Peter DeLuca is a co-founder of Carter DeLuca and the firm’s managing partner.  Over the last 30 years, he has provided counseling on the protection, commercial exploitation, and enforcement of innovations in a wide range of technologies.  That counseling frequently includes rendering opinions – – on patentability, freedom to operate, infringement, and/or validity, for example.  That counseling also includes advice on investment decisions related to acquiring rights to new technologies, whether through merger, acquisition, or licensing.   As an attorney with litigation experience, his advice on enforcement of IP rights prepares clients to either assert, or defend against infringement claims.  His experience as the firm’s managing partner also gives him keen insight into business issues clients face on a daily basis and how those issues may impact development of a successful IP strategy.

Mr. DeLuca had an early propensity for solving puzzles and a natural scientific curiosity. He studied chemistry at Franklin and Marshall College where he became fascinated by the nexus between geology and chemistry, leading him to move on to the study of geochemistry at Stony Brook University. After earning his master’s degree at Stony Brook, Mr. DeLuca went on to study at Marquette University Law School to earn his law degree, allowing him to maximize his scientific know-how in the realm of patent law.

Mr. DeLuca leverages thirty years of comprehensive legal experience to guide clients through every aspect of their intellectual property strategy  including portfolio development, new product launches, technology acquisitions (either as the acquiring or the acquired entity), and enforcement.

Strategic Portfolio Development:

Mr. DeLuca believes that understanding both your technology and business objectives are key to crafting a patent portfolio that maximizes the impact of your innovations in the marketplace.  He brainstorms with inventors about your technology, and reviews the impact of IP on your business with your in-house legal, marketing, and business teams.  Over the course of his career, he has been instrumental in building valuable patent portfolios – – in some cases portfolios including only a few critical patents, in other cases including hundreds of patents, but in all cases portfolios designed to provide a competitive advantage by excluding competitors.

Product Clearance:

Mr. DeLuca clears the way for clients to launch new products with confidence.  He evaluates the patent landscape prior to product launch to identify and address potential infringement risks.  Over the years, he has provided freedom-to-operate opinions on numerous products in a wide range of technologies, successfully testifying when necessary to explain the opinion and defend against a claim of willful infringement.

IP Due Diligence:

Mr. DeLuca routinely conducts due diligence to provide clients with the knowledge necessary to make intellectual property acquisition decisions.  Armed with this knowledge regarding infringement risks, the scope of the target’s IP portfolio, and IP ownership, his clients are positioned to make well-informed strategic investments with confidence.  His diligence evaluations have been in support of monetary investments in technology development,  outright purchase of companies and their IP, initial public offerings (IPOs),  and start-up companies desiring to be acquired.

Enforcement of IP Rights:

Mr. DeLuca, who began his career with a patent litigation firm in New York City, has experienced all phases of patent litigation, including initial pleadings, expert and fact discovery, pre-trial motions, and trial.  While no longer actively trying cases, based on his first-chair experience in patent and copyright trials, he assists clients in enforcing their IP rights or defending against claims of infringement by preparing or responding to cease and desist letters, evaluating the strength of the IP claim, marshalling the facts and evidence to pursue or defend against the claim, negotiating a settlement of the claim, and/or drafting a settlement or licensing agreement to resolve an infringement claim.

Post Grant Procedures:

Mr. DeLuca helps clients challenge issued patents to remove them as obstacles to business opportunities.  He has successfully challenged issued patents via re-issue and re-examination, and using skills developed by his extensive experience with interference practice, formulates strategies for post-grant review, inter partes review (IPR), and covered business method review.  By resolving questions about the scope or validity of issued patents, he provides clients with a greater degree of certainty in running their business.

Fields of Technology:

Mr. DeLuca has worked on a wide range of technologies over the course of his career.   His formal education provides a strong basis in the chemical arts, and he has obtained extensive experience in biotechnology as well.  He also drafts and reviews patent applications, submissions to the PTO and opinions regarding medical devices, consumer products, industrial systems, and control systems/software.

Business Management:

Mr. DeLuca’s experience as Carter DeLuca’s managing partner has honed his skills in investigating and developing both short and long term business strategies.  With a constant focus on client service, he seeks to implement creative protocols to streamline work flow while improving the working environment at the firm.