Eric M. Dobrusin gained admission to the State Bar of Michigan in 1988, and thereafter became registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a patent attorney. Eric has co-authored "Intellectual Property Culture: Strategies to Foster Successful Patent and Trade Secret Practices in Everyday Business" (1st ed. 2008, 2nd ed. 2012 and 2015 ed.) LexisNexis. Additionally, Eric has co-authored, with Professor Katherine White, "Intellectual Property Litigation – Pretrial Practice", (2nd ed. 1999 and 3rd ed. 2008) Aspen Publisher. He also authored the first edition, which published in 1996.
As a founder and shareholder of Dobrusin Law Firm PC, with more than twenty-five years of experience, Eric concentrates his practice in patent counseling and strategic patent prosecution, with particular emphasis in the fields of materials science (including plastics, ceramics, metals and electronic materials), biomedical technologies, and automotive technologies. Eric has been active through the years in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) for intellectual property disputes. He previously served as Executive Director of the National Patent Board, an ADR organization having Rules that he helped to draft. He also has been appointed and served in United States District Court patent litigation as a Special Master, and as an independent neutral for multiple alternative dispute resolution proceedings. He has been on the list of Mediators for the World Intellectual Property Organization.
Mr. Dobrusin was honored in 2013 by the Michigan Lawyers Weekly™, as among its "Leaders in the Law, "Mr. Dobrusin also has been honored by Best Lawyers® as 2014 Lawyer of the Year for patent law in Detroit, 2016 Lawyer of the Year for patent law in Troy, and 2018 Lawyer of the Year for patent law in Troy. Mr. Dobrusin is also a past president for the Michigan Intellectual Property American Inn of Court for 2018-2019.
Year Joined Firm: 1999
Education/Alumni:
- Wayne State University Law School, Detroit, Michigan - J.D. cum laude – 1988
- University of Michigan, College of Engineering - B.S.E. cum laude – 1985 - Major: Materials and Metallurgical Engineering
Network Memberships:
- National Patent Board, Executive Director
- United States District Court patent litigation, Special Master
- American Chemical Society
- American Intellectual Property Law Association
Awards and Honours:
- IP Stars 2015-2023
- Michigan Lawyers Weekly 2023 Hall of Fame
- Michigan SuperLawyers® 2006-2023
- The Best Lawyers® in America 2011-2024
- Michigan Lawyers Weekly™ – Leader in the Law Honoree 2013
- Dbusiness Top Lawyers 2011-2023
- Crain's Detroit Business, "40 Under 40", 1999
