Overview
R. Jan Pirozzolo-Mellowes is a partner and intellectual property lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP, where she focuses on patent, trademark, and copyright litigation. Jan’s work involves various industries and technical areas, including software, chemical compositions, medical devices, mechanical devices, DNA sequencing, and architectural works. Jan also has experience in complex litigation in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology fields, including Hatch-Waxman litigation. She is a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property Litigation Practice and the Automotive and Life Sciences Industry Teams.
Jan has extensive experience with day-to-day case management and has handled many aspects of case development, including a variety of discovery issues such as fact investigations, document collection, electronic discovery, discovery disputes, and depositions. She has also worked extensively with both technical and financial experts, has significant experience with briefing issues and trial preparation, and has appeared in a number of federal courts.
Community Engagement
Jan is also involved in a number of community organizations. She is currently a trustee on the Charter Manufacturing Foundation Board, on the Medical College of Wisconsin Board of Trustees, secretary for Milwaukee Ballet Board of Directors, and is the co-founder of the Milwaukee Fashion Initiative. She is a member of the United Way Women’s Leadership Council, Jewish Community Center Rainbow Day Camp Committee, and has been a member of the Junior League of Milwaukee, where she has co-chaired and chaired fundraising efforts, and she co-chaired the 2012 Annual Wisconsin Breast Cancer Showhouse Tee Up for a Cure Golf Outing in connection with the organization’s funding of breast cancer and prostate cancer research at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
Education
Jan received her law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law, with honors, in 2004. During law school, she served as a member and business manager for the Connecticut Law Review. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University in 1996. Additionally, Jan completed additional coursework in chemistry and biochemistry at Boston College, which qualified her for registration to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Admissions and Professional Memberships
Jan is admitted to practice in Wisconsin and Massachusetts. She is also registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Additionally, Jan is admitted to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. She is a member of the Association for Woman Lawyers, the American Bar Association, and the Boston Bar Association.
Selected Publications
- “Ethics and Professional Responsibility,” State Bar of Wisconsin CLE Books, April 2008 (with Cynthia J. Rigsby)
- “New Guidance From the Federal Circuit on Motions to Stay Litigation Pending a PTAB Proceeding” IP Litigation Current, July 21, 2008 (with Kevin Littman)
- “Court Finds 25 Percent ‘Rule of Thumb’ to Be a Fundamentally Flawed Tool,” Foley Legal News Alert: IP Litigation, January 5, 2011 (with Cynthia J. Rigsby)
- “Federal Circuit Determines It Does Not Have Jurisdiction to Address Dispute With Heinz” IP Litigation Current, September 17, 2013
- “Considerations If Conceding Infringement Or Designing Around” IP Litigation Current, February 18, 2014
- “Recent Guidance from the Federal Circuit on the Doctrine of Equivalents in Cases Involving Chemical Compositions,” IP Litigation Current, May 30, 2017 (with Liane Peterson)
- “Conflict Between Granting a Preliminary Injunction and Staying the Case Pending Appeal of the Injunction,” IP Litigation Current, June 5, 2017 (with Liane Peterson)
- “Does Amgen Have Viable State Law Claims Against Sandoz Arising From The Zarxio Biosimilar Patent Dispute?,” PharmaPatents, June 27, 2017 (with Courtenay C. Brinckerhoff)
- “Federal Circuit Provides More Guidance On Biosimilar Patent Litigation,” PharmaPatents, August 22, 2017 (with Courtenay C. Brinckerhoff)