John DeStefano is a registered patent attorney and electrical engineer who helps companies develop and manage patent portfolios aligned with their commercial objectives. His practice focuses on domestic and foreign patent preparation and prosecution, patent portfolio development, invention harvesting, continuation strategy, and licensing and commercialization matters. His practice emphasizes close coordination with in-house legal, engineering, and business teams to identify valuable innovations, prioritize protection, and move inventions efficiently from disclosure through prosecution.
John advises clients across electrical and electronic systems, control systems, autonomous systems, signal processing, computer hardware and software, artificial intelligence, energy systems, and mechanical technologies. He approaches each matter as part of a larger technical and commercial system rather than as an isolated filing. This allows him to develop claim and filing strategies that protect products and platforms, preserve room for future development, and support competitive positioning and licensing opportunities.
Before joining Kennedy Lenart IP, John practiced at a large full-service law firm and a technology-focused law firm, first as a patent agent and later as an attorney. He began his intellectual property career with the Missouri University of Science and Technology Office of Technology Transfer, where he supported the protection and commercialization of university innovations across 17 engineering departments. In that role, he worked with faculty inventors, university stakeholders, and outside counsel to evaluate inventions, support patent filings, conduct invention-harvesting efforts, and identify prospective licensees for patented technologies.
Personal:
John lives in the St. Louis area with his wife and two children. Outside the office, he plays clawhammer banjo and bluegrass guitar, is a certified barbecue judge, and works on native landscaping projects.