Polsinelli’s Patent Preparation and Prosecution team understands and values the importance of each client’s IP assets. Our team of talented professionals has the breadth of skill and vast industry experience to tailor our strategies to meet each client’s individual needs and handle the day-to-day management of large patent estates. We share our clients’ passions and enjoy learning what they have invented. No project is too big or too small as we have counseled clients from startups to investors, universities and Fortune 100 companies.

We help our clients build value by developing offensive and defensive patent strategies. We obtain patents for core innovations and build and manage large portfolios of patents across a broad spectrum of scientific and technological disciplines. At the core, Polsinelli prepares and prosecutes patent applications in the U.S. and guides global portfolio management. To build effective and defensible IP strategies, we believe that it is important to do more than prosecute patents. We take a business-oriented approach to IP.

Patent prosecution has never been more challenging or important. With the America Invents Act (AIA) enactment and global emphasis on innovation, patent protection continues to evolve. Polsinelli has a deep bench of registered patent professionals with the comprehensive backgrounds necessary to protect ideas across numerous industries in this evolving landscape. Many of our professionals have advanced degrees and extensive scientific or engineering work experience, including significant depth in the areas of:

Our attorneys understand that patents are business assets, and we help clients beyond maximizing the value of their portfolios. Our patent professionals routinely handle patient-centric business transactions, enforcement actions, IP due diligence in financing transactions and mergers and acquisitions, post-grant proceedings within the USPTO, freedom-to-operate assessments and strategy, and licensing and patent litigation. This diversity of experience and the accompanying insights are also brought to bear when drafting and prosecuting patents.

Ultimately, we understand that clients desire valuable assets that attract financing or a strategic partner, ward off competition, used for defensive purposes and can be successfully asserted when necessary. Having a team of attorneys with the ability to do more for our clients than prosecute patents enables us to advise our clients on the best path to protect their interests.

We received national rankings from U.S. News & World Report 2023 “Best Law Firms” for Patent Law and in the 2025 IAM Patent 1000 for patent prosecution. We are ranked among the Top 1-2% of patent firms by Patexia Patent Prosecution Intelligence Report, 2022 Edition. Rankings were taken from a study of 5,000 firms. We are also named on Juristat “Firms with Most Applications in Front of Difficult Examiners,” “24 Firms with the Best Track Record Against Difficult Examiners” and “Top Patent Firms” lists, 2021.

Recent rankings include:

  • 2025 Patent Prosecution Intelligence Report where Polsinelli received the following rankings:
    • #14 – Best Performing Law Firms in High-Technology
    • #26 – Most Active Firms Overall in Biotechnology
    • #32 – Most Active Firms Overall
    • #33 – Best Performing Law Firms Overall
    • #34 – Most Active Firms Overall in High-Technology
    • #42 – Best Performing Law Firms in Biotechnology
  • 2024 Patent Litigation Intelligence Report, Polsinelli received the following rankings:
    • #49 – Most Active Firms representing Defendants
    • #56 – Best Performing Firms representing Plaintiffs
    • #60 – Best Performing Firms Overall
    • #63 – Best Performing Firms representing Defendants
    • #74 – Most Active Firms Overall
  • Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Patent Prosecution, District of Columbia, 2023
Related Capabilities
Biotechnology & Life Sciences Patent ProsecutionChemical Intellectual PropertyElectrical Engineering & Computer Science Patent ProsecutionIntellectual PropertyMechanical Engineering & Medical Devices Patent ProsecutionProduct Design & User InterfaceTrademark, Copyright & Branding
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Federal Circuit Strikes Life Sciences Patent Over Insufficient Disclosure of Particular Species
Key Takeaways: The Federal Circuit held that general disclosure of any part of a compound may be insufficient to support a priority date for a specific species within the genus. The decision underscores that every element of a claimed species, even noncritical components, must be clearly disclosed in the priority application. Applicants should identify all elements of all commercially relevant species in drug, protein, and nucleic acid applications and consider filing new provisional or priority applications to cover previously unappreciated compounds within an already disclosed genus. In Seagen v. Daiichi Sankyo1, the Federal Circuit invalidated claims in a life sciences patent, highlighting the limits of genus-level disclosure to support specific, non-exemplified species. The court found that generic disclosure of a small linker in antibody-drug
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Could European Courts Soon Be Litigating and Enforcing U.S. Patents?
Key Takeaways European courts test jurisdiction over U.S. patents for the first time. Onesta IP, LLC, a patent assertion entity, has asserted two U.S. patents against BMW in a court in Munich, Germany following a decision by the Court of Justice for the European Union that expands the ability of European courts to hear disputes involving other countries’ patents. Foreign enforcement could reshape litigation strategy and leverage. Differences in how European courts approach injunctions may create new incentives for patent owners to test enforcement outside the U.S. U.S. courts may resist, but enforcement risk is far from resolved. The outcome of the dispute is uncertain, but the dispute raises legal and policy issues with major implications for businesses that locate portions of their
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