For more than 40 years, Michael A. Cantor and Philmore H. Colburn II have been building one of Connecticut's far-ranging law firms, in every sense of that term. The 100-lawyer firm specializes in intellectual property, and is headquartered in Hartford. Competing against peer firms based in larger cities, it serves a national clientele, with offices in Atlanta, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and Houston.
At No. 7 in the Trib 20, and as the seventh most active patent firm in the U.S., measured by its annual patent filings, the firm has actually been expanding its market share during the economic downturn. Partner Michael Cantor explained some of the firms's latest developments with Senior Writer Thomas B. Scheffey.
LAW TRIBUNE: Do you think intellectual property practice is a leading or lagging indicator of economic activity?
MICHAEL CANTOR: I think intellectual property practice is a leading indicator. We saw an upturn in the economy before others. Corporations have been sitting on cash for the last couple of years. Although they haven't been hiring a lot, they've been spending that cash on new product development. And on new technology development. Things were flat after [the 2008 economic meltdown], but several years ago we started seeing an increase, and that was certainly before anyone else was talking about an improved economy.
I think it's because companies started taking their heads out of the sand and saying, "Hey, we need to start developing new products, new technologies." And as soon as they start doing that, they need us. They need us to know that the new products and technologies they're developing aren't infringing the patent rights of third parties, and to help negotiate licensing and technology transfer agreements.
LAW TRIBUNE: That sort of scenario would help all IP firms. Why specifically is Cantor Colburn growing?
CANTOR: Our business model really shines in that companies have had to do more with lower IP budgets, because of the recession. And the pressures from this global competitive economy are greater than ever. They've needed to do a tremendous amount of new IP work with fewer dollars, and so our business model helps.
We're based in Hartford and our back-end operations are here, along with two-thirds of our attorneys. When you compare our cost structure to firms of our size, most of which are based in Boston, Washington, New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles, we are more reasonable. We're gaining market share. We know this because we've had very solid companies that may have been using five outside patent firms consolidate down to three. And we've survived the consolidations.
Today the word " value" is used all the time. In our field, you can never diminish your quality. If you do that, you're destined for failure. You have to maintain high quality, be incredibly responsive, and do so at a reasonable cost. You also have to be very flexible and creative in the way you structure your pricing. We are that. We're open to many, many billing schemes.
LAW TRIBUNE: Any 2012 stories that illustrate your litigation practice?
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