Laurence B. Dietrick secures patent protection for clients at the forefront of electrical engineering innovation in such industries as computing, optics, controls, and semiconductor fabrication. He quickly understands his clients' technologies, drawing upon his previous experience in patent prosecution, systems engineering experience at Motorola, Inc., and his efforts in designing an award-winning radio frequency jamming system. He brings the same passion and dedication to his client work that earned him wide-ranging honors and recognition in his study of law and engineering. Clients find him an effective advocate, whose excellence in written and oral argument was often recognized during law school.
Recent Client Work:
Secured allowance of a U.S. patent application on behalf of a leading developer of processor technologies by arguing the non-obviousness of an innovation related to voltage and frequency scaling in processor applications.
Secured acceptance of an Australian patent application relating to a battery charger control circuit on behalf of a leading manufacturer of vacuum cleaners and accessories.
Prepared a patent application relating to detection of scratches and other defects on disk storage media on behalf of a prominent designer of integrated circuits.
Representative Experience
Mr. Dietrick has handled patent matters for clients in such areas of electrical engineering as:
Computer architecture and networking
Process control systems
Radio frequency communication circuits and systems
Spectroscopy
Digital signal processing
Electromechanical devices
Semiconductor devices and fabrication techniques
Electric motor drives
Mr. Dietrick has also been involved in patent prosecution in related areas such as graphics processing technology and business methods.
Background and Credentials:
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Dietrick gained additional experience preparing patent applications, responding to office actions, and supporting litigation matters while splitting summer clerkships between two general practice law firms. While completing his undergraduate work, he was a systems engineering intern at Motorola, Inc., working primarily with configuration, programming, and troubleshooting of two-way radio systems.
Mr. Dietrick received his J.D., summa cum laude, from the University of Illinois College of Law in 2009, and was elected into the Order of the Coif following his graduation. During his third year of law school, Mr. Dietrick participated in the Patent Pilot Program, where he drafted a patent application for student inventors who participated in a University innovation competition. He also served as an Associate Editor of the Illinois Law Review.
Mr. Dietrick won several CALI Excellence for the Future Awards during law school, including one such award for his work in the school's Patent Prosecution course. During his first year of law school, Mr. Dietrick was recognized with the Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP Best Advocate Award for outstanding performance in written and oral advocacy, and the Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP Award for Excellence in Legal Writing. He was also a Lamet Scholarship recipient and was recognized as a Harno Scholar. During the fall 2008 semester, Mr. Dietrick participated in the law school's exchange program with Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Leuven, Belgium, where he studied international and European taxation and trade law.
Mr. Dietrick received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering, with high honors, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2006. During the fall 2005 semester, Mr. Dietrick participated in a team project involving the design and construction of a radio frequency signal jammer for a remote-controlled car. He assisted in the design of oscillator and active buffer circuits for the jammer, and the project won the Best Engineered Award that semester.
In recognition of his undergraduate achievements, Mr. Dietrick was awarded the Bronze Tablet designation, which is reserved for the top three percent of the University's graduating class. He was also a member of several honor societies, including Eta Kappa Nu, Tau Beta Pi, Golden Key, and Alpha Lambda Delta.