“Featherstone couples unimpeachable foundational prosecution skills with comprehensive international knowledge and keen commercial acumen, and builds enduring relationships with clients.” – 2021 IAM Patent 1000
Overview
Donald J. Featherstone is a director in Sterne Kessler’s Electronics Practice Group and chairs the firm’s Foreign Filing Committee. Prior to that, Don chaired the Recruiting Committee, and served as the Practice Group Leader for the firm’s Electronics Practice Group. In addition, he leads the firm’s nanotechnology industry team. Prior to joining the firm in 1988, Don examined patent applications in the field of semiconductor devices at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Don focuses on patent procurement and strategic guidance for both start-ups and established companies, helping clients develop and protect their intellectual property assets. His work includes creating and managing patent portfolios, assisting with actions before U.S. district courts and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), and conducting comprehensive due diligence and review of IP clauses for funding rounds, mergers, acquisitions, and other transitions. He also supports licensing efforts and university technology transfers through license review, drafting, and detailed investigations. In addition to patents, he advises on trade secret protection, copyright procurement, and design patent strategies.
In addition to strategic patent portfolio creation and management, Don has PTO litigation and reexamination experience. He has extensive experience preparing patentability opinions, state-of-the art opinions, infringement opinions, and validity opinions. He has assisted many clients with IP licenses, IP audits, and due diligence investigations.
Don has experience in the following technical fields: cleantech (wind and water energy conversion); computer architecture (including RISC microprocessors); computer memory systems; computer graphics; control systems; digital signal and image processing; discrete digital and analog circuits; electromagnetics; fiber optics; graphical user interfaces; mechatronics; MEMS; nanotechnology (nanowires, quantum dots, etc.); photolithography (scanners, EUV light sources, computational, holistic, and immersion lithography, and metrology); piezoelectric devices; semiconductor devices and manufacturing; ultra-wideband communications and radar; various business methods/e-commerce/Internet related applications; and additive manufacturing.
Don was co-editor-in-chief of Nanotechnology Law and Business. Additionally, he is a contributing author of Patent Office Litigation, Second Edition, published in 2017 by Thomson Reuters Westlaw. The book provides a fresh and comprehensive exploration of patent office litigation proceedings, including how the proceedings interact with other aspects of patent procurement and enforcement, while delivering practical analysis and advice.
Don earned his J.D. from George Mason University School of Law and his B.S. in electrical engineering from Lafayette College.
Education
- J.D., Intellectual Property Law Specialty Track, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
- B.S., Electrical Engineering, Lafayette College