Sidley Austin LLP announced today that Jon P. Santamauro has joined the firm’s Washington, D.C. office as counsel in the intellectual property litigation practice. Santamauro most recently served in the Office of Intellectual Property Policy and Enforcement at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), where he was responsible for numerous domestic and international patent law and policy matters.
Mr. Santamauro has more than 15 years of experience handling intellectual property issues for the U.S. Government. He played a key role in negotiating extensive reforms under the Patent Cooperation Treaty governing the filing and processing of international patent applications and had lead responsibility for matters relating to patent law harmonization. He also worked extensively on issues relating to the relationship of intellectual property, genetic resources and traditional knowledge.
“We are very pleased to welcome Jon Santamauro to Sidley,” said Jeff Kushan, one of the global heads of Sidley's IP practice, resident in Washington, D.C. “Jon has played an important role in international IP issues, here in Washington, in Geneva and around the world. His experience will be of enormous value to our clients.”
From 2003 to 2006, Santamauro served as Intellectual Property Attaché in the U.S. Mission to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland. During this time, he represented the United States at the WTO, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and other UN organizations with respect to matters relating to intellectual property.
“It was important to me to join a firm that offers its clients sophisticated advice on domestic and international IP policy development, as well as in cutting-edge intellectual property litigation and business negotiations,” Santamauro said. “I look forward to working closely with the firm’s international trade and dispute resolution practice, as well.”
Sidley’s intellectual property litigation practice includes nearly 150 professionals across several offices who provide a full range of litigation in the fields of patents, trade secret and unfair competition, false advertising, copyright and theft of idea and trademark litigation. The firm was recently recognized in the 2007 IP Law & Business "Who Protects Innovation in America" survey.
Santamauro, 37, received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, cum laude, from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and received his Juris Doctor, with highest honors, from the George Washington University in Washington, DC.
Sidley Austin LLP is one of the world's largest full-service law firms, with more than 1800 lawyers practicing in 16 U.S. and international cities including Beijing, Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. Every year since 2003, Sidley has been named to Legal Business’ Global Elite, their designation for "the 15 finest law firms in the world." BTI, a Boston-based consulting and research firm, has named Sidley to their Client Service Hall of Fame as one of only two law firms to rank in the Client Service Top 10 for seven years in a row.
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