Three White & Case Lawyers Ranked Among Leaders for Intellectual Property Strategy

Intellectual Asset Management (IAM), the world's leading intellectual property (IP) business media platform, has named White & Case partners Anita Varma (Boston), Daren Orzechowski (Silicon Valley) and Bijal Vakil (Silicon Valley) to its IAM Strategy 300 list. In June, IAM also selected these three lawyers and 12 of their White & Case colleagues for its IAM Patent 1000: The World's Leading Patent Professionals 2020.

IAM Strategy 300 "lists the individuals that in-depth research, undertaken by a team based in London, Washington DC and Hong Kong, has shown to possess world-class skills in the development and roll-out of strategies that maximise the value of patents, copyright, trademarks and other IP rights," according to IAM.

Anita Varma is chair of White & Case's Global IP Practice. She is based in the firm's Boston office, with a dual practice in London, and is qualified to practice before the USPTO and the EPO. The Legal 500 ranks Varma as one of the top lawyers in the United States for patent prosecution matters. In June, Varma was also named among the "Top 250 Women in IP" by Managing Intellectual Property, for the second year in a row.

"Anita Varma is a natural leader whose commercial patent counselling takes dynamic life sciences companies to the next level in their business," IAM reports in its profile. "She maps out the smartest strategies informed by deep litigation and revenue generation experience."

Daren Orzechowski is one of the founding partners of White & Case's global technology transactions practice, and is also part of the leadership of the firm's technology industry group. "For more than 20 years," IAM reports, "Mr Orzechowski has represented clients from a variety of industries in connection with their most important strategic IP, data and technology-focused transactions. He regularly counsels clients in connection with M&A and IP strategy and licensing matters…. Much credit for White & Case's eminence as a top global technology transactions firm is owed to Daren Orzechowski, who is known for his efficiency and accuracy of execution when it comes to transformational deals. His tech knowledge is on par with the best in Silicon Valley."

Bijal Vakil "has a successful track record litigating all types of IP disputes and complex patent cases in district courts, the International Trade Commission and the Federal Circuit," according to IAM. "Clients also benefit from his experience advising on patent portfolios and assisting with technology licensing agreements…. Bijal Vakil offers so much to innovators in the form of portfolio development, licensing and litigation expertise. The Silicon Valley partner knows the way the patent and business winds are blowing and accordingly adjusts to optimal strategies with agility." This is Vakil's second consecutive year in the IAM Strategy 300.

The IAM research team spoke to a wide range of senior corporate IP managers in North America, Europe and Asia, and to third-party IP service providers, in order to identify the top 300 IP practitioners, "men and women whose business is the creation, development and deployment of strategies that enable IP owners to gain maximum value from their portfolios," according to IAM.