Intellectual Property

Patent Prosecution

Preti Flaherty’s Intellectual Property Group works with clients to develop creative and cost-effective strategies for securing, maintaining, commercializing and enforcing rights in patents and other intellectual property throughout the United States and the world. We represent clients ranging from multinational corporations and major research institutions to start-ups and entrepreneurs, helping them make sensible decisions on intellectual property issues based on our solid understanding of those issues and their business implications. By applying our extensive legal and technical experience to clients’ intellectual property needs, we provide businesses with a competitive edge and help them monetize valuable assets. We regularly help clients with a variety of matters including:

  • Patent prosecution
  • U.S. and international patent applications
  • Assessing protectability
  • Reissue and reexamination proceedings
  • Patent infringement and patent validity studies
  • Advising on portfolio management
  • Patent policies and procedures
  • Negotiation and preparation of IP agreements
  • Patent clearance and freedom-to-operate studies
  • Infringement, validity and ownership issues
  • Patent litigation

Legal and technical know-how

Our team brings decades of experience in both the technical and legal aspects of technology development and IP asset management. Most members of our group hold at least one technical degree and several hold advanced technical degrees. We are especially active in the fields of electronics, mechanics, biotechnology, medical devices, computer systems, software, electro-optics, materials and chemistry. The technical understanding and sophistication of our attorneys allows us to efficiently prepare patent applications in the most complex technologies, and provide strategic and creative solutions to meet a wide range of intellection property needs and objectives.

Firm Highlights

News

Remembering Preti Flaherty Founder Robert F. Preti

We at Preti Flaherty are deeply saddened by the passing of one of our founding partners and longtime friend, Robert Preti. Bob was not just a part of our firm; he was a part...

News

Preti Flaherty Welcomes Employment Law Attorney Brooke K. Haley to the Firm

Preti Flaherty is pleased to announce that attorney Brooke K. Haley has joined the firm’s Employment Law Practice Group as a Partner. Brooke will work primarily from the firm’s Portland office. Brooke’s practice centers...

Press Coverage

Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting Wins Public Records Dispute with York County Jail

Press Coverage

Maine Media Organizations Oppose Foreign Electioneering Ban

Question 2 on Maine’s November ballot asserts that corporations owned or controlled by foreign governments do not have the same rights to political speech as companies here in the U.S. and that foreign governments should be prohibited...

News

David Van Slyke Reappointed by Governor Mills to New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission

Van Slyke is one of five Commissioners from the state of Maine overseeing NEIWPCC PORTLAND—Preti Flaherty’s Managing Partner, David Van Slyke, has been reappointed by Governor Janet T. Mills to the New England Interstate...

Publication

November 7, 2023 Election Results

Maine’s November 2023 statewide elections were exclusively referendum questions, four were citizen initiatives, and four were proposed amendments to the Maine Constitution. Of these, Questions 5, 7 and 8 were placed on the ballot...

Publication

Maine Workers’ Compensation Update - November 2023

The following is an overview of developments with respect to proposed legislation as well as new procedures on independent contractor determinations, medical fee schedule updates, and the use of updated Board forms, including medical...

Press Coverage

Bangor Releases Unredacted Files on Effort to Close Homeless Encampment

Following a five-month effort by local media, represented by attorney Sigmund Schutz, chair of Preti Flaherty's Media Law Practice Group, the City of Bangor finally released unredacted records related to its attempts to close a...

Event

Eric Osterberg Presents Webinar on IP Rights and Infringement With Podcasts and Livestreaming

Eric Osterberg joins a panel of industry experts to present “IP Rights and Infringement With Podcasts and Livestreaming.” The panel focuses on guiding intellectual property counsel on the IP issues that arise when creating...

Publication

FRBP 9006 Doesn't Take Vacations

Bodie Colwell of Preti Flaherty’s Creditors' Rights & Bankruptcy Group, has authored the article "FRBP 9006 Doesn't Take Vacations," appearing in the October 2023 issue of the American Bankruptcy Institute's Young & New Members Committee newsletter...