Patent Counseling and Prosecution

In Depth

Cooley’s global patent team includes more than 100 lawyers and patent professionals across the US, UK and Europe, many holding PhDs and advanced engineering degrees. As one of the largest patent teams in the US, we bring scientific and technical depth, which supports strong, defensible patent strategies that hold up in complex, fast-moving sectors.

As patent needs evolve, clients benefit from coordinated support at Cooley – without having to reset strategy at each growth stage. Our team approaches patent counseling and prosecution with a focus on commercial value, advising on portfolio development and prosecution decisions through the lens of business risk, growth priorities and investor expectations. As a company grows, our integrated platform is designed to support those shifts without disruption, delivering an end‑to‑end strategy that remains aligned with broader business goals and anticipates what’s next at every stage of the company life cycle.

We assist clients in the strategic acquisition, protection and monetization of patent rights in the US, Europe and other commercially significant markets and key jurisdictions around the world. Our team brings decades of experience drafting, prosecuting, defending and opposing patents at the USPTO and EPO, offering global, coordinated support when strategies need to flex.

We conduct diligence from both the investor and company sides, translating patent posture into clear assessments of risk and value to enhance negotiations. Since 2019, Cooley has led 1,000+ patent due diligence reviews tied to financings, M&A and capital markets activity, building pattern recognition around common portfolio vulnerabilities and practical ways to strengthen IP positions before they are tested.

When disputes arise, we pair up with our internal litigation teams to defend our clients’ patent positions across federal courts and have significant experience leading inter partes reviews (IPRs), Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and reexam proceedings at the USPTO, as well as oppositions, appeals and observations at the EPO.

Areas of practice

• Strategic patent counseling
• Patent prosecution and procurement
• Portfolio management, analysis and monetization
• Freedom-to-operate and patentability analyses; noninfringement and invalidity opinions
• Patent diligence (investor-side and company-side)
• Patent in-licensing and out-licensing
• Protecting IP during strategic collaborations and transactions
• IPRs/PTAB proceedings and reexams (USPTO)
• Oppositions, appeals and observations (EPO)
• Patent enforcement strategies and litigation