PARTNER

Chris McKenna

Christopher McKenna

I am an intellectual property attorney that provides strategic and transaction counseling and intellectual property (IP) development for emerging technology companies across a wide range of domains from wireless and mobile communications, health IT, enterprise software, software as a service, clouding computing and infrastructure, augmented and virtual reality to internet of things and artificial intelligence.  I have experience with the full life cycle of IP from pre-startup through emerging and growth to large public companies.

I enjoy being a Partner at Foley because of the platform and the people.  From a platform perspective we have a deep and wide bench of IP professionals who have the range of technical and scientific backgrounds and degrees to bring a deep understanding of the technology and science underlying all the clients innovations we work with.  Practicing IP in a general practice firm with great corporate, transactional and litigation attorneys allows us to gain useful and valuable insights on how the IP we protect for our clients is used and leveraged in the context of business transactions. Because of the integrated team approach of the platform, Foley is uniquely positioned that it can seamlessly and efficiently cover the full spectrum of a client’s needs. IP is just one of the many areas of focus we bring to bear for our clients.

Foley has been around for over 175 years because its people focused culture has long standing staying power.  The firm and its people simply care.  While bringing our best professional selves every day to deliver great service to our clients, we also bring our best human selves to work to be great peers, colleagues, advisors, mentors and friends. Our culture is a competitive differentiator for us that provides not only great talent but great people in a great place to work that cares.  You often spend more time at work than anywhere else – so you better enjoy it and we do!

As a former entrepreneur and executive in my previous careers before going into law, I love being part of and experiencing the four Ps of passion, patience, persistence and payoff in the journey of entrepreneurs, startups and emerging growth companies.  I enjoy leveraging my experience in technology, business and law as a trusted business advisor to companies who appreciate the insights and value to help accelerate their growth and improve their operations while also protecting their most valuable assets of intellectual property.

When I’m not working, you may find me de-stressing at the gym while trying to stay healthy, dining with family and friends or talking shop at a local coffee shop to mentor younger professionals on their professional development or an entrepreneur on company strategy and operations.

Admissions

  • Massachusetts
  • U.S. Patent & Trademark Office