SAN FRANCISCO — The co-chair of Lawyers for Obama in the last presidential election is headed from Silicon Valley to Washington D.C.

Covington & Burling partner Andrew Byrnes will join Obama administration as chief of staff of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office after 16 years of practicing intellectual property law in the Valley. Prior to joining Covington in 2008, Byrnes was a shareholder at Heller Ehrman.