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Law Technology News reports that a number of big firms are beefing up their intellectual property practices in the Denver-Boulder area, where a thriving tech industry of local startups and national companies is fueling demand. With the recession over, clients are spending more on IP protection and now boosting the area's status as an innovation hub. Denver has been selected for a satellite patent office.

Thomas Franklin, a partner in Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton's Denver office, says the demand for IP services reminds him of the dot-com bubble of the late nineties. "We were so busy [back then], we were turning away new clients," says Franklin. "This feels like the run-up to that." Kilpatrick's Denver office, which has 30 IP lawyers, has hired three patent prosecutors and two patent litigators in the past few months.

Regional firm Holland & Hart has hired 14 new IP attorneys in its Denver and Boulder offices since late 2010. "We have people working in conference rooms," says Don Degnan, a partner at the Boulder office and leader of the firm's IP practice group. Faegre's Denver office has hired three IP lawyers since January, and has ads out for additional attorneys and patent agents, says partner Natalie Hanlon-Leh. She adds, "We have so much going on, we haven't had the capacity to do the additional work that's out there."

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