Arthur K. Shaffer

Experience

Arthur is the practice group leader for the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group. He concentrates his practice on obtaining, protecting, licensing and enforcing intellectual property (IP) rights, including patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and trade dress, for clients ranging from start-ups and emerging businesses to multinational Fortune 500 companies. As a registered patent attorney, Arthur has prepared more than 300 patent applications and more than 400 trademark applications. His patent work spans quantum devices and technologies, software, computer systems, electrical and mechanical devices, medical instruments, industrial processes, farm implements, sporting equipment, and consumer goods. He also manages domestic and international patent and trademark portfolios with foreign associates, aligning each client’s filing, enforcement and litigation strategies with their business objectives.

Arthur has represented clients on intellectual property disputes in federal and state courts and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). He secured a $2 million copyright infringement judgment and a multi-million-dollar trade secret judgment. He also advises clients on complex business transactions involving technology and intellectual property, including license agreements, blockchain technology and other tangible and intangible assets.

Prior to joining the firm, Arthur held a variety of positions. Initially, Arthur served as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Jackson County, Missouri before joining an industrial manufacturing company as in-house counsel. In true entrepreneurial fashion, Arthur then founded and led his own intellectual property firm for nearly two decades before chairing the intellectual property practice area of a Kansas City area law firm. Before law school, Arthur worked throughout the United States and internationally as a controls engineer. He earned his degree in physics from Kansas State University, where his senior research studies focused on semiconductor technologies.

Areas of Practice

• Intellectual Property
• Business Litigation
• Business Law
• Litigation

Areas of Experience

• Patent Prosecution and Portfolio Management
• Quantum Devices and Technologies
• Software and Artificial Intelligence
• Trademark Registration and Prosecution
• Copyright Registration and Protection
• Trade Secret Protection and Litigation
• Patent, Trademark and Copyright Litigation
• Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) Proceedings
• Technology and IP License Agreements

Activities and Memberships

• The Missouri Bar
• The District of Columbia Bar
• Kansas Bar Association, Intellectual Property Section Co-Founder and former President; former board member
• Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, former President of the Computer Law, Intellectual Property Law and Business Law Sections; former board member
• Federal Bar Association, Intellectual Property Section; board member
• American Intellectual Property Law Association
• American Inns of Court, The Earl E. O’Connor American Inn of Court
• Heart of America Council, Scouting America, District Commissioner and Troop Leader
• Leawood Lions Club, former President; Board of Directors
• Great Wind Festival, Founder and Organizer, 2021-present

Honors and Recognition

• Selected by Super Lawyers for Intellectual Property Law, 2011-2014, 2017-2021, 2023-2026
• Selected by Super Lawyers as a “Rising Star,” 2008-2010