Intellectual Property
Calfee has one of the largest intellectual property and information technology practices in a general practice firm within the Midwest. We have 27 attorneys registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in addition to other skilled intellectual property attorneys. Most of the lawyers in our practice have undergraduate and/or graduate degrees in mechanical, electrical, computer or chemical engineering, or chemistry, bio-chemistry or the biological sciences. Our Intellectual Property practice develops and protects the intellectual property and technology assets of a broad spectrum of clients. The group includes attorneys with multi disciplinary science and engineering backgrounds who understand the technical aspects and practical applications of intellectual property assets. Our attorneys offer a unique blend of technical capabilities and strong communication skills with pragmatic business counseling.
Calfee is honored to have been named a Go-To Law Firm for IP in a Corporate Counsel ALM survey of in-house law departments at Fortune 500 companies, as well as be repeatedly recognized as a leader in our field by Chambers USA. The most recent version of this publication has sources as saying the following about Calfee’s IP practice: “They are able to bring a unique perspective and strategy while remaining cost-effective.”
Beyond our deep and wide-ranging bench of IP professionals, Calfee employs several unique practices that are proven to add value to our clients’ patent portfolios. For example:
- We employ a client team approach that promotes continuity and knowledge of our clients’ businesses;
- We partner with our clients’ business leaders to ensure IP strategies dovetail with our clients’ business goals and objectives;
- We prepare patent applications and key prosecution documents with an eye toward use in litigation, and we employ a practice of ensuring every application is reviewed by a patent litigator;
- To ensure that our opinion letters will stand up in court if needed, we thoroughly investigate and discuss all relevant facts and employ a practice of ensuring each opinion is reviewed by at least two IP partners before it is finalized;
- We employ robust and experienced docket and support staff to ensure matters concerning our clients’ portfolios are timely communicated and addressed; and
- We provide our proprietary extranet solution, allowing our clients to instantly obtain patent docket status information and customized reports at any time, without having to call our attorneys or staff.
Serving a national and international client base, comprised of both established and entrepreneurial enterprises, including bioscience and technology transfer, Calfee provides fully integrated, high-quality legal services throughout the United States and around the world. Our attorneys work with clients to develop strategies for utilizing the client’s intellectual property, protecting trade secrets, and for dealing with adverse claims of patent, trademark and copyright infringement. Our areas of expertise include:
View our qualifications at a glance
