Washington, D.C. intellectual property lawyer Matt Phillips talks about his professional experience. He shares that by his mid-twenties, he had earned a doctorate in electrical engineering and spent several years working as an engineer. However, he soon realized he did not want to pursue a long-term career in engineering. He moved to Washington, D.C., began working as a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and enrolled in law school at Georgetown University.

After some time, he left the Patent Office to join a large law firm as a patent agent, where he engaged in what he now refers to as high-volume, commodity-style patent preparation and prosecution. That experience gave him a strong foundation in the fundamentals of patent practice. He later secured a clerkship at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, serving under Judge Alan Lourie. During that clerkship, he gained deep insight into patent law, litigation, and appellate advocacy.

Following his clerkship, he moved to Oregon and joined a general practice law firm’s patent department, where he handled both prosecution and litigation matters. Within about five or six years, he became a partner. Eventually, he left to establish his own firm, which would become the predecessor to Lawrence & Phillips.

Over time, his practice naturally gravitated toward re-examinations—the focal point where litigation and prosecution intersected. With the passage of the America Invents Act, his work transitioned seamlessly into inter partes reviews and other AIA trials. Today, those proceedings make up roughly 80 percent of his practice.