In November, intellectual property law attorney Peter Nieves, a Brooklyn native, left his position as shareholder at Sheehan Phinney in Manchester, where he headed up the firm’s Patent Law and Intellectual Property and Technology Law Groups, to start his own firm, Nieves IP in Manchester.
“[Sheehan Phinney] is a great firm with great people. But it was time to have my own house,” he says, explaining he was inspired to start this new chapter by his focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in NH, as well as the “strong desire to mentor entrepreneurs in vital areas of IP necessary for building a successful company.”
“I found that doing both of these things effectively, while serving in the billable hour world of attorneys, was difficult, and the times presented a unique opportunity to have a major impact on DEI efforts in New Hampshire, as well as on the legal profession as a whole,” Nieves says.
Nieves, a minority business owner, has been interviewing minority candidates for positions at his firms, has worked on the NH Judicial Branch’s Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, and was instrumental in creating the Diversity Equity and Inclusion scholarship fund at the University of NH School of Law.
He also formed A to E Challenges, an IP training firm that provides the Protect Your Idea Challenge, and other challenges that clients participate in one hour a day for five days on Zoom. Nieves also offers recorded trainings. A to E Challenges offers a service that allows participants to ask questions, without receiving legal advice, to gain a deeper understanding of trademarks, copyrights and patents, without being billed per hour. “The result is that challenge participants obtain vast knowledge of practical IP use and application to stop others from stealing their ideas, while they also learn how to decrease chances of being liable for IP infringement,” Nieves says.
Current Issue - May 2024