Fish & Richardson Named Top IP Law Firm in the World in Filings of Patent Cooperation Treaty Applications

Fish & Richardson Named Top IP Law Firm in the World in Filings of Patent Cooperation Treaty Applications

Boston, MA, October 15, 2009 - Fish & Richardson has been named the top intellectual property law firm in the world in Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application filings according to Managing Intellectual Property's first-ever worldwide PCT rankings. Fish filed 839 PCT applications in the 14 biggest markets in the world, far exceeding the second-ranked firm with 687 applications. Fish also was ranked number one in the U.S market.

The PCT is an international treaty, administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), between more than 125 Paris Convention countries. The PCT makes it possible to seek patent protection for an invention simultaneously in each of a large number of countries by filing a single "international" patent application. Developed in 1970, and most recently modified in 2001, PCT was intended to streamline the patent application process and thus save time and cost for the applicant and patent offices around the world.

Managing Intellectual Property, a leading international magazine for IP owners, compiled data based on details of PCT applications published on the WIPO website, and then ranked firms according to the number of PCT applications filed that were due for national stage entry during 2009. The firms were listed in order of number of applications filed in their jurisdiction and worldwide. Inovia, a global company that coordinates PCT national stage entry for its clients, assisted in compiling and verifying the data. The results are based on applications with a priority date between July 1, 2006 and June 30, 2007, which corresponds to applications due to enter the national phase in 2009.

Fish & Richardson is a leading global law firm unlike any other law firm in the world. With over 400 lawyers practicing intellectual property, litigation, and technology law, Fish has redefined IP law for a market that values IP as a fundamental business asset. The firm offers unique expertise to help clients maximize the value of their intangible assets. Fish handles more patent litigation than any other law firm (IP Law & Business, September 2009), is the number one IP firm for America's biggest companies (Corporate Counsel, September 2009), and was named the number one firm in the world for PCT filings (MIP, October 2009). For more information, visit www.fr.com.

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