McDermott Will & Emery named Silicon Valley life science IP litigator Bill Gaede global chair of the firm’s IP practice in September. Gaede has been practicing for 30 years, including 15 with 1,050-lawyer McDermott, where he also serves as managing partner for the firm’s Silicon Valley and San Francisco offices.

We caught up with him earlier this week to talk about his new role and about intellectual property more generally. This transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.