Boston, MA, November 1, 2025 — Young Basile Hanlon & MacFarlane today announced a game-changing addition to its Boston office with founding partner Dr. J. Robin Rohlicek and Zachary Rimkunas of Occhiuti & Rohlicek LLP. The move brings nearly 50 years of combined patent expertise, including Dr. Rohlicek’s extraordinary five-decade journey in AI to Young Basile’s growing national practice.
The strategic addition strengthens Young Basile’s presence in Boston just as the city solidifies its position as one of the nation’s fastest-growing AI hubs, home to breakthrough research at MIT and Harvard, over 300 AI companies spanning language processing, life sciences applications, and robotics engineering, and billions in venture investment. This positions the firm to serve innovators at the cutting edge of technology while reinforcing Young Basile’s differentiated approach: senior partner attention, deep technical fluency, and transparent pricing that delivers exceptional value without the overhead of traditional Big Law firms.
“What excites me most about Robin and Zach joining us isn’t just their technical expertise, though that’s exceptional,” said Andrew R. Basile, Jr., President of Young Basile. “It’s that they understand innovation from the inside out. Robin has lived the complete arc from AI researcher to venture executive to IP strategist. That perspective, knowing how technology actually gets built and commercialized, is what differentiates great patent counsel from merely good.”
Dr. Rohlicek, who previously served as a Principal at Fish & Richardson before co-managing O&R for 18 years, sees the move as a natural evolution. “The best patent work happens when attorneys truly understand their clients’ technology and business goals. Young Basile has built a culture around this principle, assembling partners who are engineers and scientists first, lawyers second. That resonates with how Zach and I have always practiced,” said Dr. Rohlicek.
Dr. Rohlicek is an MIT-trained scientist with a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. His academic and research work included 10 years leading R&D in speech and natural language processing on government-funded projects, serving as VP of two commercial ventures, and contributing to foundational AI technologies before transitioning to patent law nearly three decades ago. Today, he remains at the forefront of technology, serving as a trusted advisor to CTOs and engineering leaders navigating complex IP decisions in emerging fields such as generative AI and autonomous systems.
Mr. Rimkunas brings 16 years of excellence in patent prosecution, combining graduate-level electrical engineering expertise with a deep understanding of business strategy. His unique background, spanning government-funded R&D projects and early-stage company experience, enables him to see both the technical and commercial dimensions of innovation. Zach’s practice encompasses critical technology areas, including computer hardware and software architectures, telecommunication systems, aerospace & defense, mechanical systems, and advanced signal processing, serving clients from pre-funding startups to established technology leaders.
“Many attorneys can draft good patents, but Robin and Zach operate at a different level entirely,” said Andrew R. Basile, Jr., President of Young Basile. “Robin’s journey from foundational AI research to modern applications gives him an unparalleled perspective on where technology is heading. Combined with Zach’s ability to translate complex innovations into strategic IP assets, they offer something invaluable: patent counsel who truly understand both the science and the business. In fast-moving fields like AI and autonomous systems, that depth of understanding is the difference between merely filing patents and building defensive moats that drive company valuations.”
“The pace of innovation in AI, quantum computing, and other deep tech fields demands patent counsel who can keep up with and anticipate technological and commercial change,” said Dr. Rohlicek. “Joining Young Basile allows us to offer our clients something unique: boutique-firm attention with big-firm capabilities. Our clients will maintain their direct technical-to-legal dialogue with us while gaining access to Young Basile’s full platform, including litigation firepower, global filing capabilities, tech transactional support, and strategic licensing expertise. This combination positions our clients to not just protect their innovations, but to weaponize their IP strategically in increasingly competitive markets.”
The expansion strengthens Young Basile’s capabilities in several strategic areas:
- AI & Machine Learning: Deep expertise spanning from foundational ML to generative AI applications
- Quantum Computing: Patent strategy for next-generation computing platforms
- Telecommunications: Standard-essential patents and wireless technologies
- Software Architecture: Cloud-native, edge computing, and distributed systems
With this addition, Young Basile now fields one of the deepest technical benches in patent law, with over 25 registered patent attorneys and agents holding advanced degrees from leading institutions.
About Young Basile
Young Basile is a Chambers-ranked, premier intellectual property law firm representing many of the world’s most innovative companies, including Google, Apple, GoPro, and Nissan. With offices in Michigan, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Texas, the firm provides strategic IP counseling, patent and trademark prosecution, licensing, and litigation services to clients ranging from venture-backed startups to Fortune 500 leaders. The firm’s president, Andrew R. Basile, Jr., was recently ranked the 15th top-performing patent attorney in the United States by Patexia. Young Basile’s attorneys have prepared and prosecuted thousands of patents in cutting-edge fields, including autonomous vehicles, quantum computing, video compression, and artificial intelligence.
For more information, visit www.youngbasile.com.
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