Peter K. Skiff

How Peter Helps Clients

Peter draws from a very deep pool of knowledge to help clients develop the patent strategies needed to protect innovative technologies in the U.S. and abroad.

He has worked with large companies, small businesses and individual inventors in areas such as semiconductor processing, consumer products, medical devices, materials, cutting tools, automotive equipment, coatings and sporting equipment. He has been involved with re-examination, re-issue and interference proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and has counseled clients in patent infringement and patent validity investigations.

Peter has prosecuted international applications, directed foreign prosecution and provided litigation support for the International Trade Commission and District Court.

Last but not least, Peter himself has issued more than 600 patents. Before entering private practice, he worked as a Primary Examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

What Clients Can Expect

Clients rely on Peter's knowledge and the insights of 30 years' experience for thorough analysis of intellectual property issues.

His semiconductor processing experience includes CVD, ALD and plasma etch processes and vacuum processing equipment. His materials experience includes nano materials, intermetallics, hydrogen storage alloys, fuel cell materials, superconductors, shape memory alloys, metallurgical alloys, powder metallurgy and ceramic materials. And he has worked with medical devices such as inhalers, stents, catheters and laparoscopic equipment.

I enjoy working with client teams to deliver quality legal service.

Outside the Office

Peter enjoys spending time with his wife and catching up with their two grown daughters. In his free time, he is probably playing tennis or working on a house project.

Proof Points

• Chair of the firm's Materials Science Practice Group.
• Represented patent owner in third-party re-examination of a patent in litigation in which the Patent Office rejected all claims. No amendments were made to the claims, and the rejections were appealed. The examiner was reversed twice by the Board of Patent Interferences and Appeals.
• Has prosecuted Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications and directing foreign prosecution before the European Patent Office (EPO), Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Canada, Malaysia, Argentina, the Philippines and many other countries.
• Has appeared before the EPO Opposition Board several times and has been involved in oppositions before the Japanese and Korean patent offices.
• Partner with Burns, Doane, Swecker & Mathis, one of the oldest and largest law firms in the country focusing exclusively on intellectual property, until its lawyers and other professionals joined Buchanan in 2005.
• Was a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Issued more than 600 patents in technologies such as metallurgical alloys, thermomechanical processing of metals, heat treating equipment, powder metallurgy, magnetic materials, dental compositions and shape memory alloys.