About Our Firm

The law office of Robert Plotkin, P.C. provides systematic patent protection for computer technology to clients ranging from individual inventors to startup companies to established corporations, not only within our home state of Massachusetts but also nationally and worldwide. We bring our extensive experience in computer technology and computer patents to bear on every patent we obtain.

Our clients recognize the expert and personalized service that we provide, and the results we obtain for them. That is why we have been named a "Go-To Law Firm for Leading Technology Companies" by American Lawyer Media as a result of a survey of in-house legal departments at the top 500 technology companies in the U.S.

Systematic Patent Protection

High-tech companies increasingly recognize the importance of strong intellectual property (IP) protection to their businesses, and the harm that can result from even a small crack in their IP armor. Even the most IP-focused companies, however, find it difficult to spend time working on patents. That is why Robert Plotkin, P.C. provides efficient and systematic intellectual property services for its clients to maximize the protection they obtain. For example, we:

• Prepare and execute strategic patent protection plans, called Patent Roadmaps, for our clients that lay out a logical and efficient sequence of steps for protecting the client’s technology over time.
• Perform Patent Gap Analyses of clients’ existing patent portfolios to identify and plug holes in those portfolios, which could hurt the clients’ businesses.
• Perform Patentability Investigations to determine whether inventions are patentable before devoting valuable resources to preparing and filing patent applications.
• Perform Clearance Investigations to determine whether the new product or service that a client is about to launch will infringe on any of their competitors’ patents.
• Maintain files electronically and communicate with clients electronically worldwide to keep clients up-to-date on the status of their patents and eliminate the slow, bulky, and expensive use of paper and postal mail.
• Keep track of and remind clients of all relevant legal deadlines well ahead of time to avoid surprises and hasty last-minute decisionmaking.

Expertise in Computer Software and Hardware Patents

We bring special expertise to patents on computer software and hardware technology to provide outstanding service to our clients in the computer industry. The founder of our firm is attorney Robert Plotkin. His knowledge and understanding of computer technology and intellectual property law is an asset to every client our office represents:

• Attorney Plotkin has an extensive background in computer science, holding a Bachelor’s Degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Computer Science and Engineering. His education and training provide him with unique insight that he applies to the preparation and prosecution of software and hardware patents.
• In addition to his prestigious education, Attorney Plotkin has been a practicing intellectual property lawyer since 1997. He is admitted to practice in both New York and Massachusetts, as well as before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
• Attorney Plotkin’s intimate knowledge of computer science and engineering enables him to communicate with computer scientists in their own language, giving him the ability to provide high-quality and efficient legal services to clients in the computer industry.
• Working at leading intellectual property law firms like Fish & Richardson P.C. and Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, P.C. in Boston, Massachusetts before founding his own firm, Attorney Plotkin developed a strong foundation in patent prosecution and client counseling that he utilizes on a daily basis.
• Independently and as a lecturer at the Boston University School of Law, Attorney Plotkin has written and spoken extensively on a variety of topics, including software patent protection, First Amendment protection for computer source code, trademark and domain name disputes, patent licensing, electronic court filing and electronic privacy in the workplace.
• Attorney Plotkin is a recognized authority on software patents, having been invited to speak worldwide on the topic. His upcoming book from Stanford University Press, The Genie in the Machine: How Computer-Automated Inventing is Revolutionizing Law and Business, will be the first to explain how computers are automating the process of inventing and how the automation of invention is affecting inventors, high-tech companies, consumers, and the legal profession.

Our Firm in the News

"Property Value," Boston Business Journal, Sept. 22, 2006

Report on Business Coaches, "Chet Curtis Report," New England Cable News

Patent Protection Tailored to Your Business

At Robert Plotkin, P.C., we recognize that every client and every invention is unique and deserving of personalized attention. A startup company client that needs to defend itself against the patents of aggressive competitors may need to pursue a different strategy than an independent inventor whose primary goal is to license or sell his technology to a large company. That is why we take the time to learn about each of our clients’ technologies and business goals, so that we can tailor an intellectual property protection to the particular needs of that client.

We can help you to protect your valuable intellectual property whether you are an independent inventor, a startup company, an established software firm, or an attorney representing a company in the computer industry. We will be with you as advisers and advocates throughout the life cycle of your products and services. Just listen to what our clients of all kinds have to say about us.

Contact the Law Office of Patent Lawyer Robert Plotkin

We welcome your questions about our law firm and our patent protection services. We provide flexible in-person and telephone appointment times to accommodate our clients' schedules.

Each new client receives a complimentary 30-minute consultation.

Toll-Free: 877.651.8039
Office Phone: 978.318.9914
E-Mail