Cleland named to IAM Patent 1000 list of world's leading patent professionals

James K. Cleland, a shareholder in the Ann Arbor office of Brinks Gilson & Lione, one of the largest intellectual property law firms in the U.S., has been included in the 2018 IAM Patent 1000, a list of the world’s leading patent professionals.

Cleland’s practice focuses on patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret and unfair competition litigation in a broad range of technologies including the automotive, chemical, materials science, mechanical, electrical and medical device arts, as well as in client counseling, opinion and licensing work.

He is co-chair, along with Ann Arbor Managing Partner Steven L. Oberholtzer, of Brinks’ Automotive Industry Group.  The two were recognized for their automotive industry knowledge in IAM’s 2018 summary of Brinks’ strength in serving the intellectual property needs of the automotive sector.

In March, Cleland was a featured guest on the Autoline This Week television program, that focused on trade secret theft and related intellectual property issues within the automotive/autonomous vehicle industry.

Cleland’s extensive litigation experience includes trials, preliminary injunction hearings, Markman hearings, summary judgment proceedings and all aspects of fact and expert witness discovery, spanning federal courts across the country.

He also focuses on post-grant review proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the busiest patent forum in the country. Among his legal accolades, Cleland was named a DBusiness Top Lawyer in the area of trade secrets in 2016.