With the shift to a post-industrial economy, U.S. manufacturers have faced tough headwinds in recent years. The low cost of labor, large workforces, and economies of scale in emerging countries led many to predict a slow death for the U.S. industrial sector. However, the sector is not dead—far from it.

Across the U.S., manufacturers are doing more with less, making impressive gains in productivity. They are making more products with fewer people, as manufacturers boost innovation with better tools, equipment, and processes.

Our Industrial Tools Expertise

We work with many innovative industrial-tool makers, securing patent and trademark protection and providing pre-litigation due diligence, analysis, opinions, design-around counsel, and a range of other IP services. Our experience covers tools such as:

  • Air-filtration equipment
  • Filtration devices for the railroad industry
  • Catalysts and catalyst dispensers for petroleum refining
  • Oil & gas tools, including down-hole equipment such as drill bits, submersible pumps, and completion systems, and above-hole equipment such as tubular-running services.

In such a mature industry, we write many patent applications for incremental product enhancements. Our attorneys are skilled at identifying and precisely describing how the invention fits within the tool’s evolution. Other clients are looking to penetrate established processes or markets through innovation in cost-, service-, or performance-driven advantages. We take the time to analyze the tool from every angle—including alternative applications—to derive the most value from every IP asset.

Engineering and Business Acumen

Our engineering training—including mechanical, process, and chemical—enables us to effectively identify, prioritize, and describe the inventive aspects that set each client’s inventions apart. We are also focused on our clients’ business realities and work to ascertain the exact features that add commercial value and create competitive advantage in the marketplace.


Related Team:

David Y. Ashton

Associate

Jordan Brown

Associate

Kyrie Cameron

Partner

John-Paul F. Cherry, Ph.D.

Patent Agent

Craig Depew

Senior Counsel

Chad Dougherty

Partner

Jordyn Dougherty

Associate

Austin Gray

Associate

Jessie D. Herrera, Jr.

Partner

Thomas D. Kiselak

Associate

J. Scott Martin

Counsel

Daniel McGovern

Associate

Josh Monaghan

Counsel

Michael Pate

Of Counsel

W. Bruce Patterson

Partner, Practice Head

Ryan Sandor

Technical Advisor

Chance Siller

Associate

Reese Sloan

Technical Advisor

Keith Taboada

Partner

Frank Tolin

Of Counsel

Adam Treiber

Of Counsel

Brooks Tueting

Partner

Steve VerSteeg

Partner

Xuezheng “John” Wang, Ph.D.

Associate

Fumiko Yamaguchi, Ph.D.

Patent Agent

Jay Yates

Partner

Charles Yeh

Partner

Valerie Yu

Associate

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