Keen minds protecting your patent rights.

When Rolf Stadheim founded the firm in 1990, our mission was uniquely specialized: to represent individuals, companies and universities in licensing their inventions and recovering damages for patent infringement—and to do it on a contingent fee basis.

While we are highly successful in the courtroom, we typically take a business approach first and attempt to license inventions without resorting for litigation. We have found this strategy to be appreciated by our clients—and highly successful for them.

Our primary source of new business is word of mouth. Thanks to kind words from our clients and our own record of success, we have built an impressive list of clients—inventors, companies, and especially, universities. We also partner with law firms that write patents but lack the time or specialization to deal with patent infringement or patent licensing.

We would welcome an opportunity to hear from you and learn how we might be of service.

Proactive partners in patent protection.

Stadheim & Grear provides a broad range of services to meet the highly specialized needs of a client base that ranges from individual inventors to large publicly traded companies, privately held companies and many of the country’s leading universities.

Individuals

Independent inventors without sufficient resources to license or litigate on an hourly fee basis are important beneficiaries of Stadheim & Grear’s contingent representation. The firm's approach is ideal for the individual inventor with a strong patent.

Companies

Since its founding in 1990, Stadheim & Grear has concluded hundreds of license agreements, tried numerous cases to judgment and collected hundred of millions of dollars in royalties and damages for our clients. In addition to licensing and litigating in the U.S., we have also managed worldwide enforcement programs and directed patent prosecution in the U.S., Europe, and Japan.

Universities

Contingency representation is often an attractive option for universities looking to assert their patent rights against infringers. Stadheim & Grear is widely respected in the academic community for our ability to achieve licensing agreements via early-stage settlement negotiations rather than pursuing costly and protracted litigation.

We take a stake in your success.

From our earliest days, Stadheim & Grear has served clients only on a contingent fee basis and is proud to be one of the few patent law practices to do so.

In essence, the firm becomes a partner with our clients and takes a stake in their success. We share in both legal fees and outcome risk. We receive payment only if a successful outcome is reached.

Where it is impossible for a potential client to pay the expenses associated with enforcing the patent, Stadheim & Grear can often fashion creative ways of financing the expenses. A patent owner with a meritorious case should not be denied its day in court.

Our services include extensive experience in trial, appellate and arbitration matters spanning virtually every area of patent law. Although our record in the courtroom is superlative, we typically attempt to license inventions on an amicable business basis instead of immediately filing litigation. Over the years, we have found this strategy to be highly successful for our clients.

Eight decades of experience, yours on a contingency basis.

In addition to numerous district courts, Stadheim & Grear enjoys a notable record of success before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. We are also registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Rolf Stadheim 

A litigator with over 40 years of experience, Rolf Stadheim began his career at Haight & Hofeldt where his trial and appeals cases produced hundreds of millions of dollars in recoveries. In 1990, Mr. Stadheim established the firm that is now known as Stadheim & Grear. Mr. Stadheim received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin and his law degree from the University of Chicago.

Stadheim@StadheimGrear.com

George Summerfield 

George Summerfield has over 20 years of experience in patent litigation. He has litigated scores of cases in district courts and has been lead counsel in over a dozen appeals before various courts of appeals. Admitted to the Bar in Michigan, his practice in Illinois is limited to matters that are under the jurisdiction of the federal court system. Mr. Summerfield graduated from King’s College and received his law degree from Wayne State University.

Summerfield@StadheimGrear.com

Kyle Harvey 

A litigator with over 20 years of experience at top law firms as well as technology giant Accenture, Kyle Harvey has first-chair experience resolving critical international disputes and litigation. She brings a collaborative, strategic and pragmatic problem-solving approach to litigation and negotiations. Admitted to practice in Illinois, Ms. Harvey graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and studied law at the University of Chicago.

Harvey@StadheimGrear.com

Robert Spalding 

Robert Spalding has litigated complex commercial disputes for clients in state and federal courts, administrative tribunals, and arbitral tribunals for over 15 years. Prior to joining Stadheim & Grear, Mr. Spalding served for nine years with the firm of Kaye Scholer LLP. Preceding experience includes Sidley Austin LLP and Baker McKenzie LLP. Mr. Spalding received his undergraduate degree from Occidental College and his law degree from Northwestern University.

Spalding@StadheimGrear.com

Stadheim & Grear, Ltd.

Wrigley Building Tower

400 N. Michigan Avenue

Suite 2200

Chicago, IL 60611

Telephone: 312.755.4400

Facsimile: 312.755.4408

To learn more about Stadheim & Grear and the services we offer, please contact us at 312.755.4400 or by email at contact@stadheimgrear.com. We will respond within 24 hours.

Please note: contacting us by email does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and our firm. Please do not include any confidential information in this form until a formal attorney-client relationship has been established.