Mark E. Deffner

Mark has been passionate about technology and innovation his whole life.  His interests stretch from the chemical arts, to medical technologies, software, the Internet of Things, mechanical technologies, and beyond. Since becoming a registered patent attorney almost 20 years ago, Mark has also been passionate about understanding how his clients’ innovations can best be protected using the tools of intellectual property law.  He finds his greatest professional happiness when he is in a room with inventors brainstorming on both the technology and how to protect it.

Mark’s technical education began with a chemistry degree at the University of Wisconsin followed by a graduate degree in biotechnology at Northwestern University.  Mark then picked up his software development skills while working as a software developer / consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).  During his time with PwC he worked on projects implementing corporate software systems such as SAP and wrote code for custom interfaces to tie in new systems with legacy systems.  

Today, Mark still spends many hours writing code, but for the purpose of developing innovative legal process software to increase the efficiency and quality of work product across the firm.  Mark also spends a significant amount of time designing and implementing new workflow procedures consistent with LEAN methodology.

Mark’s skills as a patent attorney have been recognized by his peers as he has repeatedly been named a Super Lawyer and was previously elected to the position of President of the Minnesota Intellectual Property Law Association (MIPLA).

In his spare time, Mark enjoys spending time with his family and his rambunctious golden retriever.  Mark also loves kayak fishing, sampling craft beer, and is a passionate and (sometimes) insufferable Wisconsin Badgers fan.