Founding Partner Don W. Martens Receives OCIPLA’s Lifetime Achievement Award

Knobbe Martens is pleased to announce that Founding Partner Don Martens received the Orange County Intellectual Property Law Association’s (OCIPLA) Lifetime Achievement Award. The honor, presented at OCIPLA’s 2016 Holiday Party & IP Awards, recognizes outstanding, lifelong achievement in the area of intellectual property law.

Mr. Martens joined Knobbe Martens in 1965 and helped grow the firm to Orange County’s largest, with about 300 attorneys. Mr. Martens, who has been repeatedly recognized as one of the world’s top patent lawyers, has traveled the globe to lecture on IP law, and has worked closely with developing countries to help them establish or improve their own patent systems. His numerous accolades over the years include the Orange County Bar Association’s Legends of the Law Award as well as the Association’s highest honor, the Franklin G. West Award. Mr. Martens retired this year after more than 50 years with Knobbe Martens.

Mr. Martens has devoted his time and held many professional leadership roles, including President of the American Intellectual Property Law Association; Chair of the ABA IP Law Section; President of the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation; President of the Orange County Bar Association; and President of the OCIPLA.

“IP bar organizations such as the OCIPLA serve many important purposes. They provide excellent continuing education for their members. They also provide an opportunity for members to meet and work with their peers from other firms, to share experiences, to make friends and to develop their leadership skills,” said Mr. Martens, while encouraging active participation in local and national IP bars.

His distinguished career has been recognized by the University of Wisconsin, where he obtained a B.S. in Engineering, and by George Washington University’s Law School, where he graduated first in his class.

“The OCIPLA could not have selected a more deserving recipient for their Lifetime Achievement Award. Don Martens sets the gold standard in what an IP lawyer should be and how he or she should give back to the community. We are incredibly proud to have Don Martens as one of our esteemed founding partners. His values will be carried forward by Knobbe Martens attorneys for generations to come,” said Managing Partner Steven Nataupsky.