In 1980, Cooley Godward was one of the first San Francisco firms to open an office in Silicon Valley four years before Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg was born. Ever since, the firm now called Cooley has ridden the booms and busts of the technology industry, and intellectual property has been key to its growth.
Cooley’s IP practice has more than doubled in size to 110 lawyers and 50 other professionals during the past 12 years. In 2011, it filed 986 U.S. and 300 foreign patent applications. In the past five years, Cooley has handled more than 250 patent assertion and defense cases. “It’s not happenstance,” said Frank Pietrantonio, the head of the firm’s IP section. “Our client base being technology focused…led Cooley over the years to really focus on developing an IP presence.”
