Darrow Mustafa PC
Streamlining Intellectual Property Management

In the era of large and midsize corporate economizing, there exist continual pressures to innovate on legal value delivery. Cost, quality and speed endlessly face-off against each other to allow only two of the three to typically emerge at any given moment. At a time when big law fails to effectively and sustainably deliver on cost considerations, it is the nimble mid-size Darrow Mustafa that delivers with big-firm quality at cost-effective pricing. However, it is at this juncture that Darrow Mustafa PC has been able to thrive with a careful balance of cost consciousness, high quality delivery and judicious expedience.

Christopher Darrow and Nadine Mustafa are able to achieve a balanced trifecta by carefully partnering with clients to bring about useful results with each client’s unique needs.

Darrow Mustafa P.C., a boutique IP law firm, headquartered at Northville, MI, is changing the game with its solutions designed to help companies with their IP needs at high quality, affordable cost and expedient efficiency. The firm’s IP attorneys are highly experienced in helping to create, enforce and defend IP rights, including patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets.

In an interview with CIO Applications, President and IP Attorney Christopher Darrow and Vice President Nadine Mustafa, explain how their firm is helping shape the future of Intellectual Property firm fundamentals by challenging the cost, quality and speed paradigm.

Could you provide us with an overview of Darrow Mustafa?

Established in 2015, Darrow Mustafa, the innovative Midwest IP law firm partners with companies around the United States and Silicon Valley to protect their innovative creations while vigilantly seeking out new sources of value creation for their clients. While we started with a handful of highly qualified attorneys with key technical backgrounds (i.e. engineering degrees, science degrees, and graduate degrees in addition to legal degrees) we have nearly tripled in attorney head-count with a careful eye toward responsible, sustainable and organic growth for the future. We believe we are the fastest growing IP law firm in SE Michigan. Along with our attorney growth we also look to geographically expand to locations in the U.S. aligned with our client partners.

Please provide us with a detailed understanding of the pain points that your customers are facing and how your company is mitigating them.

It is without a doubt that Darrow Mustafa is able to creatively partner with its clients to bring about extraordinary results, by providing excellent value and expertise by having our main operations in Detroit, Michigan, and the Midwest where we are able to control the costs.

Secondly, the speed in procuring IP rights is a major challenge. In order to meet this challenge, the team developed innovative automated docketing systems and highly-efficient process work flows to help our clients manage the potentially daunting task of expedient IP procurement at a quick pace while controlling costs. We are able to mitigate customer challenges with a client-centered growth mind-set allowing our attorneys to deliver their knowledge, skills and expertise at a highly efficient level.

Thirdly, uncompromising quality has to be provided to the client in order to ensure desired outcomes. We know that we must provide big law quality in order to continue our sustainable growth trajectory. We pride ourselves on this quality of drafting well-crafted patent applications that save downstream prosecution costs and improve allowance rates.

Can you share a case study where your company has helped clients attain the desired outcomes?

Our client, a leading fortune 500 company, needed a partner to help manage their IP department. We came in and assessed their current-state and future-state requirements. Based on that we created docketing, paralegal, and back-office support, which have created a tremendously successful outcome for the company—doing more legal work while drastically avoiding the need to hire a new team to their back-office support. It is this type of innovative partnering that allows us to help clients achieve their goals.

What is the factor that steers you ahead of the competition?

Carefully balancing the trifecta of cost, quality and speed for a client is the key differentiator for our firm. This is the foundation that allows our creative team structures to build and nurture value for our clients. We blend our team member’s veteran experience to continue forging the path toward transformational IP protection and IP management services.

What does the future hold for the company?

We have our sights on responsible, sustainable growth into innovative markets, such as Silicon Valley. Darrow Mustafa PC desires to help companies innovate by facilitating innovative IP service delivery by ensuring a meaningful presence in innovative markets, such as Silicon Valley . . . in an innovative way.