Sunstein LLP is pleased to announce that John T. Gutkoski has joined the firm’s Litigation Practice as a Partner and Rob D. Pyatt has joined the firm’s Patent Practice as Counsel.

“We are delighted to welcome John and Rob to Sunstein,” said managing partner Kerry L. Timbers. “They are esteemed lawyers in their respective fields, John in IP litigation and Rob in patent portfolio development, and our clients will benefit from their outstanding experience and the protectives they can provide.”

John is trial attorney representing clients as lead trial counsel in intellectual property life sciences and high technology matters. His extensive patent litigation experience includes representing pharmaceutical companies in Hatch-Waxman proceedings, and he has tried numerous cases in the US and before the International Trade Commission.

John has been repeatedly named one of the “World’s Leading Patent Practitioners for Patent Litigation” by IAM Patent 1000. IAM’s recent ranking noted that John “is one of the sharpest and most adaptable patent litigators out there …” John has been named a Benchmark Litigation "Local Litigation Star," and has also been recognized by Super Lawyers®.

John previously served as the Chair of Intellectual Property in the Boston Office of an AMLAW100 firm. He earned his J.D. from the New York University School of Law and his B.A., magna cum laude, from Boston University.

Rob focuses on patent portfolio development and trade secret protection, and also advises clients on intellectual property protection strategies. His clients include inventors, start-up companies in various stages, universities, and large companies. Rob frequently works with emerging companies and has partnered with start-ups that have grown their patent portfolios and are now global businesses. He has significant experience drafting and prosecuting applications directed to physics-based technologies, such as those incorporating optics, imaging, and laser systems.

Prior to joining private practice, Rob worked for nine years in engineering and medical device companies. His contributions included developing photonics automation systems and applications and authoring numerous feasibility studies relating to photonic device automation. He later joined a start-up that became Abbott Medical Optics, where he assisted in developing femtosecond laser systems for eye surgery applications, furthered Food and Drug Administration compliance activities, and managed a systems test engineering group.

Rob is an active member of Optica, where he continues to advance his knowledge of physics and optics, and he has been recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch^® in America in the area of Patent Law from 2021-2023. Rob earned his J.D. from the University of New Hampshire School of Law, and both an M.S. and B.S. in physics from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.