Partnering With Innovative Companies and Research Entities for Over Three Decades

From software to semiconductors, and biotechnology to business methods, Fenwick's patent professionals have served innovative companies and research entities across the globe for over three decades.

Fenwick has more than 60 patent professionals, many with advanced technical degrees and actual business experience in disciplines such as chemistry, molecular biology, electrical engineering and computer science. Our patent practice involves patent prosecution, strategic patent counseling, open source counseling, post-grant proceedings, due diligence and patent litigation.

File 3,500 – 4,000 applications every year
Work directly with our clients’ engineers and programmers to implement ongoing patent filing programs
Develop invention and innovation programs to provide incentives for engineers to identify patentable technology
Organize and participate in invention committees to strategically evaluate technology and to proactively identify areas in which to focus patent protection
Handle portfolio management—for U.S. patents and international patents—for leading technology companies in the U.S. and abroad
Strong IP audit practice that regularly performs:
Strategic analysis of patent portfolios
Pre-acquisition and pre-investment due diligence
Analysis of competitors' patent portfolios for license negotiations or avoidance of infringement
Preparation of clearance opinions where appropriate
Unparalleled deal support due to superior knowledge of technologies, which permits a direct interface with engineers and technical experts

File 3,500 – 4,000 applications every year
Work directly with our clients’ engineers and programmers to implement ongoing patent filing programs
Develop invention and innovation programs to provide incentives for engineers to identify patentable technology
Organize and participate in invention committees to strategically evaluate technology and to proactively identify areas in which to focus patent protection
Handle portfolio management—for U.S. patents and international patents—for leading technology companies in the U.S. and abroad
Strong IP audit practice that regularly performs:
Strategic analysis of patent portfolios
Pre-acquisition and pre-investment due diligence
Analysis of competitors' patent portfolios for license negotiations or avoidance of infringement
Preparation of clearance opinions where appropriate
Unparalleled deal support due to superior knowledge of technologies, which permits a direct interface with engineers and technical experts

Enhance efficiency and reduce costs through our innovative patent operations model, including providing routine patent services from our back office in Vermont and an entirely paperless system
Include collaboration with management on design and implementation
- Address business development, marketing, engineering and production interests in an integrated manner
- Ensure mechanisms are in place for executive-level endorsement and inspiration to ensure successful implementation
- Constant attention to cost-benefit balance of IP activity with goal that IP is seen as a profit center
- Example: Developed internal procedure for immediate and regularized processing of patent demand letters, which reduced internal cost and stress, and shifted command of the situation in the company's favor
Consider potential uses of patents
- Defensive patents
- Offensive patents
- Technology development/exchange
- Licensing
- Considers what your competitors are doing
- Strategies are two-sided: clients' and their competitors'
Include patent portfolio analysis and IP audits, which are often a part of the IP due diligence we perform in connection with our mergers and acquisitions practice

Enhance efficiency and reduce costs through our innovative patent operations model, including providing routine patent services from our back office in Vermont and an entirely paperless system
Include collaboration with management on design and implementation
- Address business development, marketing, engineering and production interests in an integrated manner
- Ensure mechanisms are in place for executive-level endorsement and inspiration to ensure successful implementation
- Constant attention to cost-benefit balance of IP activity with goal that IP is seen as a profit center
- Example: Developed internal procedure for immediate and regularized processing of patent demand letters, which reduced internal cost and stress, and shifted command of the situation in the company's favor
Consider potential uses of patents
- Defensive patents
- Offensive patents
- Technology development/exchange
- Licensing
- Considers what your competitors are doing
- Strategies are two-sided: clients' and their competitors'
Include patent portfolio analysis and IP audits, which are often a part of the IP due diligence we perform in connection with our mergers and acquisitions practice

"If you were to draw a chart describing Fenwick’s patent practice, everything would be up and to the right; the Silicon Valley éminence grise is doing all the right things when it comes to patent strategy, transactions, litigation and post-grant proceedings."

IAM Patent 1000

2019 Edition

Practice members