SPOKANE, WA – On January 1, 2021, FIG. 1 Patents (FIG. 1) launched with a group of patent attorneys and staff set to make FIG. 1 the first name on everyone's mind in patent law.
The new firm’s founders include Patrick Walsh and Mark Niemann, partners at their former firm (SBMC), along with Jamie Breen and Dave Morasch, two of SBMC’s founding partners. FIG. 1 is founded on this group’s vision to break the mold and deliver something new and different to patent law. The culture of FIG. 1 is designed to be more like a startup and less like a traditional law firm.
FIG. 1 has been optimized from the ground up—from the people, to the business processes and technology, to the physical building itself—to focus on patent preparation and prosecution.
Even the name FIG. 1 Patents is rooted in patent law. Every patent is required to have at least one “figure” or “drawing,” and, conventionally, the first figure is labeled as “FIG. 1”. A patent tells the story of innovation. The first figure in a well-crafted patent, FIG. 1, provides the foundation for the story of innovation and equips the reader with an immediate insight into the ideas protected by the patent. With this foundation, the patent can be used to protect the innovation as laws and technologies evolve during the many stages of the patent’s life: from prosecution, to enforcement, to valuation.
As stated by Jamie Breen, “we believe that FIG. 1 reflects our philosophy in how to expand an idea expressed initially by an inventor into the story of innovation that may be realized by that idea.” “This drives inventor engagement in the patent process and a corresponding decrease on the workload experienced by in-house counsel in encouraging this engagement.” “This forms a true partnership with our clients, and has exhibited tangible results.”
According to founder Mark Niemann, “this niche focus allows us to recruit and train skilled patent attorneys while also investing in technology designed to increase the quality of the patents prepared and prosecuted by the firm.” “Being rooted in Spokane also gives the firm a competitive advantage over big law firms that pay big expenses to rent office spaces in larger cities,” says Niemann. “We are able to pass this cost savings on in the form of compensation packages for our team that rival big law.”
FIG. 1 is a boutique law firm that competes with much larger firms for the same work, boasting a list of several high-tech Fortune 500 clients up and down the West Coast.
The firm’s goal is to be the best patent law firm in the country. Founder Patrick Walsh says, “we want to build the Nike of Patent Law.” When asked to elaborate, he explains “Nike isn’t necessarily a ‘luxury’ brand, but it is a performance brand. Its products are designed and built to help the best in the world achieve specific goals. At FIG. 1, we treat patent work like a high-performance product, customized to help our world-leading clients achieve their elite goals.”