Patent reform is being very good to Washington-based Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox. The 107-lawyer firm specializes in patent re-examinations and interferences at the patent office, and the America Invents Act will add new procedures for challenging patents. “The AIA is making opportunities that few firms are equipped to deal with,” said Sterne Kessler managing director Mike Ray. “Our clients need specialists more than ever, not generalists,” Ray said.
Sterne Kessler often defends patents challenged by infringement defendants, while other firms represent the client in the concurrent litigation. In one high-profile example, the firm successfully defended in a re-examination i4i L.P.’s patents. Microsoft Corp. had challenged the patents after being sued for infringement by i4i. When the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, lead counsel for i4i in the litigation, was able to use Sterne Kessler’s work to help it win a unanimous opinion for i4i.
