Letao Qin*

Partner | Intellectual Property

About
Credentials
Experience
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About

Letao Qin has close to two decades of experience as a patent attorney. Focusing her practice on all aspects of IP transactions, patent and trademark prosecution, and procurement, Dr. Qin has advised Fortune 500 companies, universities, start-ups, and individual inventors to identify, capture, and protect innovations. Her practice includes IP counseling, due diligence, and clearance for business transactions that involve high-tech and emerging technologies such as AI, robotics, and autonomous driving vehicles. She has drafted and prosecuted PCT and US utility patent applications in the technical areas of emerging technologies, electrical and telecommunication technologies, computer software, medical devices, and optical instruments.

  • Dr. Qin has been recognized by Best Lawyers® since 2022 and is a co-author of the Legal 500® Intellectual Property Comparative Patent Law Guide – US Chapter (2024, 2025).

    Prior to joining Pierson Ferdinand, Dr. Qin was a Partner at Rimon, P.C. Before that, she worked at two boutique IP law firms. She also did a stint at an early-stage energy start-up as Director of IP. Before joining the legal profession, Dr. Qin worked at two leading engineering companies — IBM and Nortel Networks — as a computer engineer.

    Dr. Qin holds a Ph.D. in Astrophysics and a B.S. in Physics. She received her J.D. from Boston College Law School, cum laude. She is registered in the state of Massachusetts and with the USPTO.

Practices

  • Copyrights

  • IP Litigation and Enforcement

  • Trademarks

Admissions

  • Massachusetts

  • Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

  • United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

  • *Not admitted in North Carolina

Education

  • Boston College, J.D. Cum Laude, Trustees Scholarship

  • Montana State University, Ph.D. in Physics, Summa Cum Laude

  • University of Science and Technology of China, B.S. in Physics

Memberships

  • Co-Chair of AIPLA IP Practice in China Committee

  • American Intellectual Property Law Association and its IP Practice in China committee

Awards

  • Best Lawyers® Patent Law (2022-2025)

  • Attorney Intel, Top 25 Attorney of North Carolina (2022)

Languages

  • Mandarin

Experience

  • Rimon, P.C

  • Coats + Bennett, PLLC

  • Fish & Richardson P.C.

Representative Matters

  • Represented a large OLED display device manufacturer in patent procurement in front of the USPTO

  • Represented a world-leading e-commerce company in patent procurement in front of the USPTO

  • Represented a large technology company in the financial service industry in patent procurement in front of the USPTO

  • Counseled a prominent Chinese startup company in the AI technical area

  • Handled a trademark infringement lawsuit by a famous NYC restaurant against a major NYC corporation, which concluded with a fast and favorable settlement for the restaurant

  • Handled all aspects of IP legal issues at IHHI, a nuclear energy research company; responsible for building the company’s patent portfolio and developing its IP protection strategy

  • Drafted and prosecuted international and US utility applications for a top wireless communication equipment provider

  • Represented a top Chinese internet company in trademark matters in North America

  • Represented iPearl, Inc., a retailer of electronic device accessories, in a patent infringement lawsuit in the Northern District Court of Florida

Speaking Engagements

  • June 3, 2019, Learning from the past: Legal issues for the technology attorney in 2019, American Bar Association CLE webinar

  • April 18, 2019, Drafting patents that satisfy multiple jurisdictions, presentation at AIPLA Patent Agent Committee

  • March 21, 2019, How much is your trademark worth? Lunch and Learn event at R!OT of NC, Raleigh, NC

  • Nov. 13, 2018, Navigating the Chinese Patent System: What U.S. Patent Counsel Need to Know, Stratford CLE webinar

  • July 26, 2018, How a Startup Can Protect its IP Assets with a limited budget. Lunch and Learn event at R!OT of NC, Raleigh, NC

  • Jan. 25, 2018. Moderated “Space: The Final Frontier for IP?”, AIPLA Mid-Winter Conference, Palm Springs, CA

Publications

  • The Legal 500 Intellectual Property Comparative Guide, Chapter Author, 2023

  • “The Importance of Getting the Claim Scope Right in a US Patent Application (I),” Rimonlaw.com, October 4, 2021

  • Featured, “Bilingual lawyers have a leg up in many niche practice groups,” ABA Journal (2013)

  • Author, “Three tips for managing intellectual property in mergers and acquisitions,” Lexology (2013)

  • “Axion Cooling and Omega,” with S. Tsuruta, in the Cosmological Constant Evolution of the Universe, (eds. K. Sato et al.), Universal Academy Press, 309 (1996)

  • “Constraints on the Neutrino Magnetic Moment from Neutron Star Cooling,” with N. Iwamoto, R. Fukugita, and S. Tsuruta, Physics Review 51, 348 (1995)

  • “Effects of Magnetic Fields on Neutron Star Thermal Evolution,” with S. Tsuruta in The 17th Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics and Cosmology (eds. J. Trumper et al.), the N.Y. Academy of Science 759, 299 (1995)

  • “Cooling of Magnetic Neutron Stars,” with S. Tsuruta, Proceedings of the 7th Marcel Grossmann Meeting on Relativity (eds. R. Jenzen et al.) (1995)

  • “Anisotropic Cooling and Atmospheric Radiation of Neutron Stars with Strong Magnetic Fields,” with Yu.A. Shivanov, et al. The 17th Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics and Cosmology (eds. J. Trumper et al.), the N.Y. Academy of Science, 759, 291 (1995)