An Introduction by N&V’s President, Larry Nixon :

Late in 1985 five experienced attorneys had a vision to create a different kind of firm dedicated only to Intellectual Property law. Our goal was to establish a first rate firm that would include only experienced attorneys with proven track records to service a collection of high-quality clients in all aspects of intellectual property law – including patents, trademarks, copyrights, licensing and other similar matters – in any technical field.

The founding five wanted to avoid the traditional pyramid structure employed by other firms as well as the inefficiencies and problems that are inherent in that kind of organization. We wanted to deliver the highest quality work product as efficiently as possible and at a fair and reasonable price.

More than 20 years later the model and the goals are the same. Today we have 33 seasoned shareholders each with between 10 and 35 years of legal experience servicing approximately 2300 active clients, ranging from individuals to billion dollar corporations and universities. We also employ an experienced corps of staff attorneys, paralegals, searchers and illustrators, bringing our total to over 100 employees. We pride ourselves on being a mid-sized firm comprised of a close-knit group of highly skilled individuals, many of whom have advanced technical degrees. Several of our attorneys have served as patent examiners and members of the Board of Appeals and Interferences in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, patent trial attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice, testifying experts in patent law, and as arbitrators and mediators of patent disputes.

While we have never tried to compete based upon size, we have established ourselves as one of the world’s top intellectual property law firms for both patent prosecution and patent litigation. For example, we are regularly ranked as one of the top law firms in procuring U.S. patents. We have also been recognized by our peers and legal experts as being one of the top six Washington D.C. area firms for handling complex patent litigation matters. Indeed, we are often engaged by larger firms to assist them with complex patent law and technology issues facing their clients.

We have the necessary infrastructure in place to handle major litigations and prosecution portfolios, and we regularly do so on behalf of our clients. Furthermore, to assist in protecting our clients’ intellectual property rights abroad, we have established relationships with well-qualified patent firms worldwide who file and prosecute patent and trademark applications in their respective countries.

We are committed to maintaining these unique attributes and our boutique status through controlled and careful growth, by being very selective in our hiring practices and consistently declining offers to merge with large firms. It is also very rare for an attorney to leave our firm, other than for retirement. Thus, if you invest in a relationship with our attorneys, you can be confident that they will be here for you in the long run.

In short, we believe our firm provides unique benefits for companies who desire an alternative to the large, general practice firms for their intellectual property needs. We find that more and more companies are recognizing our unique advantages, and we intend to continue to distinguish ourselves on this basis.