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What is Sterne Kessler?
Sterne Kessler is a law firm focused exclusively on intellectual property. Its practice covers patent litigation, IP prosecution (obtaining patents and trademarks), and strategic counseling on how to build and defend an IP portfolio. It operates in the Sterne Kessler space, so its audience tends to be companies, inventors and in-house legal teams that need specialist IP representation rather than general corporate law.
What that means in practice
- Patent litigation: disputes over infringement, validity and ownership, typically before courts or the patent office.
- Prosecution: drafting and filing patent and trademark applications and steering them through examination.
- Strategic counseling: freedom-to-operate, portfolio planning, licensing and risk assessment.
Who it suits
If you are deciding between firms, use this test: does your problem hinge on technical IP questions (claim scope, prior art, infringement risk), or is it a broader commercial matter? Sterne Kessler fits the first case. For general contracts, employment or corporate work, a full-service firm is usually the better match.
A useful next step is to browse its news and insights section to see whether its technical areas and case experience align with your industry, then contact the firm directly with a short description of your matter.
How do I choose between patent litigation and prosecution services?
Choose based on what you actually need done, not on which service sounds more prestigious. Litigation is about resolving a dispute or defending against one; prosecution is about obtaining and maintaining patent rights in the first place. Many clients end up needing both, but rarely at the same moment.
A quick way to tell them apart
| Your situation | Service you need |
|---|---|
| You have an invention and no patent yet | Prosecution (drafting and filing applications, responding to examiner rejections) |
| You hold a patent and someone is making or selling your invention without permission | Litigation (infringement suit) |
| Someone accuses you of infringing their patent | Litigation (defense, invalidity, or design-around analysis) |
| You want to broaden, fix, or challenge the scope of an existing patent | Prosecution-adjacent work, often via reissue, reexamination, or post-grant proceedings |
| You are deciding whether to file at all, or where | Strategic counseling, which usually sits upstream of both |
Decision criteria that matter more than the label
- Timing. Prosecution is a multi-year, deadline-driven process with the patent office. Litigation is driven by court schedules and can move fast once filed. If a competitor is already on the market, waiting is costly.
- Goal. Prosecution aims to secure rights. Litigation aims to enforce, invalidate, or settle them. If your real goal is a licensing deal or a settlement, litigation may be a lever rather than the endgame.
- Cost profile. Both are expensive, but the cost shapes differ: prosecution is a steady stream of smaller fees over time; litigation tends to concentrate spending around discovery and trial. Ask any firm how they staff and phase the work.
- Who else is involved. Prosecution is mostly between you and the examiner. Litigation pulls in opposing counsel, experts, and sometimes multiple parties, which changes both strategy and expense.
A practical next step
Write down, in one sentence, what outcome you want in the next 12 months. If it is "get a patent granted," you need prosecution. If it is "stop a competitor" or "avoid an injunction," you need litigation. If it is "understand my position before spending," start with counseling and let that determine which of the two follows.
Firms like Sterne Kessler handle both, which is useful when a dispute reveals weaknesses in your patent portfolio that only prosecution can fix. Use that overlap deliberately: ask whether the same team would handle both, or whether they hand off, and how they keep the two strategies consistent.
What steps should I take if I receive a patent infringement lawsuit?
If you receive a patent infringement lawsuit, treat the first 20–30 days as the most important window: deadlines are short, and decisions made now shape the entire case. The practical sequence below applies to most U.S. defendants; your lawyer will adapt it to your facts.
Immediate steps
- Note the service date and every deadline. The complaint states the filing date, but your response deadline runs from when you were properly served. Missing it risks a default judgment.
- Preserve documents and data. Issue a litigation hold immediately: emails, design files, source code, sales and marketing records, supplier correspondence, and prototypes. Deleting or losing this material can be sanctioned later.
- Route the complaint to the right people. Typically legal counsel, your general counsel or outside IP counsel, and your insurer. Do not discuss the case internally beyond those who need to know.
- Check your insurance. Many general liability and specialty policies include advertising injury or patent defense coverage. Notice deadlines in policies are often strict.
- Engage patent litigation counsel. Patent cases involve claim construction, invalidity, and damages theories that general commercial litigators rarely handle alone.
Then build the defense picture
- Read the asserted claims, not just the title. The claims define the scope. Compare each limitation against your product or process.
- Investigate validity and enforceability. Prior art, prosecution history, ownership, and inequitable conduct issues can narrow or end the case.
- Consider non-infringement and design-around options. A design change may resolve exposure going forward even if past sales remain at issue.
- Assess business context. Is this a competitor, a non-practicing entity, or a supplier dispute? That changes whether settlement, license, or trial is the better path.
- Evaluate forum and transfer. Patent venue rules and the specific district can materially affect cost and outcome.
Decisions you will likely face
| Option | When it makes sense | Main trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Answer and litigate | Strong invalidity or non-infringement position | Highest cost and time |
| Early settlement or license | Weak position or modest exposure | Ongoing royalties or restrictions |
| Inter partes review at the USPTO | Prior-art-based invalidity | Separate track from district court |
| Design-around plus negotiation | Product can be changed | Past damages remain |
A concrete scenario
A small manufacturer receives a complaint over a component it buys from a supplier. The fastest useful move is often to notify the supplier and insurer in writing, preserve the purchase and design records, and ask counsel whether indemnification or a joint defense is available. That can shift both cost and control before the answer is due.
For a firm that handles patent litigation, prosecution, and strategic counseling, see Sterne Kessler. Its usefulness here is as a starting point for finding counsel experienced in patent-specific procedure; confirm current attorney availability and conflicts directly.
Your next step: calendar the response deadline, send the litigation hold, and call patent counsel today. If you cannot reach counsel immediately, at minimum preserve documents and avoid any public statements about the case.
How can I protect my intellectual property internationally?
International IP protection is not a single filing—it is a set of country-by-country rights coordinated so you are covered in the markets where you actually make, sell, or license. The practical starting point is to decide which countries matter commercially, then use the international filing systems that buy you time and reduce duplicate paperwork.
Sterne Kessler is an intellectual property law firm whose stated focus includes patent litigation, IP prosecution, and strategic counseling. That combination matters for international work: prosecution gets rights granted, while counseling decides where and how broadly to file, and litigation experience informs how those rights will hold up if challenged.
The main routes
- Patents: The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) lets you file one international application, then decide later in which countries to pursue national or regional patents. It delays the cost of country-by-country filings while preserving your priority date. Regional routes such as the European Patent Office cover multiple countries in one procedure.
- Trademarks: The Madrid System allows one application, based on a home application or registration, to seek protection in many member countries. Each designated country can still refuse protection, so local review remains.
- Industrial designs: The Hague System provides a comparable single-application route for designs across member jurisdictions.
- Copyright: Largely automatic under the Berne Convention, but enforcement still depends on national law and local registration rules. In the US, registration is generally needed before suing on a US work.
What actually drives the decision
| Consideration | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Commercial markets | Filing only where you sell, manufacture, or license avoids paying for rights you never use |
| Deadlines | Paris Convention priority is typically 12 months for patents and designs and 6 months for trademarks; PCT and Madrid shift later costs but not the initial priority date |
| Budget over time | International filings are annuity and renewal heavy; costs recur for the life of the right |
| Enforcement reality | A granted right is only useful if the local legal system can stop infringers |
| Disclosure risk | Public disclosure before filing can destroy novelty in many jurisdictions |
A concrete scenario
Suppose you are launching a software-enabled device in the US, Germany, and Japan, with manufacturing in Vietnam. You would typically file a US provisional or utility application first, then a PCT application within 12 months to keep patent options open in Germany, Japan, and Vietnam. In parallel, you would file a US trademark and use the Madrid System to designate Germany and Japan, and consider whether Vietnam is a realistic enforcement market before adding it. For anything disclosed at a trade show, file before the show—many countries offer no grace period.
Next step
Before committing to any international route, build a short table of target countries, your filing dates, and the last date to act on each. Then get a freedom-to-operate and filing-strategy review: a firm like Sterne Kessler can map prosecution and litigation risk together, but for most applicants the first useful move is simply listing where revenue, manufacturing, and competitors actually are.
What are the costs and timelines for obtaining a patent?
Patent costs and timelines vary too widely for one firm's site to answer in the abstract. Sterne Kessler is an IP law firm focused on patent litigation, prosecution and strategic counseling, per its own description, but the page evidence provided here contains no fee schedule or timeline figures. Treat any specific number you see quoted online as an estimate tied to a particular invention, country and strategy.
Sterne Kessler
The main cost drivers
- Technology complexity. A software or biotech application typically needs more drafting and claim strategy than a simple mechanical device.
- Number of claims and drawings. More claims and figures mean more attorney time and higher official fees.
- Geography. Filing in the US alone is cheaper than pursuing protection in multiple countries, each with its own fees and translations.
- Office actions. Each rejection and response adds attorney hours; some applications need several rounds.
- Track choice. Accelerated examination costs more but shortens the wait.
Typical timeline shape (general advice, not this firm's figures)
- Provisional application: filed quickly, establishes a priority date, expires after 12 months.
- Non-provisional or PCT application: usually filed within that year.
- First office action: often arrives many months to a few years after filing, depending on the art unit and backlog.
- Grant: total pendency commonly runs from roughly two to several years for a straightforward case.
A concrete reader scenario
A solo founder with a mechanical device wants US protection only. She files a provisional now, uses the year to test the market, then decides whether a non-provisional is worth the spend. If she later needs investors, the pending application is often enough to show; she can defer large foreign fees until revenue justifies them.
Decision criterion
Ask two questions before committing: what is the commercial life of this product, and which markets will actually generate revenue? Spend where infringement is likely and enforceable; skip filings in countries you will never sell into or litigate in.
For a grounded estimate, request a quote from an IP attorney who can review your invention disclosure and claim scope.
How do I subscribe to Sterne Kessler's legal updates?
Visit Sterne Kessler's news and insights section and use its Subscribe page to sign up for legal updates by email. The firm publishes alerts and commentary on patent litigation, IP prosecution and strategic counseling, so the subscription is aimed at in-house counsel, patent attorneys, inventors and others who track IP developments.
What to expect
- Updates are delivered as email alerts and articles rather than as a client portal or paid service.
- Topics cluster around the firm's core practice: patent disputes, prosecution before the USPTO, and IP strategy.
- Frequency depends on how often the firm publishes; expect periodic alerts tied to rulings, policy changes and filing developments rather than a fixed schedule.
Practical next step
If you only care about one area, such as patent litigation rather than trademark or prosecution news, check whether the signup lets you choose practice areas or topics. Otherwise you can subscribe once and filter the messages in your inbox.
Who it suits
| Reader | Value |
|---|---|
| In-house IP counsel | Timely summaries of decisions and procedural changes |
| Patent attorneys and agents | Practice-focused analysis from a specialist firm |
| Startups and inventors | General orientation on IP risks and strategy |
If you want updates from multiple perspectives, consider also following a general IP news source or the USPTO's own alerts alongside the firm's mailings.
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