Patents

Our Practice

A company’s patents typically are the primary driving force behind its intellectual property rights and are among its most valuable assets. Strong patent rights can protect products and processes, technology, services, and the investments made in researching and developing those assets. Strong patents can provide new access to capital, lead to successful exit strategies for founders and investors, and offer significant legal and competitive advantages in the U.S. and internationally for businesses of all sizes.

Snell & Wilmer’s intellectual property attorneys regularly assist clients with their patent drafting and patent prosecution needs. Our patent attorneys focus on understanding our clients’ business, products, and services in depth. We work closely with our clients to develop strong patent applications and effective patent strategies, and to help them create and manage sophisticated and defensible patent portfolios that support their primary business objectives. We do this domestically within the United States and have deep and trusted relationships with law firms and attorneys throughout the world that we work with to extend our client’s patent protection internationally.

Because our patent attorneys have technical degrees in variety of science and engineering disciplines — with several holding master’s or doctoral degrees in these disciplines — our group can draft patents that consider the complex and nuanced nature of the technologies involved, as well as the relevant laws and regulations.

Clients We Serve and Areas of Service

Our intellectual property attorneys assist a wide variety of clients, from solo inventors, to startups, to middle-market companies, to the Fortune 500. We have drafted and prosecuted patents for companies within fields such as the consumer products, electronics, biotechnology, chemicals, medical devices, industrial manufacturing, robotics, computer software, finance, renewable energy, automotive, aircraft, and agriculture, among many others. We have extensive experience in protecting innovations in business methods and navigating hurdles around patent eligibility.

On the transactional side, our patent attorneys regularly counsel clients and prepare and negotiate a variety of license, research and development, manufacturing, and other commercial agreements to help clients exploit patented technologies. Our attorneys also perform patent due diligence for transactions such as the sale or licensing of patent portfolios, negotiate representations and warranties in full-scale mergers and acquisitions, and collaborate with corporate counsel.

On the litigation side, we are experienced in all phases of patent litigation, from pre-litigation counseling, sending (or responding to) demand letters, Markman proceedings, post-grant review, inter partes review, discovery, trial, and appeal. Our experience includes not only asserting and defending patent infringement actions, but also making effective use of the malicious prosecution and abuse of process laws to assist our clients in fighting non-manufacturing patentees. We have taken our clients through mediation and arbitration, temporary restraining order/preliminary injunction hearings, dismissal proceedings, summary judgment, trial, and appeals. We have skillfully tried numerous patent cases in U.S. federal district courts in “bet the company” cases and before the International Trade Commission (ITC) where entire industries were at stake

Why Clients Select Us

The comprehensive, full-service nature of our patent practice — from patent drafting and prosecution to litigation and inter partes review, helping clients commercially exploit their patent rights — gives us a wide “field of vision” that holistically considers patent commercialization and potential litigation, rather than focusing merely on exclusivity. Several of our attorneys have been lead counsel on patent reexaminations, which helps us better counsel our clients in complex patent prosecution and litigation matters.

Snell & Wilmer’s patent attorneys are recognized in national legal rankings such as Super Lawyers®, The Best Lawyers in America®, IAM Patent 1000, Best Lawyers®, and The Legal 500 US. Our lawyers participate in a variety of professional organizations including various sections of the organized Bar as well as: