Taft is pleased to announce that four lateral partners have joined its Indianapolis office as part of the firm’s intellectual property team. Joining the firm are four patent attorneys:

• John H. Allie
• Douglas A. Collier
• Jason A. Houdek
• Mark T. Stephenson

“We are thrilled to welcome these outstanding, well-respected practitioners to Taft. With this addition, we add significant experience and bench strength to our existing intellectual property team, growing to more than 40 IP attorneys firm wide,” said Robert J. Hicks, partner-in-charge of Taft’s Indianapolis office.

John Allie said, “Taft’s focus on client service, quality, and depth of resources impressed us immediately. We could not ask for a better fit for our clients or ourselves and are excited and energized to be joining the firm.”

John H. Allie focuses his practice in the areas of patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and general technology related agreements. His technical experience focuses on mechanical technology, manufacturing processes, material science, casting, metallurgy, internal combustion engines, gas turbine engines and control systems. Prior to private practice, Allie spent more than eight years gaining technical experience at three Fortune 500 companies. He earned a J.D., summa cum laude, from the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, an M.B.A. from Indiana University – Bloomington and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. Allie has been selected for inclusion in Indiana Super Lawyers since 2010.

Douglas A. Collier concentrates his practice in the areas of patent and trademark prosecution, copyrights, trade secrets, agreements and licensing. Collier also advises clients regarding clearance studies for new and existing products, design-around activities, patentability of investigations, world-wide patent prosecution strategies, trademark selection and trademark prosecution strategies. He received a J.D., magna cum laude, from the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, an M.B.A. from Indiana University – Bloomington, and a B.S., magna cum laude, in civil engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

Jason A. Houdek focuses his practice on patent and other intellectual property matters. He is experienced in litigating patent and trade secret disputes in federal court and in administrative challenges to patents before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and foreign patent offices. Houdek helps clients avoid and mitigate the risk of patent assertions by conducting freedom to operate investigations, guiding design around efforts, and building non-infringement and invalidity positions against competitive patent portfolios. He obtains patents for clients with an eye toward creating strategic intellectual property assets. Houdek is also experienced in advising clients on patent and other intellectual property issues in the context of mergers and acquisitions and project financing, as well as agreement drafting and licensing negotiation. He earned a J.D., cum laude, from Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 2001 where he was the editor of the Indiana Law Journal. He received a B.S. in interdisciplinary science from Purdue University in 1998.

Mark T. Stephenson concentrates his practice primarily in preparing and prosecuting patent applications, with in-depth experience in all stages of the patent application process. He has coordinated patent portfolio coverage and directed foreign counsel in various jurisdictions around the world. Prior to private practice, Stephenson worked as an aerospace engineer at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. He has experience in a wide variety of subject matter areas, including mechanical, aerospace and some electrical related technologies. Stephenson received a J.D., cum laude, from the University of New Hampshire School of Law and a B.S. in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from Purdue University.