Seattle, WA (November 06, 2018) – Perkins Coie was recently named to the Honor Roll of the inaugural Inclusion Blueprint Survey, a joint initiative between ChIPs, a nonprofit organization focused on advancing women in technology, law and policy, and diversity and inclusion incubator, Diversity Lab.

The firm ranked third among the 35 participating law firms for gender diversity in their intellectual property practices. The survey analyzed gender diversity in law firm leadership and the experiences of women at the practice group level.

By invitation-only, 35 law firms, mostly from the AmLaw 200, answered questions in three main categories – female representation in leadership, inclusion activities and tracking by firm leaders, and the inclusion activities by IP practice groups. Firms were asked to describe their efforts to measure and track lawyers’ activities and experiences, like billable vs. non-billable work, pay equity, leave options, participation in client pitching, and other advancement and professional opportunities.

“The intellectual property practice is honored to be recognized for our efforts to empower our female attorneys,” said Shannon Bloodworth, Firmwide Co-Chair of the Intellectual Property practice. “Perkins Coie has long been committed to our diverse and talented IP attorneys, and we’re pleased to see these efforts recognized.”

Twenty percent of Perkins Coie’s IP partners are women, making the practice one of the largest groups of female IP attorneys in the country. Three of the five IP group leaders are women – Shannon Bloodworth, Firmwide Co-Chair of the Intellectual Property Practice; Patchen Haggerty, Chair of the Trademark, Copyright, Internet & Advertising Group. Furthermore, firm management and the Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer regularly meet with the IP practice group leaders to assess women’s opportunities for professional development and advancement within the practice and the firm. As of 2017, 26% of the firm’s equity partners were women, and 44% of the non-equity partners who were promoted into the partnership pipeline were women. Over 50 women chair or co-chair key firmwide committees.

Perkins Coie shares ChIPs’s goal of advancing women in technology, law and policy and has supported the organization since its inception.

Perkins Coie’s IP practice includes more than 250 lawyers focused on IP litigation, post-grant proceedings, patent and trademark prosecution, strategic portfolio counseling, technology licensing, copyrights, and trade secret and unfair competition counseling. The practice recently garnered additional significant recognition, including:

• Being named one of the top seven firms that general counsel look to hire for IP litigation, according to the 2019 BTI Litigation Outlook report, an annual analysis by BTI Consulting Group of the legal landscape.
• Being named by Law360 as one of the firms that “dominated” in patent cases decided by the Federal Circuit in both 2017 and 2016.

Lawyers in the firm’s IP practice have extensive experience litigating patent and trademark infringement actions, internet disputes, trade secret, and gray market and anti-counterfeiting claims for companies in the online, biotechnology, medical products and electronics industries in federal district courts across the country. The group’s patent litigators also have significant experience before the International Trade Commission and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and the Federal Circuit. More than 175 of Perkins Coie’s attorneys have degrees in electrical engineering, computer science and life sciences-related fields. Perkins Coie’s clients benefit from its interdisciplinary approach to matters, which combines extensive legal and technical experience with strong corporate and litigation resources in a leading technology law firm.

Perkins Coie is a leading international law firm that is known for providing high-value, strategic solutions and extraordinary client service on matters vital to our clients’ success. With more than 1,200 lawyers in offices across the United States and Asia, we provide a full array of corporate, commercial litigation, intellectual property, and regulatory legal advice to a broad range of clients, including many of the world’s most innovative companies and industry leaders as well as public and not-for-profit organizations.

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