Steve Gardner concentrates his practice on intellectual property, with a primary focus on patent litigation and counseling. He is a registered patent attorney.

Mr. Gardner has represented companies in more than 50 patent suits in federal courts in California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Texas, and Virginia. He has litigated and/or analyzed patents in a wide range of technologies, including software, computer hardware, medical devices, chemical compositions, Internet and e-commerce systems, electronics, manufacturing systems, mechanical devices, optics, pharmaceuticals, and telecommunications.

In addition to representing companies in disputes, Mr. Gardner regularly assists companies with transactional matters relating to intellectual property, including establishing patent programs and committees, analyzing patents held by competitors, engaging in intellectual property due diligence in evaluating potential acquisitions, conducting freedom to practice analysis, providing written opinions, negotiating and drafting license agreements, patent portfolio management, and serving as general intellectual property counsel. He has spoken on patent litigation, opinions and prosecution, as well as other topics, at seminars in Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Palo Alto, Philadelphia, Raleigh, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington and Winston-Salem.

Mr. Gardner has been elected for many years to Business North Carolina magazine’s "Legal Elite" List as one of the top patent attorneys in North Carolina based on a survey of all members of the North Carolina bar. He was recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® for Intellectual Property Law in 2015 and the eight years immediately preceding. He is listed as a #1 band attorney in the 2012, 2013 and 2014 editions of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business for Intellectual Property. Mr. Gardner was recognized as a 2013 and 2014 "IP Star" by Managing Intellectual Property magazine. He was listed in the International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers for Patents in 2014. Mr. Gardner is AV® rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Gardner served as a law clerk to the Honorable Alvin A. Schall, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 1995-1996, and to the Honorable Frank W. Bullock Jr., U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, 1994-1995.