Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox

What Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox does

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox is a Washington, D.C.-based intellectual property specialty law firm founded in 1978, operating as a privately held Professional Limited Liability Company with more than 170 attorneys and over 400 total professionals. The firm serves Fortune 500 corporations, startups, inventors, venture capital firms, and universities across all major industries, with practice groups covering patent and trademark prosecution, PTAB post-grant proceedings (IPRs, PGRs, DERs), federal district court litigation, ITC Section 337 investigations, appellate practice before the Federal Circuit, and Hatch-Waxman / BPCIA pharmaceutical litigation. It is the only Band 1 firm in Washington, D.C. for patent prosecution per Chambers USA for eight consecutive years, has handled more than 1,400 PTAB proceedings, and is among the top five most active firms at both the PTAB and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

The firm has built differentiated AI capabilities layered on top of its legal practice: Patent Assist AI, launched in March 2025, is an in-house generative AI tool running on private LLM instances that drafts detailed description sections of patent specifications, and the Patent Claim Eligibility Analyzer, co-developed with Thomson Reuters and announced in May 2026, is embedded in CoCounsel Legal as the first attorney-built AI workflow for Section 101 patent eligibility analysis. A dedicated internal innovation unit, Sterne Kessler Labs, and a wholly-owned subsidiary, Sterne Kessler AI, house the development of these tools. The firm's revenue model is traditional professional services — hourly billing, fixed fees, and contingency arrangements for IP litigation and prosecution — delivered through direct client engagement from a single Washington, D.C. headquarters at 1101 K Street NW. Distribution relies on reputation, industry recognition (Managing IP, Chambers, IAM, Patexia, Lawdragon), and a content marketing apparatus of newsletters, client alerts, webinars, and published year-in-review reports.

Name

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox

Legal name

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox PLLC

Website

https://sternekessler.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox is a top-ranked Washington, D.C. intellectual property specialty law firm serving Fortune 500 companies, startups, and universities with patent prosecution, litigation, PTAB trials, and ITC proceedings, augmented by proprietary AI tooling.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Intellectual Property Legal Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Patent Prosecution & Portfolio Management (BPAHAMAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Litigation Support & Expert Witness Services (BPAHALAG)

Keywords

• Intellectual property law
• Patent prosecution
• Patent litigation
• PTAB trials
• Trademark protection

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Legal Professional Services: Traditional law firm revenue through hourly billing, fixed fees, and contingency arrangements for IP litigation and prosecution services

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox is an intellectual property specialty law firm providing legal services in patent prosecution, patent litigation, PTAB post-grant proceedings (IPRs, PGRs, DERs), ITC Section 337 investigations, trademark prosecution, design patent protection, and IP transaction support. The firm also develops proprietary AI-powered legal tools (Patent Assist AI and the co-developed Patent Claim Eligibility Analyzer with Thomson Reuters) to streamline patent drafting and eligibility analysis for clients.

Product overview

Sterne Kessler operates as an intellectual property law firm offering legal services and proprietary AI-powered tools. The firm's technology offerings consist of Patent Assist AI (internal patent drafting tool) and the co-developed Patent Claim Eligibility Analyzer within Thomson Reuters' CoCounsel Legal platform. These AI tools complement the firm's core legal services including patent prosecution, litigation, post-grant proceedings, and trademark protection across multiple industries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sterne Kessler AI: AI-powered patent application drafting technology platform developed by the firm
• Patent Assist AI
• Patent Claim Eligibility Analyzer
• Sterne Kessler Labs

Products and services

• PTAB Trials (IPRs, PGRs, DERs)

Quantifiable outcome

• Delivers patent eligibility analysis in minutes rather than days
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Thomson ReutersflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 May 2026Co-development partnership producing the Patent Claim Eligibility Analyzer within CoCounsel Legal. This is the first attorney-built AI workflow in CoCounsel Legal, designed to assist patent litigators with Section 101 patent eligibility analysis. Practitioners were embedded in the development process from the start, working alongside Thomson Reuters engineers in rapid iterations. The tool delivers patent eligibility analysis in minutes rather than days.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Fish & Richardson: Largest U.S. intellectual property specialty firm and the most direct competitor to Sterne Kessler, with comparable strength in patent prosecution, PTAB practice, and ITC litigation, but with broader geographic coverage across multiple U.S. tech hubs.
• Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner: Top-tier Washington, D.C.-based IP boutique directly comparable to Sterne Kessler across patent prosecution, PTAB trials, and ITC litigation; comparable headcount and client base of Fortune 500 technology and pharmaceutical companies.
• Oblon, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt: IP specialty firm based near the USPTO in Alexandria, VA, with similar focus on patent prosecution and post-grant proceedings, serving comparable Fortune 500 and international technology clients.
• Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan: Litigation-focused firm with one of the strongest IP trial practices in the United States, directly competing with Sterne Kessler on high-stakes patent litigation and ITC matters.
• Mintz: IP-focused AmLaw 200 firm with comparable patent prosecution and litigation practices, serving overlapping technology, life sciences, and consumer products clients.

Broad incumbents

• WilmerHale: Major AmLaw 50 firm with a leading IP litigation and PTAB practice that competes with Sterne Kessler on appellate and complex patent matters while offering broader corporate and litigation capabilities.
• Cooley LLP: Technology-focused AmLaw 50 firm with a significant IP practice spanning patent prosecution, litigation, and PTAB matters, frequently serving overlapping life sciences and technology clients.
• Kirkland & Ellis: Largest U.S. law firm by revenue with a deep IP litigation bench, competing with Sterne Kessler on major patent disputes and post-grant proceedings for Fortune 500 clients.
• McDermott Will & Emery: Global AmLaw 50 firm with one of the largest IP practices, regularly competing with Sterne Kessler on patent litigation, Hatch-Waxman ANDA matters, and PTAB trials.
• Latham & Watkins: Global AmLaw 50 firm with a top-tier IP litigation practice competing with Sterne Kessler for high-stakes patent disputes and Federal Circuit appellate work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sternekessler

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles19 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox