Stephen A. Becker is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP based in the Firm’s Washington, D.C., office.  As a member of the Intellectual Property, Media & Technology Department, Steve leads the Firm's Patent Procurement Group, and concentrates his practice on patent matters with special emphasis on semiconductor electronics, circuits, telecommunications, business methods and computer-related inventions.

Steve is the author of Patent Applications Handbook, published annually since 1992 by Thomson West, and of Patents Throughout the World, 5th edition, United States chapter, by the same publisher.  Steve also has authored many other publications, including “Means Plus Function Claims in Computer Related Patent Applications Within The United States,” Computer Law Journal, Vol. V, No. 1, Summer 1984; “Legal Protection of Semiconductor Mask Works in the United States,” Computer Law Journal, Vol. 6, No. 4, Spring, 1986; “Electronics and Computer Program Implemented Inventions in Recent Court Decisions in the U.S.,” Managing Intellectual Property, Issue 2, November 1990; “Preparation and Prosecution of Electronics and Computer Program Inventions in the United States,” AIPPI-Japan, 1991; “Preparing U.S. Patent Applications Under the New Guidelines,” The Computer Lawyer, 1996, “Claim Drafting for Literal Infringement,” Intellectual Property Today, 1997 and “Building a PTO for the 21st Century,” Managing IP, September 2003. 

He has lectured for the District of Columbia Bar Association, AIPPI-Japan, the Korean Patent Attorney’s Association and the Patent Committee of the District of Columbia Bar, Intellectual Property Law Section.  Steve taught advanced patent prosecution as an adjunct professor of law at Franklin Pierce Law Center from 1996 to 1997.  He is an editor of the Firm’s IP Update publication.

Steve’s professional memberships include the American Bar Association, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, Sigma XI, the International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property and the International Federation of Industrial Property Attorneys.  Since 2007, Steve has been named by Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers as being among the top five percent of Intellectual Property lawyers in D.C.  He has also been recognized by Chambers USA and The Legal 500 United States as a leader in his field.  In addition, Steve is recognized in the 2010 edition of Best Lawyers in America.

Steve received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering.  He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia (in intellectual property law), and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Practices & Industries

• Intellectual Property
• Japan
• Licensing
• Patent Prosecution

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