Buchanan's Intellectual Property Practice, IP Attorneys Wieland, Skiff and Duffett Recognized by The Legal 500

The Legal 500 recently recognized Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney and Intellectual Property attorneys Charles F. Wieland III, Peter K. Skiff and Benton S. Duffett, Jr. in its U.S. 2009 series. Published for more than 20 years, the Legal 500 series provides the most comprehensive worldwide coverage currently available on legal services providers, in over 100 countries. According to the publications website, the only way a law firm can get into the Law Firm Recommendations is on merit alone — "It is not possible for a firm to buy its way into the Editorial."

The firm and its attorneys were noted in two categories — "Intellectual Property: Patent Prosecution: Utility and Design Patents" and "Intellectual Property: Patent Prosecution: Plant Patents."

According to the publication, law firms ranked under the "Utility and Design Patents" category were "selected according to the volume of work they handled during 2008 and the final quarter of 2007, but most importantly according to the breath and complexity above the volume of work. This chapter lists the best U.S. practices for non-contentious patent applications."

As stated by the Legal 500,

Following the acquisition of Burns Doane Swecker & Mathis and Klett Rooney Lieber & Schorling in 2005 and 2006, respectively, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney became what is today the largest state-government lobbying practice in Pennsylvania.

About a quarter of the firm's 60 IP lawyers worked as former examiners at the USPTO and many have technical backgrounds in various technical and mechanical fields.

The practice has undertaken an extensive patent portfolio review and patent application process for Profectus Biosciences.

Notable [clients] include Lockheed Martin, Samsung, L'Oreal, ABB and Konica Minolta, MedQuist and Chevron.

Charles Wieland in Alexandria, Virginia, is experienced in preparing and prosecuting utility and design patent applications in the electrical and radiant energy industries. Peter Skiff, in the same office, prosecutes patent applications nationally and internationally, and has been involved in the re-examination, reissuing and interference proceedings before the USPTO.

The firm was also ranked under the publication's "Plant Patents" category. As noted, "Plant protection is a niche market and only a handful of firms offer service in this particular area. Since the U.S. is the world's leader in plant prosecution, the firms listed in this section are active in filing rights of applications on behalf of plant breeders' under the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (the UPOV). In addition, these practices undertake licensing, plant-related litigation and work within the Plant Variety Protection Act (PVPA)."

According to the Legal 500,

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney is known in the patent market for its 'significant' licensing work and assignment for plant patent owners, with six intellectual property lawyers belonging to the biotechnology patent group.

The practice recently obtained a patent for a hybrid tea rose plant named 'Meibderos,' which forms attractive double yellow suffused with red blossoms with a very strong fragrance. With regards to berries, the intellectual property group protected a raspberry plant named 'Marcela,' which forms conical-shaped claret rose fruits suitable for harvest, shipment and marketing.

[Clients include] England's Medway Fruits, French rose-breeders Meilland International and Delbard, a number of small U.S. nurseries and the University of California.

Throughout his 40-year-long successful career, Benton Duffett in Alexandria has secured more than 900 plant patents. Duffett is also experienced in the fields of organic and inorganic chemistry, synthetic polymer and fiber technology and in the hybridization processes involving agricultural crops.