Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • April 6, 2020 • Hartford Business Journal 9 aggressively hire attorneys with mechanical, electrical and software engineering degrees, and developed specialized groups that manage all of those practice areas and more. They also built a C-suite by hiring a CFO and creat- ing various departments for finance and human resources. "Demands grew and we grew to serve the client's demand," Colburn said. "Our philosophy has always been to service clients providing qual- ity work at responsible pricing." While the firm has capitalized on many of its growth initiatives, expansion has come with a few hiccups for Cantor, who joined the firm in the early 1980s, and Colburn, hired nearly a decade later. In 1999, the partners launched the firm's second overall office, in Nor- walk, hoping to woo patent attor- neys from New York City law firms. The venture was short-lived and the location was shuttered in 2002. A year earlier, the partners were looking to open a second office in De- troit, but those plans were delayed for months due to an air travel shutdown following the terrorism attacks on Sept. 11. (They actually scheduled flights that day from Bradley International Airport to Detroit, but never departed.) Then came the 2008-2010 recession. Although an economic crisis never arrives at a good time, Cantor Col- burn had just made a major invest- ment in becoming the anchor tenant at the Stilts Building, 20 Church St. (It had previous locations in Bloom- field and Windsor, and has always been based in Greater Hartford.) Uncertainty in the financial mar- kets also encouraged more industry consolidation, creating even larger competitors in the IP law field. But Cantor and Colburn maintained an "entrepre- neurial spirit" in the years before and after the reces- sion, and added offices in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Houston and Seoul, South Korea. The partners have also aimed to make an impact outside of the office: Can- tor has been an adjunct patent law professor at UConn for 20-plus years and Colburn previously taught at Western New England Law School. "I think the biggest thing about Phil and I is that we were never scared of failing," Cantor said. "We have done some things that have not worked and we are not scared of that. I think the way you grow in this world is to not be scared of failure." Client's perspective Cantor Colburn's small-business roots are still apparent today in how it maintains relationships with clients like specialty-engineered materials company Rogers Corp. The Arizona-based manufacturer of electronic materials, previously headquartered in Killingly, was one of Cantor's first clients more than 30 years ago. Cantor Colburn leads Rogers through the years-long, patent-filing process for most of its manufac- tured products, including materi- als found in hand-held electronics, telecommunications infrastructure and power modules and converters used in automobiles. Shawn Williams, Rogers' vice presi- dent of research and development, says Cantor still makes himself available for regular meetings with the company to review its U.S. patent portfolio. During Williams' first seven years at Rogers, Cantor Colburn has helped the company file more than 100 "family applications," each con- taining about five patents, he said. "Cantor gives us a lot of personal at- tention," he said. "Not only do we ben- efit from the quality of claims we are drafting, we get guidance on how to build and protect the portfolio. For us, we feel the quality, diversity of their backgrounds in their patent attorneys are of great benefit to Rogers." FOCUS: LAW 107 Old Windsor Road, Bloomfi eld, CT 06002 (860) 242-8586 | Fax (860) 242-8587 www.pdsec.com PDS ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION, INC. THINK • PLAN • BUILD Spotlight on: Public Safety Litchfi eld County Regional Fire School | Torrington, CT Total Project Size: 28,050 SF Another Successful Project by PDS DESIGN BUILDERS • GENERAL CONTRACTORS • CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS The State of Connecticut selected PDS to Design/Build their state of the art Regional Fire School in Torrington, CT. The project entailed demolishing all existing buildings to create a new 4 facility campus complex. These buildings consist of a 12,650 SF administration facility, a 6,000 SF maintenance facility, a 5,900 SF burn building, and a 3,500 SF training tower. These buildings were designed to meet the compliance standards for High Performance Buildings as required for State Facilities. The campus is located atop a mountain with severe differences in grade elevation. Cantor Colburn's 2019 Scorecard Cantor Colburn LLP helped clients obtain the following number of U.S. patents/trademarks last year. Category Patents issued U.S. ranking Utility patents 4,418 3 Design patents 327 6 Trademark registrations 443 11 Source: Oppedahl Patent Law Firm LLC

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