Derek Allen Auito

I am a registered U.S. patent attorney and a member of Dentons’ Intellectual Property and Technology Practice.

Working with clients ranging from startups to Fortune 50 companies, my practice focuses on all aspects of intellectual property law, including patent preparation and prosecution; patent and trade-secret litigation; IP due diligence, clearance and landscape analysis; post grant proceedings; and licensing. My practice has a particular emphasis on patent portfolio development, including invention harvesting and patent filing strategies. With a business-first approach, I have prepared, prosecuted, and managed hundreds of U.S. and foreign patent applications for clients involving a broad range of technologies in fields such as automotive design, robotics, computer hardware and software, refrigeration, air conditioning, mobile payments, gaming, sporting equipment, and medical devices. I work closely with clients to craft strategies for helping them avoid disputes altogether.

I have significant litigation experience both enforcing patent rights and defending against patent infringement claims. For over 10 years, I have been representing individuals and companies across a broad range of technologies in patent disputes before the ITC, in district court, and at the PTAB. I also regularly handle other IP and technology related disputes, including trade-secret disputes, domain name hijacking, trademark/trade dress infringement, and administrative proceedings before the TTAB.

While attending law school, I served as a judicial extern to the Honorable Kathleen M. O’Malley of the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio (now on the Federal Circuit). Before attending law school, I worked as a project engineer at Applied Safety & Ergonomics, Inc., a forensic engineering consulting firm specializing in ergonomics and human factors, where I analyzed product designs and designed/evaluated safety.