Steven C. Tietsworth

Law School
University of San Diego School of Law

Major Cases
I am primarily involved in patent prosecution and counseling, work which does not involve litigation.

Practice Areas
Tietsworth’s practice involves intellectual property counseling and prosecution. He works with technology companies to develop IP strategies, analyze inventions, draft and prosecute patent and trademark applications, and enforce IP rights. His work also includes IP diligence reviews for M&A transactions, freedom to operate analysis, cease and desist actions, and working with litigation counsel to assert clients’ IP against infringers.  

Tietsworth has drafted and prosecuted hundreds of patent applications in the electrical, electronics, software, biomedical, and mechanical arts, and has also filed and prosecuted numerous trademark applications, as well as design patent applications and copyright registrations. In addition to his practice before the USPTO, he works closely with foreign counsel in Europe and Asia to assist clients in obtaining patent and trademark protection abroad. 

Professional Background
Tietsworth has been working in the IP law field since 2003, however, he’s been in the tech world since the mid-1980s. Prior to becoming an attorney, he worked as an electronics engineer, and later became an engineering manager and director of product development. He spent more than 10 years working for a U.S. Government R&D lab in San Diego, and then for five years at tech startups, where he worked closely with outside counsel to protect the companies’ IP, resulting in several patents as inventor.

After graduating cum laude from the University of San Diego School of Law, he worked on patent and trademark prosecution and IP litigation for the global law firms of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and Cooley Godward Kronish before starting his current IP boutique firm with a former colleague. In addition to private practice, Tietsworth serves as acting general counsel for DeepSea Power & Light Inc. and SeeScan, Inc.

Professional Affiliations
Tietsworth is a member of the American Bar Association and the California State Bar intellectual property and business law sections.   He is admitted to practice law in California and federal courts, as well as before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Personal Background
Tietsworth is originally from Pennsylvania but moved to California to attend graduate school at UCSD and start a career in the San Diego technology sector, where he’s remained ever since. In addition to practicing law, he enjoys photography, and has had his outdoor images published in newspapers, magazines and other publications, as well as boating and water sports. He lives in Point Loma with his wife and two teenage daughters.