Intel states preference for small prosecution firms

from Victoria Slind-Flor in IP Law & Business:

-->Any firm that manages to grab Simon's attention will soon learn his hiring bias: Brand-name firms from large cities need not apply. "We are moving to what we call low-overhead firms: individual practitioners or firms that are no more than seven people, not in major cities," he says. At large firms second- or third-year associates wind up doing the bulk of Intel's work; at smaller firms Intel gets more attention, Simon says.

Outside firms do approximately 60 percent of Intel's patent applications work, and they must accept Simon's guideline price of $7,500 for most patent applications. Simon's staff of about 65 patent lawyers does the rest, focusing on Intel's key technology.

Three firms receive the bulk of Intel's prosecution work: 60-lawyer Schwegman, Lundberg, Woessner & Kluth of Minneapolis; six-lawyer Konrad, Raynes & Victor of Beverly Hills; and the 28-lawyer Sunnyvale, Calif., office of Los Angeles's Blakely, Sokoloff, Taylor & Zafman. Blakely Sokoloff probably handles the biggest chunk of work, Simon says. <--

[http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1102543080110]