Ryan Phelan

Ryan N. Phelan is a registered patent attorney at Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP, where counsels and works with clients in all areas of intellectual property (IP), with a focus on patents. Clients enjoy Ryan’s business-focused approach to IP. With a MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, Ryan works with clients to achieve their business objectives, including developing and protecting their innovations and businesses with IP.

Ryan routinely helps clients with:

• Preparing and prosecuting high-quality patent applications, and developing strategic patent portfolios for innovative products and services, including in the U.S. and foreign jurisdictions (e.g., Europe, China, and Japan).
• Preparing legal opinions as to the patentability, non-infringement, validity, and/or freedom-to-operate of innovative products or services.
• Litigating IP related issues to protect client market share from competitors and defend clients from IP lawsuits against competitors or non-practicing patent entities.

As a former technology consultant with Accenture and with a background in computer science and engineering, Ryan has extensive experience in computer system, hardware, and software design, engineering, development and related technologies. He represents numerous startup and Fortune 500 clients with patent matters in technical areas and industries including artificial intelligence and machine learning, medical devices, biometrics data and services, virtual reality, imaging, internet and e-commerce, computer networking, data storage and management, encryption and security, mobile telecommunications, consumer electronics, insurance and finance applications, mechanical devices, among others.

Ryan has been published in several well-known IP publications including the World Intellectual Property Review, Bloomberg Law, and IP Litigator, and has spoken as a panelist at various IP conferences, including for the International Intellectual Property Law Association (IIPLA), and for the University of Illinois Chicago Annual IP Conference. Ryan’s recent article titled Artificial Intelligence & the Intellectual Property Landscape details how artificial intelligence is reshaping the business and intellectual property landscape.

Ryan is also an adjunct professor at Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law where he teaches coursework on Patenting Software Inventions, with a focus on patent subject matter eligibility dealing with procuring software and computer related patents in view of 35 U.S.C. § 101 and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, 573 U.S. 208 (2014).

Ryan has been rated by Super Lawyers® and Leading Lawyers^SM as a Rising Star and peer selected Emerging Lawyer, respectively, for years 2019 through 2020. Since 2021, Ryan has been named a Leading Lawyer.