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Ropes & Gray Wins Lien Against Patents

By Robert J. Ambrogi

The Boston law firm Ropes & Gray has won a key victory in an attempt to collect unpaid legal fees and has set new precedent in the process. In a case of first impression, Massachusetts' highest court ruled this week that the firm is entitled to an attorney's lien on patents and patent applications, as well as on the proceeds from the sales of those patents. "A patent attorney who successfully secures a patent for his client in proceedings before the USPTO is entitled to the same protection under [the lien statute] as an attorney who obtains a favorable judgment for his client in court," the Supreme Judicial Court decided in the case, Ropes & Gray LLP v. Jalbert. The firm is owed some $109,000 for patent prosecution work performed in 2002 and 2003 on behalf of Engage Inc., an advertising software company. When Engage filed for bankruptcy in 2003, the law firm asserted that the amount it was owed was secured by an attorney's lien filed under Massachusetts law. By that time, Engage had sold the patents but agreed to maintain a cash reserve from the sale proceeds sufficient to pay the firm's lien. In the bankruptcy proceedings, Engage's...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on July 29, 2009 (boomark / email).