Diane Hughes Dobrea

Profile

Diane is a Member (partner) and practices in the Intellectual Property Group and Patent Division in the Columbus, Ohio office of the Harrisburg, PA based law firm McNees, Wallace & Nurick LLC.  With over 30 years of experience, Diane is a pragmatic and driven legal counselor with a distinctively business-oriented focus. Diane’s passion is to enable her clients to make informed decisions that optimize business success and maximize the value of their intellectual property investments.

Diane’s clients include solo inventors and entrepreneurs, small and large businesses, and nonprofit organizations. Among her clients, Diane represents pro bono clients, as well as clients engaged under the firm’s Legal Equity Advancement Program (LEAP) which was created in 2020 to help Black-owned and Black-controlled businesses overcome barriers to entry that are caused, in part, by institutional racism.  She is also on the firm’s DEIB committee, supporting the firm’s commitment to inclusiveness within its professional and staff ranks and through its relationships with clients and the community.

In her legal practice, Diane prepares and prosecutes patent and trademark matters worldwide, provides patent and trademark due diligence and freedom to operate analyses and opinions, drafts, negotiates and enforces agreements in a wide range of commercial, R&D and IP transactions, and assists in IP dispute resolution and litigation.  Diane’s patent practice includes medical device, biotechnology, cosmetics and cosmeceuticals, formulation chemistry, materials, nanotechnology, protective athletic and active gear, and consumer products.  Diane also advises and assists clients in securing private and governmental funding, including Federal SBIR/STTR contracts and grants, and has experience with FDA regulatory and quality related functions in the medical technology space.

Outside the firm, Diane serves as a panelist and speaker in support of Columbus, Ohio, inventor and entrepreneur events and programs, and as a sponsor, judge, and speaker in the Cleveland State “BEST Medicine” program since 2019.   As a person affected by autism in her family, she volunteers with the Ohio State Nisonger Center, supporting families who are affected by autism.  Diane also supports the mission of the Salvation Army in various ways, including serving as a taekwondo instructor in an after-school program at the local branch of the organization.  Diane is also a martial artist since 2014 and teaches taekwondo and self-defense to children and adults.