Our attorneys collectively possess more than forty years of experience with patent prosecution, before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, with respect to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (“PCT”), and before various National Patent Offices worldwide.
Technical Expertise
Our attorneys have technical backgrounds in chemistry, nuclear engineering, mechanical engineering, materials science, electrical engineering, and computer science.
With such diverse technical backgrounds, we have assisted, and continue to assist, clients with various technologies including compositions of matter, chemical processes, fuel additives, semiconductor manufacturing processes, photolithography, optics, textiles, photoluminescent materials, cameras, charged couple devices, computer hardware, computer software, business methods, optical disc storage, magnetic disc storage, hard disc drives, magnetic memory, steels, steel manufacturing, metallurgy, nanomaterials, recreational vehicles, automobiles, airplanes, locomotives, medical devices, contrast imaging devices, consumer electronics, ceramics, textiles, and many others.
Utility Patent Prosecution and Counseling
We provide a full range of services for patent prosecution from the drafting of utility patent applications through to the issuance of patents from those applications.
Not only do we provide the full range of services in connection with the prosecution of utility patent applications, we also assist clients with developing strategies for protecting product lines. This includes helping with the establishment of internal guidelines and policies that may help clients with their patent needs. In many cases, we partner with clients to act as their in-house patent advisors.
Given the proximity of both of our offices to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, we routinely conduct interviews with the patent examiners at the Patent Office to further prosecution of patent applications. In many instances, an in-person interview may help to resolve questions that expedite prosecution and reduce the overall cost of prosecution in the United States.
Design Patent Protection
We have considerable experience with the preparation and prosecution of design patent applications before the U.S. Patent Office and also before other patent offices worldwide and have prepared and prosecuted hundreds of design patent applications.
Design patent protection may be an invaluable tool to assist companies with protecting their intellectual property. Design patents not only provide protection for the ornamental appearance of inventions, but also may serve as a basis for protecting designs as valuable trademarks for clients. We have considerable experience with how to rely on design patents to maximize a client’s intellectual property interests.
With respect to design patent protection, we also provide assistance and guidance for clients as to how best to rely on design patent protection to maximize rights with respect to inventions that also are protected by utility patents. In the current technical climate, attractive designs for products can significantly enhance a client’s intellectual property portfolio.
International Patent Prosecution
International patent protection is a necessity for clients that operate in several countries. We have considerable experience with the prosecution of patents through the PCT as well as the protection of patents under the Paris Convention.
Given the breadth of our clients, we routinely file applications in foreign countries and assist clients to obtain patents in the United States based on foreign priority applications. We have strong relationships with many law firms outside of the United States with whom we have partnered to provide our clients with a seamless operation internationally.
Post Issuance Experience
Not only do we assist our clients during the prosecution phase of patent protection, we also assist clients with post-issuance activities, which, in the United States, includes both ex parte and inter partes reexamination proceedings.
We stand ready to assist, not only with defending our client’s patents when third party
reexaminations are filed, but also when our clients request assistance with challenging the patents of third parties. We also provide tactical advice concerning the filings of third party requests and their impact on potential litigation in the United States.