Patents
You invent it. We’ll help you protect it and enforce it.
To be patentable, the law says an invention must be novel, non-obvious, and useful. The attorneys at Howard & Howard take that definition one step further—we think every patent should be strategic.
From offices across the U.S., and with assistance from a network of agents outside the U.S. when needed, our patent lawyers secure utility and design patents in a broad array of technologies, such as:
- Automotive and industrial vehicle components
- Industrial equipment
- Medical devices and methods
- Chemistry and materials
- Robotics
- Safety and testing equipment
- Waste processing equipment
- Consumer products
- Electrical systems
- Fiber optics
- Computer algorithms and "methods of doing business"
Clients—including startups, academia, industrial manufacturers, and multinational corporations—benefit not only from our lawyers’ technical experience, but also our legal knowledge and real-world perspective.
Not every invention is patentable, nor should every patentable invention be patented. We counsel clients on financial, competitive, practical, and other strategic considerations, and if the decision is made to proceed, we guide them through every stage of the patent preparation and application process:
- Interviewing inventors and contributors
- Reviewing notes and drawings
- Researching prior art and public disclosures
- Drafting applications and requisite claims and illustrations
- Adhering to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and foreign jurisdictions’ submission requirements and filing deadlines
- Responding to patent examiners’ objections
When conflicts and obstacles arise, we advocate for our clients in Patent Trial and Appeal Board proceedings, involving:
- Inter partes reviews
- Post-grant reviews
- Appeals of adverse examiner decisions, reissue applications, and reexaminations of issued patents
- Covered Business Method Reviews
And when patent rights are violated or infringed upon, a patent’s validity is challenged, or first-to-file disputes arise, our IP litigators seek to enforce our clients’ interests in court, leveraging cost-effective alternative dispute resolution options whenever possible.
Patents can be a company’s most valuable assets, and analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of individual patents or an entire portfolio is essential for identifying and protecting revenue streams. In patentability assessments, patent valuation in merger and acquisition due diligence, or maintenance and management of issued patents, the IP attorneys at Howard & Howard leave no stone unturned.