When Gary Ropski addresses a courtroom, he speaks with the force and authority of over 40 years of trial and appellate experience. During his career Gary has handled more than 125 patent, trademark and copyright cases in every federal judicial circuit, including jury trials, controversies before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and appeals at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and several others. His is a familiar face in high-stakes cases before key patent litigation district courts, and in precedent-setting appeals nationwide.
Clients and colleagues describe Gary as a "top-drawer" litigator, “a class act,” “unflappable,” “overflowing with common sense” “who works tirelessly to bring about commercial resolutions to conflicts.” He is able to "turn an esoteric subject into something easy to understand” and “he has all the people skills needed to be a successful attorney and is a great listener.” Gary has a "real forte in strategy” and “tells it straight and doesn’t overreach and that has the effect of inspiring confidence” while “taking a central role in must-win cases with consummate professionalism.” These traits he has honed in virtually every variant of patent, trademark, trade dress and copyright litigation. They serve him well in helping adversaries resolve disputes as a special master, arbitrator and trained mediator.
Gary has long been recognized as one of America’s best intellectual property lawyers. In 2018 and 2014, Leading Lawyers Magazine ranked him #1 in Intellectual Property in Illinois. In 2013, The Best Lawyers in America named him Chicago's Patent Litigation Lawyer of the Year.
An experienced sailboat racer, Gary believes in thinking forward in legal matters just as he would in a boat race. He keeps a fixed eye on his client’s ultimate goal in litigation, and looks for the most efficient and cost-effective route to the finish line.
During Gary’s six-year tenure as its president, Brinks Gilson & Lione became the first intellectual property law firm in the Midwest Region and only the second in the country to receive the Thomas L. Sager Diversity Award from the Minority Corporate Counsel Association.