Peter A. Cummings

Peter Cummings is the co-chair of Bodman’s Intellectual Property Practice Group. He has over a decade of experience protecting new technologies and products in global markets. He is passionate about helping clients merge patent and intellectual property strategies with business objectives in evolving competitive landscapes. 

His practice focuses on providing strategic counsel and guidance on domestic and foreign patent procurement strategies and patent and trademark portfolio management. He prepares and prosecutes patent applications in a wide range of mechanical and electromechanical technologies. He also advises clients on patentability and freedom-to-operate issues and on transactional matters involving the development, use, and ownership of intellectual property assets. 

Peter serves a variety of clients ranging from multinational manufacturers to start-ups and entrepreneurs. He has particular experience advising Tier-1 automotive suppliers, having spent time seconded in-house with a global supplier to assist with developing and implementing a comprehensive IP strategy, handling technology-focused transactional matters, and learning real-world issues of the industry. He also has clients in the consumer electronics, medical device, concrete formwork, and general manufacturing industries.

His services to clients include: 

• Managing and developing patent portfolios in the U.S. and worldwide
• Preparing and prosecuting utility and design patent applications to optimize protection coverage, while balancing timing and cost constraints
• Evaluating patent landscapes to identify protection opportunities, competitors, and potential infringers 
• Rendering legal opinions on patent validity and non-infringement
• Assisting with trade secret protection measures and providing clients with internal seminars.
• Advising on freedom-to-operate issues for new products and services, including collaborative design-around counseling 
• Conducting due diligence reviews of intellectual property portfolios for M&A transactions
• Drafting and counseling on joint development agreements, licensing agreements, and various other forms of commercial and technology agreements that involve intellectual property 

Peter is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. At Michigan State University College of Law, he served as Managing Editor of the International Law Review and was Vice President of the Intellectual Property Law Society.

He is listed as a leading practitioner in Grand Rapids Magazine Top Lawyers under the categories of Intellectual Property and Patent Law and Trade Secrets and in Michigan Rising Stars under Intellectual Property.