Patents

The experienced patent attorneys at Offit Kurman can help you turn your innovations into valuable business assets.

Patents are an important type of intellectual property (IP) that grant you exclusive rights to your inventions. A patent allows the inventor to prevent others from making, using, selling, importing, or distributing the patented invention without permission. This exclusivity offers a significant competitive advantage in the marketplace and enables your business to capitalize on your research and development investments.

Offit Kurman Patent Services:

  • Patent Search and Analysis: Evaluating the novelty and patentability of your innovation.
  • Patent Application: Drafting and filing applications with the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) and coordinating with international counsel to file in international patent offices.
  • Patent Prosecution: Handling examination proceedings and office actions to secure patent approval.
  • Portfolio Management: Managing your patents, including strategic planning and renewals.
  • Enforcement and Litigation: Protecting your rights through litigation, USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and inter partes proceeding, and dispute resolution.
  • Licensing and Transactions: Advising on licensing agreements and other transactions to maximize your IP's value.

At Offit Kurman, we help innovators safeguard their inventions and maintain a strong market position with thoughtful patenting strategies. Our experienced patent attorneys possess specialized knowledge in patent law and technical fields to ensure that patent applications are thoroughly prepared and strategically crafted to maximize protection. Our patent attorneys also regularly advise on patentability, infringement risks, enforcement strategies, and licensing.

In the U.S., there are three types of patents: utility patents, plant patents, and design patents. Utility patents protect any new and useful process, machine, product, or material, as well as improvements to these. Plant patents protect novel plant varietals. Utility patents and plant patents typically last for 20 years, while design patent rights only last for 15 years. Design patents protect novel, non-functional product designs. While patents offer protections under patent law in the U.S., other countries have separate systems for protecting patents and industrial design. Offit Kurman’s experienced IP attorneys can advise on cross-border similarities and differences to help you develop the best strategy to protect your originality.

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Firm Highlights

  • Publications & News
    Offit Kurman Adds Four Attorneys to Support Continued Growth
    Offit Kurman Adds Four Attorneys to Support Continued Growth
  • Publications & News
    32 Offit Kurman Attorneys Recognized in 2027 Edition of Maryland Super Lawyers 
    32 Offit Kurman Attorneys Recognized in 2027 Edition of Maryland Super Lawyers 
  • Podcasts
    Meet Travis Mills
    Jim Ries of Offit Kurman interviews Travis Mills, owner-operator of Fully Promoted Aberdeen, Maryland, a branded apparel and promotional products company serving business owners and corporations. Travis explains how branded polos, quarter zips, and promotional items help businesses look professional and can support closing deals. He shares that he’s most proud of the company’s community-based approach as part of a larger franchise network. Travis says the next six months will focus on increasing visibility as the business approaches its two-year anniversary in September. He also reveals he served 21 years in the Coast Guard, including two tours in Iraq.
  • Publications & News
    Matthew Karmel Named to 2026 Lawdragon 500 Global Leaders in Energy
    Matthew Karmel Named to 2026 Lawdragon 500 Global Leaders in Energy
  • Publications & News
    Fara Rodriguez Included in Spear’s Family Law Indices 2026 as a Recommended U.S. Family Lawyer
    Fara Rodriguez Included in Spear’s Family Law Indices 2026 as a Recommended U.S. Family Lawyer
  • Blog Posts
    Estate Planning Essentials for Maryland’s Unmarried Couples
    Estate Planning Essentials for Maryland’s Unmarried Couples
  • Blog Posts
    No Standard, Still Liable: How OSHA Regulates Ergonomics Without an Ergonomics Rule
    No Standard, Still Liable: How OSHA Regulates Ergonomics Without an Ergonomics Rule
  • Podcasts
    Love, Trusts, and Prenups: "Strangers: A Memoir of a Marriage"
    Hosts Danielle Friedman and Herb Fineburg dig into the New York Times bestseller Strangers by Belle Burden, using the book's real-life inspired story to unpack how prenuptial agreements and trusts actually work when a marriage ends. The conversation centers on Belle's inheritance from her wealthy family, the prenup she signed under pressure from her husband James, and the costly decision to pull money from an irrevocable trust to buy real estate in joint names. Danielle and Herb break down the critical difference between a prenup, which can be modified or waived by the couple, and a trust, which cannot be changed once established. They examine where Belle's trustees fell short, why titling inherited assets jointly can undo the protection a trust is designed to provide, and what a trustee should do instead when a beneficiary asks to withdraw significant funds. The episode closes with practical lessons for anyone who is a trust beneficiary, a trustee, or entering a marriage with inherited wealth, including why independent counsel matters at every stage.  
  • Publications & News
    Wojciech “Voytek” Jackowski Named to ULI New York Program Steering Committee
    Wojciech “Voytek” Jackowski Named to ULI New York Program Steering Committee
  • Podcasts
    Efficient Litigation Balancing Time and Cost
    Attorneys Sarah Sawyer and Russell Berger of Offit Kurman discuss how litigation strategy depends not only on cost and risk but also on how long it takes to reach court and trial. Using Maryland as an example, they compare the faster district court process that can reach trial in roughly four to six months and typically under a year, versus circuit court jury trials with full discovery that generally take at least a year. They note that time affects leverage and helps explain why most civil disputes settle. Timelines can vary by state, county, case volume, COVID-era disruptions, and factors like AI and pro se litigants.