Norton Rose Patent ‘Machine’ Drives 25% IP Revenue Growth Outlook

Norton Rose Fulbright expects to grow revenue from intellectual property work 25% this year, thanks to a focus on the most profitable clients and lateral hires, the practice head said.

The $125 million the IP group expects to generate is a key driver of overall firm collections as it would equate to 10% of Norton Rose US revenue last year and provide business opportunities for lawyers in other practices.

The firm counters rate pressure in its patent practice by turning away clients with low budgets for outside patent counsel or leveraging the knowledge gained through the patent work in more lucrative areas of the firm, like litigation and deal work.

“If clients are more rate-pressured on prosecution work, our goal is to have a relationship where we’re doing the strategic work with litigation or IP transactional work, like licensing projects or brands work which is more profitable,” Kenny said in an interview. “We don’t work with clients who aren’t going to support the broader picture.”

Norton Rose’s strategic emphasis on patent prosecution is unusual in Big Law, where many firms have excised large portions of the practice because those lawyers face more rate pressure compared with more lucrative endeavors such as mergers and acquisitions and private equity. Boutique and midsize law firms have been able to pick up much of the work from Big Law, along with tech-enabled legal service providers.

Timothy Kenny

Kenny, a partner in Minneapolis, has been tasked since 2022 with driving Norton Rose’s profitability from its US IP practice, comprised of more than 100 IP lawyers, patent agents, and other technical professionals. The entire firm benefits from his group’s client referrals to the litigation and deal practices and the economic stability from the steady revenue stream provided by IP work, he said.

He’s also projecting the 25% revenue growth because of clients brought in by lateral partners hired this year, along with the group’s pending matters, Kenny said. Most of the new partners’ clients have signaled plans to transfer over to Norton Rose, he said.

Stuart Nelson joined last month from IP boutique Fish & Richardson to prosecute patents and handle post-grant proceedings of tech clients. Sanya Sukduang and Jonathan Davies joined in February from Cooley LLP to fill in gaps in Norton Rose’s patent litigation work for drugmakers.

“Norton Rose’s IP practice is nationally recognized and the addition of a true patent litigation practice that Jon and I have developed over past 25 years will propel Norton Rose Fulbright to the next level,” Sukduang said. Reached for comment on the exits, Fish & Richardson and Cooley wished the former partners well.

Revenue Engine

Norton Rose ranks among the 20 biggest law firms with more than $1 billion in revenue generated by US lawyers in 2025, according to the American Lawyer. The firm is organized as a Swiss verein, allowing it to separate profit pools based on geographic region while sharing work across a network of members.

IP is one of three pillars of the firm’s US service platform along with disputes and corporate deals. The firm secured a jury victory in favor of California-based software company MoeGo Inc. in a trade secrets lawsuit against competitor GrooMore Inc. The firm secured summary judgment for Oilify New-Tech Solutions Inc. in a patent infringement suit.

Referring IP clients elsewhere in the firm has proven to be lucrative for Norton Rose, Kenny said. He pointed to one client whose patent prosecution work comprises less than 10% of its payments to Norton Rose. The client, whom Kenny declined to name, has turned to the firm for a portfolio of litigation work.

“Because we do that chunk of prosecution, we know their technology inside and out,” he said. “We do a ton of litigation for that client which we get in part because we have the technical skills. There’s a symbiotic relationship between doing that prosecution work and doing the strategic litigation and strategic licensing projects.”

The global firm’s US IP collections have already exceeded last year’s first-quarter collections by 20%. From 2022 through 2025, the IP group’s revenue in the US grew 21%, Kenny said.

“We provide a steady source of revenue compared to some practices because our prosecution is like a machine,” he said. “My oldest client I’ve had for over 20 years, and I have half a million to a million dollars in work every year from that client.”