Bob drafts, prosecutes, enforces, and licenses patents primarily in the chemical and mechanical arts. Bob also focuses on intellectual property related due diligence, portfolio management and analyses, strategic counseling, valuations, opinions, and litigation management. A significant portion of Bob’s practice involves counseling clients on patent strategies in Asian jurisdictions. As a longstanding Vice Chair of the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) Asian Practice Committee (APC), Bob meets with business leaders and patent office directors from China, India, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, among other countries, on a regular basis. He also travels to Asia frequently and meets face to face with clients and law firm partners. As a result, Bob has a deep understanding of the ever-changing IP landscape and business trends that affect innovative companies in Asia as well as U.S. companies doing business in Asia. Bob’s clients appreciate that he gets to the point. He is concise, direct, and does not waste their time. They also value his dedication not only to providing outstanding legal counsel, but also for respecting their budgets. Whenever possible, Bob’s objective is to help his clients avoid disputes by identifying and resolving problems and obstacles early on. However, when disputes do arise, he has also been able to build bridges to settlement, on multiple occasions, in scenarios where the conflict was so acrimonious that even his client believed intense litigation was the only recourse. As a result of Bob’s innately creative problem-solving skills, he has taken seemingly impossible situations and helped make resolution possible. Prior to practicing law, Bob served as an analytical chemist in the oil and natural gas industry, where he conducted analysis on soil and water for environmental contamination, directed tests on fuel recovery, and designed a fuel recovery system. When he is not in the office, Bob is likely pursuing his second career as an “International Golf Ambassador,” a title given to him by friends and colleagues around the globe.

Dean has experience litigating patent, trademark and trade secret cases in multiple jurisdictions including United States District Courts, the International Trade Commission (ITC), the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), the Federal Circuit, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, and state courts. He works with and has successfully protected many clients’ IP rights, including clients involved in bet-the-farm type litigation. Clients include Fortune 500 companies, domestic and foreign, medium to small businesses as well as individuals. He also prepares and prosecutes patent and trademark applications including appeals, inter party reviews (IPR), cancellation and opposition proceedings. He also counsels clients regarding IP related issues and prepares legal opinions including freedom to practice and invalidity opinions. Dean is a licensed attorney in Michigan and licensed as a patent attorney eligible to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He is not licensed to practice in Delaware but can be admitted to practice pro hac vice in the Delaware courts. In addition to being selected three times as a “Lawyer of the Year” by The Best Lawyers in America® he is also included in the 2015-2019 edition of Leading Lawyers at Lawyers.com® and selected by dbusiness Magazine as a 2015-2019 Top Lawyer. Other awards include: 2015-2019 IP Star by Managing IP Magazine; recognition by Acquisitions International; and by America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators. Dean has an AV (Preeminent) rating by Martindale-Hubbell. Dean’s publication, IP Strategies for Business Managers, provides practical advice for protecting IP and avoiding infringement. He contributed to the national publication, Inside the Minds: Litigation Strategies for Intellectual Property Cases (2012, Thomson Reuters) on topics including patent eligibility of software and business methods, trade secret case strategies, and discovery of electronically stored information (ESI). Dean is a frequent speaker on IP, including: IP Patent Camp at the MidMichigan Innovation Center (3 years); IP Webinar for VetBizCentral; IP Talk at TechTown Detroit; IP Talk at DC3S; and IP Talk – Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about IP But Were Afraid to Ask through Midland Tomorrow in cooperation with Northwood University during Entrepreneurship Week. Dean brings an entrepreneurial spirit to his work and enjoys sharing in his clients’ successes. He is also committed to keeping open communication with his clients and is readily available to answer his client’s questions. In his spare time Dean enjoys traveling with his wife Laurie and two sons. He also enjoys running and working on his 1969 Dodge Charger RT SE. Dean is the inventor on four patents relating to an electronic securities trading system, including U.S. Patent Nos. 8,788,398, 8,175,956, 7,552,085 and 7,356,499.