Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt
Encyclopedia
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
law firm
Law firm
A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to represent clients in civil or criminal cases, business transactions, and other...
in Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
. Founded in 1968, Oblon Spivak is the eighth largest law firm in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
with approximately 100 attorneys. The law firm performs large volumes of trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
and patent prosecution
Patent prosecution
Patent prosecution describes the interaction between applicants and their representatives, and a patent office with regard to a patent, or an application for a patent...
, as well as litigation (primarily in intellectual property lawsuits); having been ranked first among law firms based on the number of utility patent applications filed per annum for 15 years running, including the years 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, as well as having been ranked first among law firms based on the number of trademark application filed for 2001.
Notable attorneys at Oblon, Spivak include Arthur Neustadt, who argued successfully before the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
on behalf of respondent Shoketsu Kinzoku K.K. in the case of Festo Corp. v. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co.
Festo Corp. v. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co.
Festo Corp. v Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co., 535 U.S. 722 , was a United States Supreme Court decision in the area of patent law that examined the relationship between the doctrine of equivalents Festo Corp. v Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co., 535 U.S. 722 (2002), was a United States...
, as well as Charles "Chico" Gholz, a well-known expert in the field of patent interference
Interference proceeding
An interference proceeding, also known as priority contest, is an inter partes proceeding to determine the priority issues of multiple patent applications. It is a unique procedure in the patent law of the United States. Unlike in most other countries which have adopted the first-to-file system,...
practice. The firm's litigation practice has made waves for naming its competitors and using comparative advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
to gain business among corporate patent litigants, a practice that previously had been rare among law firms.
The firm's well known reexamination/reissue practice group publishes the blog Patents Post Grant Blog including the commentary of partners Stephen G. Kunin and Scott Mckeown.
Originally headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, the firm constructed an office building adjacent the new campus of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
United States Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that issues patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification.The USPTO is based in Alexandria, Virginia,...
in Alexandria, relocating there in 2003.