We have extensive experience with the rules and regulations covering development and commercialization of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, including the standards under FDA regulations and the Lanham Act.

Our clients include Fortune 500 companies, small to midsize companies, start-up and pre-IPO companies, venture capital and other investment companies, individuals and universities.

Experience
We offer top-quality patent service in a broad range of technical disciplines. Our attorneys, including eight Ph.D.s and eight Masters, have considerable technical, in addition to legal, experience:

• Electrical and computer sciences
• Chemical sciences including organic and inorganic chemistry
• Biology, molecular biology, immunology and related biotechnologies
• Mechanical sciences
• Physics/Mathematics
• Aerospace Sciences
• Business Methodologies

Many of our attorneys have highly specialized legal backgrounds:

• 19 former U.S. Patent Examiners
• 2 former Federal Circuit Clerks
• 3 former District Court Clerks
• 3 former United States Circuit Court of Appeals Clerks
• 1 former Federal Circuit Court Intern
• 1 former Administrative Patent Judge, Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
• 1 former Special Trial Counsel for the DOJ Intellectual Property Litigation Section
• 5 former In-House Patent Counsel

Patent Prosecution

• Registered Patent Attorneys:   All of our patent prosecution is handled by attorneys and agents registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO").  We also coordinate international patent filings through foreign filing specialists and the firm's network of foreign agents.
• Complex Prosecution:   We routinely handle complex prosecution matters including interferences, reexaminations, reissues, protests, appeals to the Board of Patent Appeals & Interferences ("Board") and appeals from the Board to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. ("Federal Circuit"). 
  
  Our interference group has successfully represented both junior and senior parties in biotech, chemical, pharmaceutical and electrical interferences, including: 
  • protecting patent portfolios for pharmaceutical companies
  • drafting and prosecuting to declaration of interference (four-party)  a pioneering patent relating to a cervical cancer vaccine on behalf  of a prominent university licensed by a well-known biotechnology  company
  • representing a major research university in an interference  involving real-time polymerase chain reaction techniques
  • successfully representing a Nobel Prize winner in nanotechnology

Counseling on Patentability, Infringement and Validity of Patents

• Counseling:  A cornerstone of our patent practice is counseling clients on patent strategy.  We work with clients to develop policies and procedures for assuring that an invention is fully documented from conception through reduction to practice and that patent protection is timely obtained.
• Due Diligence:  We are experienced in due diligence investigations and intellectual property audits to assist and support client business deals.  We not only design patent audits and investigations, but are also involved in all aspects of completing them.
• Opinions of Counsel:  We provide advice to clients on allegations of patent infringement and patent invalidity, including rendering written opinions.  We also provide guidance to our clients on enforcing their patent portfolios against infringers.

Patent Litigation

• We are experienced in every tribunal in which patent issues are heard, including District Courts, Federal Circuit, Court of Federal Claims, International Trade Commission and the Board of Patent Appeals & Interferences.
  
  Our experience includes:
  • representing clients on appeal in the U.S. Supreme Court
  • trying more than 30 patent infringement cases in District Courts
  • handling cases in the Court of Federal Claims
  • achieving a high percentage of success in appeals from the Board  of Patent Appeals to the Federal Circuit
• Experience in "Rocket Dockets":  We are the largest Virginia-based law firm and handle all aspects of patent and other intellectual property litigation as well as related claims, such as unfair competition and antitrust, in the Eastern District of Virginia, colloquially referred to as the "Rocket Docket" because of the speed at which cases move through the system. 
  
  For many years we have represented clients in the Eastern District of Texas, which has recently become a hot spot for patent litigation, and are currently handling patent infringement suits, as well as litigations in related areas, in Texas.
• Experience in the ITC:  We have handled patent infringement cases in the International Trade Commission ("ITC"), which typically take twelve to eighteen months for completion.
• Claims Against the Government:  We are experienced in handling patent claims involving the U.S. government, including administrative claims and lawsuits in the Court of Federal Claims.

Licensing and Business Transactions
We handle the structuring of licensing and other technology transfer agreements as well as other business transactions, including counseling on any antitrust implications.  We also deal with federal enforcement agencies that scrutinize transactions involving intellectual property rights, including the U.S. Department of Justice.