Rebecca J. Pirozzolo-Mellowes

Partner/Retired

Rebecca J. Pirozzolo-Mellowes

Partner/Retired

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.

Affiliations

She is a member of the Association for Woman Lawyers, the American Bar Association, and the Boston Bar Association.

Community Involvement

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.

Presentations and 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)
11 September 2019 Events

Fashion Law on the Runway: Top Legal Trends This Season

Join Foley’s Fashion Apparel & Beauty Team (Foley FAB) as they team up with fashion industry insiders to discuss how best to develop, protect, and monetize brand assets in such a dynamic environment.
01 May 2019 In the News

Rigsby Featured on Milwaukee Fox 6 News Highlighting Milwaukee Fashion Initiative

Partner Cynthia Rigsby was featured on the Fox6 Now segment “WakeUp” discussing the Milwaukee Fashion Initiative and its spring showcase.
21 December 2018 Press Releases

Pirozzolo-Mellowes Named to the Board of The Medical College of Wisconsin

Partner Jan Pirozzolo-Mellowes was named to the Board of Trustees of The Medical College of Wisconsin.
20 December 2018 In the News

Rigsby, Pirozzolo-Mellowes Discuss Origins of Milwaukee Fashion Initiative

Partners Cynthia Rigsby and Jan Pirozzolo-Mellowes were quoted in a <EM>Milwaukee Business Journal</EM> article, “Foley & Lardner attorneys help grow fashion industry in Milwaukee,” about the launch of the Milwaukee Fashion Initiative.
13 December 2018 In the News

Pirozzolo-Mellowes Discuss Milwaukee Fashion Initiative

Jan Pirozzolo-Mellowes was quoted in a <EM>BizTimes Milwaukee</EM> article, “Fashion designers forming connections in new industry collectives,” about the Milwaukee Fashion Initiative, an organization she and fellow partner Cynthia Rigsby founded last year to connect and provide resources to designers and fashion companies in southeastern Wisconsin.
12 July 2018 Events

Milwaukee Fashion Initiative - Breakfast and Business

We started the Milwaukee Fashion Initiative with the purpose of helping members of the local fashion industry capitalize on potential growth opportunities. With this goal in mind, this meeting will be dedicated to industry experts advising on building and expanding your business, as well as reviewing entrepreneur programs and other local resources.