Patent: Electronics & Software

Attorneys in Steptoe & Johnson LLP’s patent group view the ultimate audience of patents to be the business people who must evaluate the business merits of the concepts and, if necessary, the judges and juries that may rule on the scope of the patent. Our patent prosecution process thus draws on experience from both the courtroom and the private sector to take complicated technical issues and present them as simple, easy-to-understand concepts; we remove the question marks. The easier a patent is to understand, the more respect it will have in the marketplace.

Steptoe has successfully obtained patents for clients of all sizes, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to small start-up ventures.

Steptoe combines one of the strongest general litigation practices in the country with the boutique skills of our patent litigators. The resulting synergy has achieved numerous favorable results for our clients in the electronics and software disciplines.

Steptoe attorneys have successfully litigated some significant patents cases, including:

• Priceline.com v. Microsoft: "Name Your Own Price" patent
• Amazon.com v. barnesandnoble.com: the "One-Click" patent

In addition, Steptoe attorneys regularly obtain patent protection for software and business methods.

Steptoe's electronics and software practice provides a full range of litigation, counseling, licensing, and patent prosecution services in all fields of the electronic and software sectors, including:

• Digital and analog circuits
• Semiconductor design
• Optics
• Cryptography
• Telecommunications
• Computer software
• Business methods
• Internet operations