Sterne Kessler Launches Patent Assist AI to Streamline Patent Application Drafting

Washington, D.C. (March 19, 2025) – Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox today announced the launch of Patent Assist AI, a new technology that streamlines patent specification drafting.

Developed entirely in-house – a rarity for a law firm – Sterne Kessler’s Patent Assist AI creates efficiencies in the patent drafting process so that attorneys can focus on capturing the invention and ensuring the best possible scope of protection for IP. Typically, an attorney drafting a patent application will start with claims, then move on to drawings and diagrams, and finally to the detailed description or specification. Sterne Kessler’s Patent Assist AI enhances this process using a proprietary multi-step approach to generate the detailed description section of a patent. The firm’s patent professionals can then further edit the detailed description by using a built-in AI assistant to refine the output.

“Patent Assist AI will be revolutionary in streamlining the work we do for clients,” said Michael D. Specht, a director and chair of Sterne Kessler’s Electronics Practice Group. “Built by a team of patent professionals with deep backgrounds in AI and drawing on the firm’s 40-plus years of experience drafting patent applications, Patent Assist AI combines technology with our team’s deep legal expertise to enhance both efficiency and quality in the patent drafting process.”

The tool was built from the ground up with security and privacy as top priorities. It leverages its own private instances of LLM models to ensure data cannot be accessed by third parties or “cross contaminated” with other client data. Clients who opt in to using the tool can be assured that their data is not used to train other LLM models, and that all data is encrypted using state of the art technologies and stored in the firm’s own data centers. Initial client response to the tool has been outstanding.

Through Sterne Kessler Labs, the firm’s internal innovation team of patent professionals who are also scientists and engineers, the firm is developing, testing, deploying, and learning about cutting-edge AI tools designed to revolutionize intellectual property practice and legal technology.

Daniel S. Block, a director in Sterne Kessler’s Electronics Practice Group and the leader of Sterne Kessler Labs’ AI initiatives, added, “Although increasing efficiency was an obvious benefit of the tool, another important benefit of building the tool ourselves is that we are learning the ins-and-outs of how to successfully leverage AI technology in the legal space, and we plan on doing more in this area to drive innovation and deliver value to our clients. This is a big step forward for the legal industry.”

Sterne Kessler’s Patent Assist AI is part of the firm’s ongoing investment in innovation. Collaborating with clients and some of the leading third-party service providers who offer AI tools, the firm is actively working to leverage AI in the development of new products that enhance IP practice. On the horizon are tools that will streamline e-discovery and prior art searching.

To learn more about Sterne Kessler’s Patent Assist AI and how Sterne Kessler is leveraging AI technology to advance IP law, visit www.sternekessler.ai.

About Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox

Based in Washington, D.C. and renowned for more than four decades for dedication to the protection, enhancement, and enforcement of intellectual property rights, Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox is one of the most highly regarded intellectual property specialty law firms in the world. Its team of attorneys, registered patent agents, technical specialists, specialized trademark paralegals, and law clerks include some of the country’s most respected practitioners of IP law, tackling innovations across a broad spectrum of industries. The firm’s practitioners represent Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, start-ups, inventors, venture capital firms, and universities in a client service driven environment that is welcoming, inclusive, and intellectually stimulating. Visit the firm online at sternekessler.com.

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