Overview

Joel Couenhoven drafts and obtains patents for complex technology, with a particular focus on computer software and hardware, providing proactive, comprehensive counsel that helps clients establish and maintain their robust patent portfolios. 

Clients rely on Joel’s skills and insights across all aspects of patent prosecution and counseling, patent strategy and analysis, portfolio management, and open source and standards due diligence. He also has experience with patent due diligence, pre-suit investigations, and litigation in the areas of computer science and semiconductor fabrication. Joel's litigation experience informs his prosecution work, and he drafts patents with an eye to the future, understanding how decisions made early in the patent lifecycle can impact future litigation. 

A continuous learner with an aptitude for grasping his clients’ complex innovations in all areas of computer software and hardware, Joel has worked with technologies including artificial intelligence and machine learning; human-computer interaction; graphics; audio and video codecs; software development and systems; robotics; 3D printing; consumer electronics; and computer architecture. His prosecution and litigation experience has also included seismic and imaging systems; magnet recycling; flatbread machinery; and medical devices. 

Before beginning his career in law, Joel worked as a software consultant for the commonwealth of Virginia, where he created a software program to classify people by using a neural network. He also worked for the University of Minnesota’s department of computer science and at Securian Financial. 

In his leisure time, Joel enjoys hiking, reading, and exploring new travel destinations. 

Pro bono activities

Joel’s pro bono practice has included providing pro bono prosecution services for individual inventors, as well as advocating for the rights of tenants in housing matters. 

Joel represented a woman in a rare jury trial over eviction and rent abatement in Washington, D.C., Superior Court. The matter, which stemmed from unsafe housing conditions, was resolved when the jury ruled in the client’s favor, an outcome that protected her and her child from eviction and provided “life-changing” financial relief and stability.