Louis J. Virelli, Jr.

Senior Counsel

Louis J. Virelli, Jr. is senior counsel in Morgan Lewis's Intellectual Property Practice. Mr. Virelli focuses his practice on patent and trademark matters in the United States and abroad. He has an extensive background in IP litigation, including participation in and management of complex, international, and multijurisdictional IP litigation. He also has developed and managed, both domestically and internationally, patent and trademark portfolios, overseen patent and trademark clearances, conducted due diligence and valuation of patent and trademark portfolios, negotiated the IP terms of acquisition and divesture agreements, and negotiated and prepared licensing agreements.

Prior to joining Morgan Lewis, Mr. Virelli held several positions at Unilever—the food, household, and personal care consumer products company—and was most recently senior vice president and general counsel of intellectual property worldwide. In this position, Mr. Virelli had responsibility for more than 24,000 patents in Unilever's patent portfolio and for more than 150,000 trademarks in the world's largest trademark portfolio. Prior to his 22-year career at Unilever, Mr. Virelli was a partner in a Philadelphia IP firm where he specialized in litigation.

Mr. Virelli received his J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1972 and his B.S.E. in mechanical engineering from Villanova University in 1970.

Mr. Virelli is a former president of the Association of Corporate Patent Counsel and a former board member of the Intellectual Property Owners Association. He is currently a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the New Jersey Intellectual Property Law Association, the Philadelphia Patent Law Association, the European Association of Corporate Patent Counsel, the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents (UK), and the Trademarks Patents Design Federation (TMPD—a UK IP organization). He frequently lectures on IP issues, including international IP law, at professional conferences and Fordham Law School.

Mr. Virelli is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania only and before the U.S. Supreme Court; the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Federal, Third, and Ninth Circuits; numerous U.S. District Courts; and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.