Dean D. Small

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Dean D. Small / Founding Member Of Counsel

Dean D. Small, the founding member of the firm, concentrates his law practice in the areas of intellectual property based transactions, licensing and portfolio management. Mr. Small has been working in the field of intellectual property law since 1989 when he began working as a patent examiner in the U.S. Patent office. After leaving the Patent Office, Mr. Small joined a large Washington, D.C. –based Intellectual Property (IP) boutique firm where he wrote and prosecuted patent applications for over three years while completing the night program of Catholic University School of Law.

Prior to founding The Small Patent Law Group, Dean D. Small was a Partner with Armstrong Teasdale in St. Louis since 2003 after practicing for seven years in Chicago with a large IP boutique firm. Mr. Small has significant experience in litigation and mergers and acquisitions, equity investments and divestitures. Over the years, Mr. Small has developed and managed numerous patent portfolios and conducted many non-infringement and invalidity studies. An ongoing part of his practice involves negotiating, writing and analyzing technology transfer and licensing agreements.

ACTIVITIES

  • The Missouri Bar
  • Illinois State Bar Association
  • American Bar Association
  • American Intellectual Property

EDUCATION

  • Catholic University of America (J.D. 1993)
  • University of Missouri Columbia (B.S.E.E., 1988)

Publications & Presentations

  • Speaker, “Managing Intellectual Property Assets After Sarbanes Oxley,” Association of Corporate Counsel-St. Louis Chapter (March 2004)
  • Author, “Continuation Practice and Claim Construction,” AT Newsletter (Q1/2004)
  • Author, “Intellectual Property Issues in Transactions with Financially Distressed Companies,” AT Newsletter (Q4/2003)
  • Author, “General Commercial Liability Policy May Cover Infringement of Business Method Patents,” AT Newsletter (Q3/2003)
  • Author, “Standards Committees and Duty of Disclosure,”AT Newsletter (Q2/2003)
  • Author, “Foreign Prosecution Impact on U.S. Patent Claim Scope,” AT Newsletter (Q1/2003)
  • Speaker, “Intellectual Property Issues in Business Transactions,” University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law (2001)
  • Author, “Post-Acquisition Intellectual Property,” Contract Management (July 2001)