SLW, or Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner, is a 1993-founded intellectual property legal practice. One of the first US patent law companies, SLW concentrated only on patent prosecution rather than litigation.

The company has approximately 25 satellite practitioner locations across the US, in addition to its headquarters in San Jose, California, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.   Since its founding in 2004, the San Jose office has seen a steady increase in the number of attorneys serving Silicon Valley customers, as the region's clientele has risen annually.

Andre L. Marais, the Principal with Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner's Silicon Valley office, was contacted by Business Fortune. This is his reply.

Highlights from the Interview

Schwegman is a long-lived individual. The fact that a company can be in business for decades is amazing to me. How did Schwegman manage to remain flexible over time?

 At Schwegman, we continuously work to enhance our service offerings because we are passionate about innovation. As pioneers in the digital revolution of intellectual property prosecution, we have continued to set the standard for providing superior, cost-effective services. Our founders' creation and development of Foundation IP, the top IP docketing system in the industry, and Black Hills IP, a provider of automated docketing that sets new standards for accuracy and efficiency in the IP sector, are testaments to our long history of innovation. This thirst for innovation and our propensity to see how intellectual property will develop in the future are fundamental to our company's culture and are what make us flexible and successful. We keep evolving and giving our clients great service by adopting new concepts and technologies.

What are the main areas of concentration for SLW as a boutique IP law firm?

We concentrate on the drafting and prosecution of patent applications. This enables us to optimize the services we offer to clients with a laser-like focus. Litigation is not what we do. This gives us the freedom to select the ideal partners for our clients in the event that litigation is necessary. We are able to offer close litigation support if necessary.

In addition, our company is mostly tech-focused, with a strong background in semiconductor technologies, medical devices, software, and artificial intelligence.

What maintains and makes SLW current? To what extent does the company adapt to the evolving needs of its customers?

 Our lawyers are very business-minded and considerate of our customers' requirements. Many are from the industry and are aware of the difficulties that our clients encounter.

In order to ensure that we are in line with our clients' desires, we operate in close-knit client teams where information is freely shared. This transparency and ongoing evaluation stem from a profound awareness that both life and work are processes; things change, and we must adjust to meet the evolving demands of our clients.

What would you say about the general culture of the company?

The culture of the company is welcoming, transparent, and helpful. We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take our work extremely seriously! The company exudes a unique sense of fun and enthusiasm in the IP sector.

We are happy to announce that, starting in 2021–2023, our company has obtained Mansfield Certification status. We underwent a Diversity Lab process to monitor and assess diversity in leadership from September 2021 to March 2023 in order to obtain this accreditation.

Could you share with us one or two success stories detailing the difficulties your clients encountered and how SLW assisted them in overcoming those difficulties?

Our legal team at Schwegman has the honor of defending the most valuable patents and ground-breaking ideas of Fortune 500 behemoths as well as start-up businesses. Because of our central Silicon Valley location, we work with both startups and well-established companies on a daily basis, anticipating their next big product releases and providing strong intellectual property protection.

Over the years, for example, we have had the pleasure of working with industry giants such as eBay, Uber, Airbnb, Intel, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Apple, and many more, helping them along their journey from startup to successful exits or initial public offerings (IPOs). Every day, these endeavors present us with a wide range of fascinating difficulties, and our attorneys are excited about the chance to assist clients in navigating the complex world of intellectual property protection.

Describe the SLW team for us. What benefit do they offer the company?

Our team of attorneys is exceptional and comes from a variety of backgrounds, both domestic and foreign. Due to the fact that a number of our attorneys have held internal positions at large corporations in the past—some as Chief Patent Counsel or in the C-Suite—we are well aware of the difficulties that our clients encounter. Our technologies are capable of supporting the remote work that several of our more seasoned lawyers do. This implies that we are able to hire highly skilled individuals from anywhere in the world.

 In addition, we have a fantastic group of individuals working extremely hard behind the scenes to help the clients and attorneys.

Tell us about Schwegman, Lundberg, & Woessner's upcoming plans.

Something is always happening! This is a really interesting initiative for us, as we are investing in how AI may benefit both ourselves and our clients. We are also investigating ways to enhance the effectiveness of overseas submissions.

Andre L. Marais | Principal & Registered Patent Attorney

Andre L. Marais is a seasoned patent attorney and principal at the prestigious IP law firm Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner. With over 25 years under his belt, he and the team have established themselves as leaders in patent procurement and strategic IP counseling.

"Our central Silicon Valley location has given us the chance to work with both startups and well-established companies on a daily basis, predicting their next product releases and guaranteeing strong intellectual property protection.”