King & Spalding has recruited veteran intellectual property lawyer Kenneth Steinthal as a partner in its San Francisco office. Steinthal joins King & Spalding from Greenberg Traurig, where he served as head of its San Francisco office, and prior to that, as co-head of Weil, Gotshal & Manges’ IP/media practice. Also joining King & Spalding’s San Francisco IP practice, as counsel, is Joseph R. Wetzel, who practiced with Steinthal at Steinthal’s previous two firms.

“Kenny and Joe provide additional depth and breadth to our IP practice, and we welcome them to our West Coast IP team,” said Donald F. (Fritz) Zimmer, Jr., managing partner of King & Spalding’s San Francisco office. “Kenny is an outstanding litigator whose great experience and skills — particularly in handling trials and appeals in the copyright and ‘new media’ space — will contribute greatly to our efforts in the Bay area, across the United States and internationally. Joe’s experience second-chairing and managing cases gives us valued strength in this important practice area. We expect to be adding to this group in San Francisco in the near future.”

Steinthal has a high-profile international practice focusing on intellectual property rights matters arising from the distribution of audio and audiovisual content. He has litigated copyright infringement and rate-setting cases in both traditional and new media contexts. He also counsels clients on numerous copyright, music rights, DMCA safe harbor and other issues arising from his clients’ wide-scale audio and audiovisual media content distribution. He received a J.D. degree from Fordham University School of Law and a B.A. degree from Williams College.

Wetzel, who was a founding attorney of Greenberg Traurig’s San Francisco office, represents clients in complex litigation matters, including IP/media-licensing, copyright, patent, trademark, trade-secret and false-advertising litigations. He also has deep experience in defending consumer class-action matters. He received a J.D. degree from Fordham University School of Law and an A.B. degree from Brown University.

“The addition of Kenny and Joe is another important step in the continued growth and expansion of our IP practice,” said Holmes J. Hawkins III, leader of King & Spalding’s intellectual property practice. “We expect the new team in San Francisco to work very closely with our IP lawyers in Silicon Valley and around the country. While Kenny’s vast experience in the copyright and digital media sector speaks for itself, what was most attractive to us about the new group was their proven history and commitment to providing exceptional service to their clients. We’re excited to have them join our team.”

The arrival of Steinthal and Wetzel increases King & Spalding’s intellectual property team on the West Coast to 16 lawyers and patent agents, including 6 partners among whom are 2012 lateral partners William F. Abrams and Emma Maconick.

Steinthal said: “King & Spalding has an internationally-recognized intellectual property practice and is a firm on the upswing in California. The opportunity to continue to develop my practice here and join a group of such talented lawyers was a natural decision for me.”

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