Based in Washington, D.C., Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox is a leading intellectual property law firm providing strategic IP services to clients worldwide. Since its founding in 1978, the firm has built a reputation as a trusted partner to innovative companies, startups, inventors, universities, and investors, helping them protect, enforce, and maximize the potential of their IP. With fully integrated capabilities spanning patent and trademark prosecution, strategic counseling, post‑grant proceedings, and litigation before federal district and appellate courts and the International Trade Commission, Sterne Kessler delivers practical, business‑driven solutions aligned to its clients’ innovation goals and long‑term strategic objectives.

Sterne Kessler is an IP powerhouse known for its deep technical bench. The firm has more than 200 lawyers, patent agents, and technical specialists, many of whom hold advanced degrees in science and engineering disciplines, including over 60 Ph.D.s. This technical depth enables the firm to engage with innovators across a broad spectrum of industries and technologies including biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, electronics, artificial intelligence, software, innovative materials, consumer products, food & beverage, medical devices, automotive and heavy equipment, manufacturing, and industrial products, among others. Many of the firm’s professionals have prior experience as in-house counsel, engineers, and inventors. In addition, the firm has former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office examiners and lead administrative patent judges from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. This combination of experience provides clients with rare and valuable insight into how patent rights are examined, challenged, and enforced.

In the last five years, Sterne Kessler has served as litigation counsel in 200+ patent cases across nearly 30 federal district courts. The firm is one of the top five most active firms for patent cases at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and among the top 10% of most active firms at the U.S. International Trade Commission. The firm is particularly skilled at coordinating across multiple venues, representing clients in patent litigation in district court, before the ITC, and at the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), pivoting between venues to efficiently and favorably resolve disputes.

The PTAB Trials team has been a leader since the inception of the PTAB and continues to be a dominant force in the industry today. Sterne Kessler has been counsel in more than 1,400 proceedings and counting, and its results are among the very best. Patexia consistently ranks the firm among the top 10 most active overall and the top 25 best performing firm overall in its PTAB Intelligence Report.