Cooley IP Practice Announces New Leadership Position, Reflecting Nationwide Growth and Momentum

PALO ALTO, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- March 5, 2007 -- Cooley Godward Kronish LLP announced today new leadership for one of the practice areas within its Intellectual Property practice group. Partner Tom Friel will become the leader of the firm's national Intellectual Property litigation practice. He joins partners Anne Peck, head of Trademark, Copyright & Advertising, and Frank Pietrantonio, head of the Patent Counseling & Prosecution team, as an Intellectual Property practice group leader. Pietrantonio will continue to lead the firm's overarching Intellectual Property practice, comprised of nearly 100 attorneys, patent agents and professionals nationwide.

Cooley's Intellectual Property practice group has added key talent over the past two years in areas that are of increasing need by clients, including life sciences-related patent prosecution and counseling, trade secrets theft and economic espionage and international trademark and copyright protection. The firm represents clients across multiple industry sectors, including technology, life sciences, energy and banking and retail. Current high-profile litigation matters include: litigation counsel to Zenith Electronics Corporation (pending in the Eastern District of Texas); litigation counsel to Nintendo in pending trademark and patent litigations; and litigation counsel to Stanford University in pending patent litigation.

Based on the number of cases in which the firm appeared as counsel for a party, Cooley was recently ranked #11 in the country in the IP Law360 survey of top IP litigation firms for 2006. Cooley's three-fold increase over the prior year was the largest percentage increase in cases from 2005 to 2006 among all ranked firms.

"Cooley's intellectual property practice has experienced significant growth over the past few years, and is currently handling some of the highest profile IP matters in the country for leading global companies," said Pietrantonio. "Cooley is committed to offering clients the very best IP talent, strategic advice and experience for their matters."

"For the benefit of our clients, we bring to bear our depth in technology and life sciences, broad trial experience in multiple jurisdictions and seasoned trial attorneys who form very effective and formidable teams," said Friel. "I look forward to leading this talented group of attorneys and professionals as we continue to provide key strategic advice and litigation services to our clients, to enable them to protect, defend and capitalize on their valuable IP assets."

About Cooley Godward Kronish LLP

Cooley Godward Kronish's 580 attorneys have an entrepreneurial spirit and deep, substantive experience, and are committed to solving clients' most challenging legal matters. From small companies with big ideas to international enterprises with diverse legal needs, Cooley Godward Kronish has the breadth of legal resources to enable companies of all sizes to seize opportunities in today's global marketplace. The firm represents clients across a broad array of dynamic industry sectors, including technology, life sciences, financial services, retail and energy.

The firm has full-service offices in major commercial, government and technology centers: Palo Alto, CA, New York, NY, San Diego, CA, San Francisco, CA, Reston, VA, Broomfield, CO and Washington, DC.

For additional information, please visit www.cooley.com.

Contact Information: Media Contact: Zach Olsen 415-252-1141 zolsen@cooley.com