Practice/Organization Description
The Fletcher Law Firm PLLC helps individuals, businesses, academic and research institutions, and government agencies create and protect their intellectual property, both in the United States and in other countries. We also work with international law firms to help their clients obtain intellectual property rights in the United States.
We are a fixed-fee, value-oriented law firm whose strength is intellectual property law, in particular patents. We also help clients obtain and protect trademarks and copyrights.
We give clients of all sizes the highest caliber work product, crafted in an imaginative yet relevant way, and delivered in a responsive and accountable fashion. We strive to build and maintain long term relationships with our clients. This policy is, we believe, beneficial to our clients as it ensures our clients have advice and assistance from a trusted advisor who knows and understands their business and goals.
I founded my firm in 2009 to create a results-driven, non-billable-hour fee option law firm to change the way intellectual property legal services are provided to clients. Most law firms provide legal services the same way they did for most of the last century. Those firms focus on profits, not clients. Their practice model relies on large numbers of people billing large numbers of hours, often without regard for the value of the work to the customer. The billable hour system used by most law firms fails to incentivize creativity and efficiency - values that today's legal service consumers are craving. It also creates an inherent conflict with clients, as lawyers are economically inclined to bill more hours, not less.
Before starting The Fletcher Law Firm PLLC, I was a patent agent and associate in the intellectual property practices of two national general practice law firms. Some examples of the types of things I did there include: drafted and prosecuted U.S. and international patent applications, revised and prosecuted foreign-origin U.S. patent applications, drafted amendments, responded to office actions, conducted interviews with examiners, prepared pre-appeal and appeal briefs, conducted clearance and patentability assessments, and drafted invalidity and non-infringement opinions. I also handled discovery activities, due diligence research and pretrial motions for the litigation, International Trade Commission and mergers and acquisitions practices.
Prior to practicing law, I served as a nuclear-trained United States Navy submarine officer for more than 20 years. There, I gained extensive experience in the practical application of electrical, mechanical, nuclear, chemical, ocean and systems engineering, and materials science. I also was responsible for the installation, testing, operation and maintenance of electrical, electronic and mechanical systems involving sonar, weapons targeting, weapons control, torpedoes and missiles aboard nuclear submarines. From my shore duty assignments, I gained in-depth technical experience in the areas of ballistic missile systems, nuclear command, control and communications systems and biological and chemical warfare systems.
Professional Associations & Memberships
American Intellectual Property Law Association, American Bar Association, American Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section, Virginia State Bar, Virginia State Bar Intellectual Property Law Section, Virginia Bar Association, Virginia Bar Association Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law Section, Arlington County Bar Association, District of Columbia Bar, District of Columbia Bar Intellectual Property Law Section, National Association of Patent Practitioners, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and National Eagle Scout Association.
