Woodcock Washburn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section is written like an advertisement.
Please help rewrite this article from a neutral point of view.
Mark blatant advertising which would require a fundamental rewrite in order to become encyclopedic for speedy deletion, using {{db-spam}}. (April 2008)

The creator of this article, or someone who has substantially contributed to it, may have a conflict of interest regarding its subject matter.
It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view.
Please discuss further on the talk page.
This article has been tagged since April 2008.

Woodcock Washburn LLP is a national law firm that works exclusively on intellectual property law in a wide array of industries and technologies.

Main industry sectors include academia and research, chemicals, consumer products, electronics, financial services, life sciences, medical devices, manufacturing, pharmaceutical and biotechnology, software, and telecommunications. Legal services include trademarks and copyrights, interference, IP strategies, licensing, litigation, open source software, patent procurement, and standards.

According to the firm, almost all Woodcock Washburn attorneys have advanced technical training, and many hold graduate-level degrees in biochemistry, chemistry, computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, nanotechnology, and other areas.^[1]

Founded in 1946 in Philadelphia, the firm has grown to almost 90 attorneys and has established offices in Seattle and Atlanta to serve national and international clients. Among the firm’s clients are DuPont, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Siemens, Crown Holdings, and the University of Pennsylvania.

In 2008, the firm was named the top intellectual property firm in Pennsylvania for the fourth consecutive year,^[2] while eight attorneys have been named “Best Lawyers in America”^[3] by Chambers USA, which is widely regarded as the preeminent referral guide to the U.S. legal profession.

1 Offices
2 Patent Work
3 Community efforts
4 Diversity
5 External links
6 References

[edit] Offices

Woodcock Washburn's Philadelphia office moved to Cira Centre in 2006.

Philadelphia (Cira Centre)
Atlanta (Symphony Tower)
Seattle (Wells Fargo Center)

[edit] Patent Work

Woodcock Washburn owns the original 1963 holograms that were made by the off-axis technique patented by Emmett Leith and Juris Upatnieks. The holograms formed the subject for the patent application that matured into U.S. patent 3,894,787 issued July 15, 1975. These holograms are the original reductions to practice of this invention made at the University of Michigan by Leith.

Woodcock Washburn represented the defendant in AT&T Corporation v. Microsoft Corporation, U.S. District Court (N.Y.) (2001-07) in a patent infringement action through trial and appeal. The U.S. Supreme Court found for the defendant.

[edit] Community efforts

Woodcock Washburn partners and employees donate time and money throughout the year as well as during major crises.^{[citation needed]} Much of the donations come through the "Friday Jeans Day" program, in which employees make charitable donations in exchange for permission to wear jeans to work. A different recipient is selected each month; past recipients include the American Heart Association, the Epilepsy Foundation, the Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Make a Wish Foundation, and Toys for Tots.^{[citation needed]}

The firm's pro bono effort has included work on trademark and copyright issues for a church, a women's organization, and several charities addressing children's issues^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Diversity

One-quarter of the firm's equity partners are women, many of whom also hold prominent positions in top management, practice groups, and committees.^{[citation needed]} Vault, the legal industry career guide, has recognized the firm as being “very accommodating to women” and “very welcoming to all racial and ethnic minorities and gays”^[4]. In 2004, Woodcock Washburn won the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Women in the Profession Award for its promotion of women to leadership positions.^[5]