Brian C. Ellsworth

• Client team leader in a $3.45 billion enterprise business acquisition, which involved more than 5,000 employees in more than 50 countries, with more than 100 facilities. Conducted full-scale due diligence of the acquired party’s intellectual property assets, which spanned more than 3,500 patent references, 700 trademarks, numerous agreements and complex licenses, and other forms of IP.
• Client team leader and strategic counsel to a global leader in online commerce, data analytics, machine learning, and mobile application content delivery.
• Client team leader and strategic counsel to world leader in team collaboration tools and services.
• Provided strategic AI patent counsel to a global leader in team collaboration software, leading the rapid development and prosecution of an expanding patent portfolio covering AI-powered products and platform capabilities, including preparing and filing approximately 160 original applications per year directed to generative AI, agentic AI systems, machine learning, cloud computing, and data science innovations.
• Provided strategic AI patent counsel to a world leader in audio technologies, protecting AI-powered audio, video, and collaboration technologies, including innovations involving generative AI, machine learning and deep neural networks, digital signal processing, intelligent audio enhancement, computer vision, and advanced conferencing systems.
• Advised a global specialty insurance company on AI governance and the protection of AI-enabled innovations, including designing enterprise AI governance frameworks, AI policies, risk-assessment methodologies, and review processes, while simultaneously developing and protecting high-value AI-enabled inventions through strategic patent portfolio development.
• Advised a health technology company on patent strategy and protection of software-enabled health care technologies, including invention harvesting, portfolio development, and counseling on AI-enabled digital health innovations.
• Advised a global energy technology company on AI governance initiatives and patent strategy for AI-enabled innovations, including AI-assisted drilling systems, robotics, automation, and generative AI risk management.
• Lead patent counsel defending a national law firm in a high-stakes professional liability matter brought by a former patent client seeking more than $100 million.
• Led strategic IPR on behalf of a warehouse automation client related to a robotic storage and delivery system. The PTAB instituted the IPR and all challenged claims were found unpatentable in 2025.
• Strategic counsel to a world technology and manufacturing leader that provides aerospace products; control technologies for buildings, homes, and industry; automotive products; electronic package cooling; and specialty ballistic composite materials.

Brian Ellsworth is an accomplished patent strategist and prosecutor who manages domestic and international patent portfolios for publicly traded companies and private equity-backed businesses. Brian leads strategic drafting efforts to protect essential technologies and supports technology-focused transactions through intellectual property counseling and diligence. Brian serves on Alston & Bird’s Partners Committee, is a co-chair of the Generative AI Task Force, and is the immediate past co-leader of the Patents Group.

Brian focuses his practice on building sophisticated patent programs for emerging software companies in various areas including artificial intelligence such as generative AI and large language models, machine learning and data science, deep neural networks, cloud computing, autonomous systems, and other advanced software platforms. He advises management teams and boards on AI governance, compliance, and risk issues spanning intellectual property and technology transactions; privacy, cybersecurity, and data governance; and emerging regulatory requirements. His experience includes counseling clients on generative AI adoption, enterprise AI governance frameworks, AI risk assessment and escalation processes, model context protocol (MCP) and software licensing matters, and the responsible deployment of AI technologies.

Bar Admissions

• North Carolina
• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Education

• Wake Forest University (J.D., 2002)
• University of Michigan (B.S.M.E., 1997)

Memberships