Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox

Overview
Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox is one of the most highly regarded intellectual property specialty law firms dedicated exclusively to the protection, transfer and enforcement of IP rights for its clients. Based in Washington, D.C., we are a full-service IP firm offering patent litigation (district court, appellate, ITC, and PTAB proceedings), patent preparation and prosecution of both design and utility patents, and trademark and brand protection.

We’re not your average IP firm. With 60+ Ph.D.s and 20+ languages among them, Sterne Kessler attorneys, patent agents and scientists are highly sought-out for their expertise and are the foremost in their fields.

Flexibility: We believe in supporting our Associates through every stage of their career. We offer a Flexible Hours program that allows you to choose your billable hours goal each year, on a scale of 1400 – 2000 hours (in 100-hour increments). Whether you want to maximize your pay (by maximizing your hours) or maximize your time for personal endeavors (by lowering your goal), you have a home here and peers who are working similar goals.

We have employees who work full-time in the office and employees who work full-time from home and everything in between!

Practice Areas: We have four internal practice groups:
• Biotechnology & Chemical Group
• Electronics Group
• Mechanical & Design Group
• Trial & Appellate Group

Culture:
Our culture is collegial, welcoming, and entrepreneurial. You will find others here who are just as curious about their work and the world as you are!

We embrace flexibility with remote work and value time spent interacting with each other in our D.C. office space. We have an in-house barista who mixes up our favorite coffee and tea drinks – complimentary to us, of course! The firm also provides free lunch every day for anyone working in the office. In 2023, we are adding a new private rooftop space to allow us to host convenient indoor/outdoor social events right onsite.

Diversity:
At Sterne Kessler, we strive to maintain an inclusive, dynamic, and energetic workplace that embraces diversity and culture. We are participating in the second iteration of Diversity Lab’s Midsize Mansfield Rule certification process and in 2022, Law360 ranked Sterne Kessler in the top five firms for overall diversity and among the top three firms for minority representation among equity partners in the “101 to 250 attorneys” size category.

Awards and Accomplishments:
• 35 Sterne Kessler trial attorneys appeared in district court patent cases filed in 2022, ranking us among the top 5% of firms trying patent cases.
• More experience at the USITC than over 90% of the firms appearing there since 2018.
• Ranked as the 4th most active firm at the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit by Patexia, Inc.
• Third-most active firm for design patents issued in 2022.
• The only firm ranked “Band 1” in Patent Prosecution – Chambers USA (2019-2022).
• More than 1,200 IPR/CBM/PGR representations, second-most among PTAB firms.
• Firm and Leaders consistently named in top-tiers of the World Trademark Review “WTR 1000: The World’s Leading Trademark Professionals