Steve Gruber
Partner
Steve’s best hours are spent in collaboration with innovators and founders digging into the physics, electronics, and algorithms behind foundational technologies. He has over 15 years of experience securing patents and trademarks and counseling clients on the most cost-effective ways to carve out market share, close an exit, or secure a next funding round with their IP. Where markets demand it, Steve prepares patent and trademark applications for the riggers of international protection and has lasting connections with skilled foreign attorneys in dozens of markets.
Steve presents a range of IP tools during initial meetings and helps clients select a combination providing the highest ROI. These include securing utility patents for core inventions, design patents on features that cross into the aesthetic identity of a product, and trademarks for brand names and logos. For those innovations and business secrets that are difficult to reverse engineer or enforce through traditional patent litigation, Steve helps companies wrap such innovations into their trade secret programs.
Steve and the team take immense pride in meticulously drafting compelling, multi-layered patent applications and internationally-focused claim sets. Many clients remark on his ability to quickly understand inventions and their broader importance in an industry and beyond, and craft claims that dissuade design arounds and copycats. He also identifies paths of safety in crowded patent spaces through clearance and freedom to operate searches and protects innovators and investors during M&A due diligence.
Representative Work
- Analyzed a renewable energy related patent portfolio and identified decision-changing risks as part of a $50 million M&A process
- Developed a global design patent portfolio for an industry-leading consumer products company
- Provided litigation support on repeated litigation efforts that secured market dominance for a consumer goods entity
- Synthesized coverage of competing patents to foster customer confidence for an optoelectronics developer
Education
- J.D., University of Denver – Sturm College of Law
- Giles Rich Moot Court
- M.S. Electrical Engineering – University of Colorado Boulder
- B.A., Physics/Engineering & History – Dartmouth College
Admissions
- Colorado
- USPTO