About Dennis J.M. Donahue
Dennis J.M. Donahue III trained first as an engineer and then turned that technical background into a legal career. He earned a B.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1987 and followed that with a master’s in engineering from Rensselaer in 1988. He then studied law at Saint Louis University, receiving his J.D. in 1996.
He began his professional life at McDonnell Douglas, later Boeing, in 1989. There he worked as an engineer and moved into roles that connected engineering and intellectual property, serving as a patent lawyer and technology licensing manager. That early blend of hands-on engineering and licensing work set the pattern for his subsequent legal practice.
After law school he gained admission to the Missouri bar in 1996. He was admitted to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 1999 and to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in 2001. In private practice, he served as a senior lawyer at Thompson Coburn LLP beginning in 1999 and held a membership role at Husch Blackwell in 2002. Those positions expanded his experience in litigation, patent prosecution and transactional work for technology clients.
In 2009 he became managing partner of CreatiVenture Law, a firm that evolved from DD&A. In that leadership role he combined firm management with client work, overseeing patent prosecution, licensing negotiations and related disputes. His practice has drawn on both technical training and courtroom experience, and he has worked with companies across engineering and aerospace sectors.
Donahue’s background ties technical competence to legal judgment. He handles patent drafting and prosecution, negotiates licensing agreements, and advises on portfolio management. His engineering degrees inform his approach to claim drafting and technical analysis. In litigation he has worked on matters that require translating complex technology for judges and juries.
Colleagues describe him as someone who moves easily between the lab and the courtroom. He has charted a course from engineer to patent lawyer and then to firm leader. He continues to practice patent and intellectual property law at CreatiVenture Law, concentrating his practice on patent prosecution, licensing and related IP matters.
