Emily M. Chilson

Emily M. Chilson is a partner and registered patent attorney at Andrus Intellectual Property Law. Emily focuses her practice on domestic and international patent and trademark prosecution and enforcement. She researches patentability and infringement issues and provides clients with counseling and written patentability and clearance opinions accordingly. Utilizing her own engineering foundation, Emily regularly helps clients brainstorm ways that new product designs can be fine-tuned to work around a third party’s existing intellectual property rights. She also has extensive experience with technology-related agreements utilized from start to finish of product development, including LOIs and MOUs, Joint Development Agreements, and IP-related clauses in Sourcing Agreements.

A good portion of Emily's patent experience includes:

• internal combustion engines and related control systems
• trolling motors and related control systems
• pleasure boating accessories and related control systems
• heavy transportation-related equipment and sub-systems
• machinery used for making corrugated board and containers
• pumps and circuits
• retail merchandising assemblies
• wearable apparel, including intimate apparel
• bath and body care products
• home fragrance dispensers

Emily makes it a point to stay updated on the ongoing changes to design patent law and keeps abreast of the latest trends in design patent and trade dress protection and enforcement. She was selected to Thomson Reuters’ Wisconsin Lawyers - Rising Stars from 2021 – 2023. Emily was also included in the 2023 IAM Patent 1000 list, where she was praised for her “precise, service-minded approach” and was described as being “a pleasure to work with.”

Education and Engineering Experience

Emily received a juris doctor degree from Marquette University Law School (summa cum laude). While at Marquette, Emily served as Technology Editor of the Marquette Law Review, the same journal in which she published her article "Patent Term Adjustment and Terminal Disclaimers: Are the Terms of Patents Being Decided Ad Hoc?" in the fall of 2010. 

Prior to attending Marquette, Emily obtained a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from Northwestern University (cum laude). She then worked for a surveying and engineering company before beginning a career in law.

Community Involvement

Emily often partners with the LegalCORPS Inventor Assistance Program, which provides free legal representation to low-income inventors, and has volunteered with the Pro Bono Partnership of Ohio. She also serves on multiple school- and church-related boards in her community.