Law and Order

Keith Brofsky

When academic institutions, biotech firms, and pharmaceutical companies from around the world need money to underwrite their ideas, they turn to New York City's venture capitalists and investment banks. (See p. 24) And the venture funds and investment bankers like to rely on their connections to nearby law firms to protect the intellectual property that defines the core value of science-related companies.

That makes a presence in New York imperative for such law firms, says Robert C. Kahrl, the patent litigator who leads the intellectual property (IP) law practice for Jones Day, a 2,200-attorney firm. Kahrl notes that Jones Day has more IP lawyers in its New York office than at its Cleveland home base. "We need to be present in a major way because New York is the most important market in this field," says Kahrl.

The New York Intellectual Property Law Association, a long-established and activist ...