Firms with the Most Patent Attorneys and Agents

The following list ranks the top 25 firms with the most registered  patent law professionals.  All of these firms have 100+ patent attorneys/agents.  I also include a note following the firm with some information about how the numbers have changed since 2010.

1. Fish & Richardson (Steady)
2. Finnegan Henderson (Down 50+, Spin-off firms, including Bookoff McAndrews & McNeill Baur)
3. Wilson Sonsini (More than doubled, mostly new attorneys/agents)
4. Knobbe Martens (Steady)
5. Kilpatrick Townsend (Big growth from merger of firms)
6. Foley & Lardner (Steady)
7. Baker Botts (Steady)
8. IBM (Steady)
9. Perkins Coie (More than doubled)
10. Morrison & Foerster (Steady)
11. Cooley (More than doubled, mostly new attorneys/agents)
12. Sterne Kessler (Some growth)
13. Morgan Lewis (Some growth)
14. Jones Day (Some decline)
15. Schwegman Lundberg (Doubled)
16. Wolf Greenfield (Doubled)
17. Banner & Witcoff (Some growth)
18. Polsinelli PC (Huge growth, including folks from Novak Druce;  Dorsey; etc. and also new attorneys)
19. Johnson & Johnson (company)
20. Alston & Bird (Steady)
21. Kirkland & Ellis (Steady)
22. Haynes and Boone (Growth – mostly new attorneys)
23. Mintz Levin (Doubled – mostly new attorneys)
24. Qualcomm (Some growth)
25. Harness IP (Some decline)

Firms with the biggest losses of folks since 2010 include Kenyon & Kenyon (firm closed — 150 people); Brinks (down to 86 from 160, folks left to go to lots of different places); Woodcock (most joined BakerHostetler); Blakely Sokoloff (firm closed an many joined Womble Bond but also spin-off firms of Jaffery Watson; Nicholson De Vos); Connolly Bove (firm closed); Fitzpatrick Cella (Firm closed with many joining Venable); Ropes & Gray (lots of folks left to other firms, including spin-off Haley Guiliano); Novak Druce (lots of poaching, including by Polsinelli; Duane Morris, etc.).

The list has a some big caveats.  (1) The data comes from the USPTO register, and some attorneys are not good at updating their information. For example. Kenyon & Kenyon closed its doors in 2016, but 30+ registrations still list the firm.  (2) A number of folks use their home (or some other) address rather than firm address for the registration. (3) Retired folks often do not update their registration.