Burns & Levinson announced today that partner Joseph Maraia, co-chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property group, and partner George Chaclas have been named “IP Stars” by Managing Intellectual Property. The IP Stars list includes the country’s leading intellectual property professionals who have been highly recommended by their clients and peers.

Maraia, who is also a member of the firm’s Executive and Diversity Committees, was named an IP Star in Massachusetts. He has practiced law for over 20 years and has extensive experience in U.S. and foreign patent prosecution and litigation matters in state and federal courts and before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. With in-depth expertise in the engineering arts and life sciences sectors, he is considered a visionary by clients for his uncanny ability to look at a new technology and visualize exactly what the company is trying to accomplish and how it can be incorporated into a commercial product. His real-world experience as an electrical engineer, coupled with his practice experience as a master electrician, informs the strategic business, technical and legal advice counsel he brings to clients. Maraia represents clients in a broad range of industries including medical devices, LED lighting solutions, semiconductor equipment, power supplies, lasers, image processing devices, machine learning, micro-displays, optical components, plasma systems, alternative energy technologies, energy harvesting devices, financial services, multimedia, GPS systems, antennas, radar, multivariate analysis techniques, software, robotics, wireless mesh networks, and cellular VOIP and wired telecommunications systems. He received his J.D. from Suffolk University Law School and his B.S. in electrical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Chaclas was named an IP Star in Rhode Island. He provides patent counsel to Fortune 100 companies, world-renowned academic institutions, industry leading companies, startups and individual entrepreneurs. Chaclas focuses on acquiring and using IP assets to accomplish strategic goals, such as in negotiating and drafting licenses, preparing and prosecuting patent applications, and enforcing intellectual property rights. He has over 20 years of experience handling patent applications at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a wide range of technologies including nanotechnology, semiconductors, business methods, bioinformatics, telecommunications, medical devices, testing equipment, fluidics, RADAR, aerospace, engines, and quantum computing. Chaclas worked in the semiconductor area for 12 years as an electrical engineer before becoming a lawyer. He received his J.D. from the University of Connecticut in 1999 and his B.S. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1987.

Managing Intellectual Property IP Stars is the leading specialist guide to IP firms and practitioners worldwide. Managing IP has been researching and ranking firms since 1996. This research has expanded over the years, with more than 80 jurisdictions now covered, making it the most comprehensive and authoritative analysis of the industry.

About Burns & Levinson LLP

At Burns & Levinson, we provide high-level, client-centric and results-oriented legal services to our regional, national and international clients. We are a full-service law firm with over 125 lawyers in Boston, Denver, Providence, and London. Our areas of expertise include: business/finance, business litigation, divorce/family law, venture capital/emerging companies, employment, estate planning, government investigations, intellectual property, M&A/private equity, probate/trust litigation, and real estate. We partner with our clients to solve their business and personal legal issues in a collaborative, creative and cost-effective way. For more information, visit Burns & Levinson at www.burnslev.com.