Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck on Tuesday said it has acquired Watson Rounds, a boutique intellectual property litigation firm based in Reno, Nev.
The deal brings the number of Brownstein attorneys focused on intellectual property to more than 30 making the practice one of the largest in the Mountain West, the firm said in a news release.
When the transaction closes, Watson Rounds co-founding partner Michael Rounds and attorneys Matthew Francis and Arthur Zorio will be Brownstein shareholders. Brownstein will move its two Reno employees, including shareholder Josh Hicks, to Watson Rounds’ Reno office.
The acquisition gives Brownstein access to Rounds’ expertise in high-stakes patent litigation both in Nevada and other patent-heavy jurisdictions across the country. His partners Francis and Zorio bring expertise in trademark and other complex IP and business cases.
Their clients include Fortune 500 companies, gaming manufacturers, casino operators, pharmaceutical companies, mobile network service providers and disc drive makers, as well as artists and performers in the entertainment industry.
Brownstein has been investing in its intellectual property practice since 2013, hoping to meet the demands of what co-managing partner Ellen Schulhofer described as a boom in the U.S. technology sector.
“Our strategy of finding top talent in the IP space led us to Michael Rounds and his IP litigation firm,” she said in a news release. “By joining together, we expect our clients will benefit from our increased bench strength and broadened practice skills.”
Denver-based Brownstein now has more than 250 lawyers and policy professionals in 14 offices across the western U.S., plus Washington and Atlantic City.
