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About

About Auito IP Law

We are an intellectual property firm founded on more than 20 years of practice, client relationships, and technical judgment. Every IP strategy should reflect the realities of the company behind it, so we take the time to get to know the people, the business, and the industry.

From venture-backed startups to global companies, we help clients protect what they build, capitalize on what they own, and make better decisions as their technologies, markets, and business needs evolve. Our work spans patents, trademarks, licensing, diligence, transactions, and IP disputes.

Our Attorneys

Experienced IP Counsel

Darrin A. Auito

Darrin A. Auito

Principal

Darrin A. Auito is an intellectual property attorney and business advisor with over 20 years of experience. Before founding Auito IP Law, he was an equity partner at a top-25 intellectual property law firm in Washington, DC.

Darrin A. Auito

Principal

Darrin A. Auito is an intellectual property attorney and business advisor. Companies ranging from startups to established global businesses turn to him when intellectual property becomes important to a business decision.

For more than two decades, Darrin has helped clients navigate the opportunities and challenges that arise as technologies evolve, products reach the market, and brands grow. His approach combines legal, technical, and commercial perspectives, so clients can make informed decisions that look beyond the immediate legal question to their long-term objectives.

Darrin has advised clients across software, artificial intelligence, electronics, communications, consumer products, automotive technologies, gaming, and sports technology. Before founding Auito IP Law, he was a name partner at HEA Law, where he managed the firm’s U.S. practice. Earlier, he was an equity partner at a top-25 intellectual property law firm in Washington, DC.

Beyond private practice, Darrin is active in the DC-area business and philanthropic community. His involvement includes advising technology companies and serving on the Board of Directors of the Tysons Tower Club, the Advisory Board of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, and host committees for philanthropic organizations. He is also an ambassador for Connectpreneur and judges the George Washington University New Venture Competition.

State Bar of Michigan (2004);

U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (2004);

U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit (2012);

U.S. District Court, E.D. Michigan (2017)

Case Western Reserve University School of Law, J.D., 2004

Case Western Reserve University, Weatherhead School of Management, M.B.A., 2004 (Entrepreneurship)

University of Michigan (NIOSH fellowship), M.S.E., 2000

GMI Engineering & Management Institute (Kettering University), B.S.E., 1998

Timothy H. Caine

Timothy H. Caine

Patent Attorney, Of Counsel

Tim H. Caine is a registered U.S. patent attorney with over a decade of experience spanning patent and trademark prosecution, intellectual property litigation, transactions, and licensing, with a focus on complex technology in electrical and computer engineering.

Timothy H. Caine

Timothy H. Caine

Patent Attorney, Of Counsel

Timothy H. Caine, J.D., counsels clients in all aspects of intellectual property (IP) litigation and transactions, including litigation, licensing, and patent and trademark prosecution. He has extensive experience with complicated technology in the fields of electrical and computer engineering, ranging from telecommunications including LTE, WiFi, and fiber optic transmission, to software to semiconductor design and packaging. He has represented clients in federal district courts, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), and appeals to the Federal Circuit.

Timothy was an associate in the IP practice group at an AMLAW 25 firm where he represented clients in patent litigations, inter partes reviews, patent licensing campaigns, trademark oppositions and litigations, contract disputes, government investigations, and corporate transactions. In addition, he devoted a significant amount of his time to pro bono efforts, earning a Pro Bono Service Award every year.

Timothy earned a J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law, where he served as an Associate Editor of the Seton Hall Law Review and also worked as a legal intern for the Honorable Michael A. Hammer, United States Magistrate Judge for the District of New Jersey. Prior to law school, he earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Arizona State University. During his undergraduate studies, he worked as an engineering intern with a defense contractor, where he developed and tested parts integral to various aerospace projects.

New Jersey

New York

US District Court, New Jersey

US District Court, Southern & Eastern Districts of New York

US District Court, Eastern District of Texas

US District Court, Colorado

Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Seton Hall University School of Law, J.D., 2014

Arizona State University, B.S., Electrical Engineering, 2011

Dennis M. Hubbs

Dennis M. Hubbs

Patent Attorney, Of Counsel

Dennis M. Hubbs is a registered U.S. patent attorney with over 20 years of experience in patent prosecution, PTAB appeals, and patentability and infringement opinions, with particular depth in electronics, semiconductors, aerospace, optics, robotics, and software.

Dennis M. Hubbs

Dennis M. Hubbs

Patent Attorney, Of Counsel

Dennis is a registered U.S. patent attorney and is based in Tokyo, Japan. He has over 20 years experience drafting and prosecuting patent applications. His practice includes managing all aspects of US and foreign patent prosecution; preparing and conducting appeals to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board; and preparing and filing reissue applications. He has also prepared numerous legal opinions on patentability, infringement, and non-infringement. He has been involved in patent litigation and acted as local counsel in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Dennis advises clients in technology areas such as electronic circuits, semiconductors, aerospace, optics, robotics and software.

Dennis is also a member of the Daini Tokyo Bar Association and is a registered Gaikokuho Jimu Bengoshi (registered foreign attorney) in Japan. He currently lives in Tokyo, Japan and regularly travels to Kansai and other locations throughout Japan and Asia.

Before becoming a patent attorney, he was a circuit design engineer for Honeywell Aerospace Company in Tucson, Arizona, where he designed and tested various turbine engine control systems and aerospace components.

Texas

Virginia

Daini Tokyo Bar Association – Gaikokuho Jimu Bengoshi

US District Court, Eastern

Western Districts of Virginia

Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

American University, Washington College of Law, J.D., 2007

Arizona State University, College of Engineering and Applied

Sciences, B.S., Electrical Engineering, 2003

How We Work

Counsel in Context

Clients work directly with experienced counsel and get timely answers from the people handling their matters. When a matter calls for specialized technical expertise, trial resources, or experience outside our core practice, we bring in trusted co-counsel and remain the client’s primary point of contact.

We also use secure AI and other technology to work more efficiently, while keeping legal judgment where it belongs: with the attorneys responsible for the work.

Representative Experience

01

Portfolio Strategy & Development

Building and managing U.S. and international intellectual property portfolios across patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. We coordinate protection and enforcement across jurisdictions, working with an established network of foreign associates to manage clients’ rights worldwide.

Example

Built and managed a global IP portfolio for a software platform company across dozens of countries, protecting its user interface through design patents, its brand through trademarks, and its platform technology through a combination of patent and trade secret protection.

02

Prosecution & Administrative Practice

Representing clients before the USPTO in patent and trademark matters, from application strategy and Office Action responses to appeals, oppositions, and cancellations before the PTAB and TTAB. We handle both U.S. and foreign-origin matters across a broad range of technologies and industries.

Example

Secured utility patents, design patents, and trademark registrations across a consumer products company’s portfolio, distinguishing its products in markets crowded with competitor patents and brands. We also handle U.S. matters referred by foreign associates across Asia, Europe, and North America.

03

Transactions, Licensing & Diligence

Structuring and negotiating licensing, technology transfer, and other IP transactions. We conduct IP diligence for investments, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships, and advise on ownership, commercialization, and portfolio issues that affect deal value.

Example

Working alongside M&A counsel on acquisitions and investments, reviewing target companies’ patents, trademarks, and ownership records to identify IP risks before closing.

04

Disputes & Enforcement

Representing clients in IP disputes in federal district court, before the PTAB and TTAB, and in Section 337 investigations at the U.S. International Trade Commission, as both lead and local counsel. We also handle domain name disputes and help clients resolve or narrow disputes before litigation becomes necessary.

Examples

Represented a recording artist in a trademark dispute over the rights to a band name, and recovered an infringing domain name for a U.S. manufacturer through a successful WIPO UDRP proceeding.

Protect What You Build