Practice Areas & Industries: Darby & Darby Professional Corporation

Practice/Industry Group Overview

Darby attracts attorneys with a passion for technical innovation who excel at helping clients maximize their IP assets.  If your field is highly competitive, our opinion work is thorough and insightful.  In a contentious situation?  You can rely on our litigation skills in and out of the courtroom.  Want to develop your portfolio?  We will help you build patents offensively and defensively to give you a dominant edge in your technology sector.  Need to work cooperatively with rivals toward a licensing deal, asset sale or acquisition?  We know how to make deals work for you on your own terms.

Many of our professionals have worked in the world's largest technology companies, in disciplines that include engineering, materials science, computer science and physics, allowing us to offer sophisticated advice in both the technical and business spheres.  Clients come to us with challenges in industrial machines and tools, medical instruments, diagnostic and monitoring equipment, implantable devices, automotive inventions, toys and sporting equipment, among others.

Services Available

Our firsthand familiarity with innovations in many technology sectors allows us to craft IP strategies with a competitive advantage.  We perform competitive reviews that analyze the innovations of business rivals, determine whether your patents are overly dependent on those of other companies and help extend your portfolio into all territories of importance.  We identify the course of a rival's technical and business development to help plan yours more effectively.  Equally essential is an understanding of your customers; looking closely at your audience enables us to construct an array of patents that track end-user demand and protect the most popular product features.

Darby's distinctive philosophy emphasizes that successful patent strategy is about mastering competition.  This is deftly executed through a unified service delivery system through which the prosecution and litigation practices are integrated.  Our patent prosecution skills provide nuanced litigation and licensing strategies, and we appreciate the subtleties of claim construction.  Just as important, our litigation strength results in thoughtful counseling and well drafted patent claims that avoid potential litigation risks.

We always take an inventive and integrated approach to pursuing or avoiding litigation, and we anticipate what your opponents are likely to do each step of the way.

We will always provide sophisticated advice for prioritizing and reaching your short- and long-term goals.  For example, clients often need to choose growth strategies, such as whether to develop technology internally, license it or purchase it outright.  We take a comprehensive approach and consider everything from how our clients are positioned for a sale or merger to what kind of royalties they could enjoy from a licensing program.  If our clients want to expand internationally, we have an entire department devoted to foreign patent prosecution.  Whatever your competitive goals, we can help you maintain and expand control of your technology niche by enlarging your home turf and fencing out your rivals.