Aaron Poledna Partner

Aaron Poledna, firmwide co-chair of the Intellectual Property (IP) practice, focuses on patent portfolio development and strategy, intellectual property counseling, freedom to operate analysis, and patent procurement. Aaron is known for representing emerging companies and investors in the medical device industry from incubation through acquisition or IPO. He notably served as IP counsel for startup Ardian Inc., helping the company develop a strong IP portfolio that captured the value of their innovative work and advising on several financing rounds that ultimately led to their acquisition by Medtronic for over $800 million.

His trusted partnerships with startup clients allow Aaron to provide strategic patent counsel and advice on how to build value toward their business goals. In the past few years, he was involved in raising over $150 million in venture funding for emerging medical device companies and he has been involved in well over $2.5 billion in acquisitions/funding for medical device companies since 2010.

Aaron has extensive experience with both domestic and foreign patent prosecution, as well as experience with strategic analysis and counseling for domestic and international portfolio development, management, enforcement, and licensing. He frequently provides clients with strategic advice regarding portfolio management and positioning, analysis of third-party patents (for validity and infringement concerns), and identification of key patent assets for acquisition or monetization.

Aaron has performed patent preparation and prosecution in a wide variety of technology areas, including medical devices, aerospace technology, semiconductor processing and fabrication, clean energy technologies, cannabis-related technology and products, consumer and industrial electronics, financial services and systems, and software. He has particular experience with medical devices, including in renal neuromodulation, cardiovascular devices (e.g., radiofrequency ablation catheters, pulsed field ablation catheters), robotic surgical systems, cardiac mapping systems, patient monitoring systems, neurovascular devices, ophthalmic devices, prosthetic devices, endovascular devices, and spinal devices. Additionally, Aaron frequently counsels clients on design patents and industrial designs.

Recommended by Intellectual Asset Management Patent 1000 as patent counsel, Aaron’s technical background includes a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Washington and work at Boeing as a flight operations engineer before practicing law. Aaron is involved in several life sciences industry associations, and he actively leads community involvement and pro bono efforts in the firm’s Seattle office.