering’s Office of Corporate and Industry Engagement I-CONNECT series, October 2, 2025.
- “How I Made Law Firm Leadership: ‘Develop Client Service Skills That Set You Apart,’ Says Randall Rueth of Marshall Gerstein," Law.com, September 25, 2024.
- "Current Trends in Intellectual Property and Patent Law," Association of Corporate Counsel, RTP Chapter, Research Triangle Park, NC, April 19, 2023.
- "Using Chat GPT - What you need to know!," University of Michigan Software Thought Leadership Series, April 11, 2023.
Community and Professional Involvement
- Former Chair of the firm’s Electrical & Computer Technologies Practice Group
- Former Chair of the firm's Strategic Planning Committee
- Former Chair of the firm’s Finance Committee
- Executives' Club of Chicago