Burns & Levinson announces that veteran patent attorney Christopher Carroll has joined the firm as a partner in its Intellectual Property Group. Carroll was previously a partner at White & Case, and brings 17 years of experience advising clients on their patent, trademark and copyright strategies to the firm. He is licensed to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the European Patent Office and the UK High Court. Carroll will be based in Boston, but Burns & Levinson will open an office in London to accommodate his significant European practice.
An electrical and computer engineer by training, Carroll’s clients have included mechanical, electrical, software, and communications engineering companies such as an Oakland, CA-based marine technology company; UK and Spanish-based MEMS technology company; a Sweden-based satellite communications company; and a utilities-focused infrastructure company working in the U.S. and Canada.
“We are excited to add Chris and his extraordinary talents to our world-class IP team,” said David P. Rosenblatt, managing partner at Burns & Levinson. “Our IP group has been expanding rapidly over the past several years and we are always looking for outstanding lateral hires to help us meet increasing client demand for our services.”
In addition to developing patent portfolios for clients around the world, Carroll regularly prepares legal opinions regarding patent validity, infringement and freedom-to-operate and IP due diligence. He is knowledgeable in technology-related license agreements, and has extensive expertise handling Opposition and Appeal proceedings at the European Patent Office.
“Chris is a highly-regarded attorney with deep expertise in patenting complex technologies,” said Joseph Maraia, co-chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property practice. “We have one of the strongest electrical engineering IP practices in Boston, and adding his electrical and computer engineering skills and his international abilities to our team will be particularly valuable for our clients. We are thrilled to welcome him to our firm, and look forward to providing European IP services from our new London office.”
Before law school, Carroll supervised research related to wireless communications network security at Verizon and GTE Laboratories. He also developed a Mobile IP cryptographic key distribution procedure used by Verizon Wireless in its 3G data service. He is an inventor of eight U.S. patents related to wireless security.
Carroll received his J.D. from Suffolk University Law School in 2003. He earned an M.S. in computer engineering in 1998 and a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1994 from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.