Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto was founded in 1971 by six partners. These lawyers wanted to create a firm that would not only provide the highest quality legal services but would also be a meritocracy - a firm in which clients could count on finding highly talented lawyers, and in which legal excellence would be rewarded rather than seniority.

From the very beginning, the new firm handled high-profile cases for major clients. In its first decade, for example, the firm coordinated the worldwide patent litigation on the antibiotic amoxicillin for Bristol-Myers and secured the patent position on which Canon built its photocopier business.

In the 1980s, the firm represented E.I. duPont de Nemours and Co. in U.S. International Trade Commission proceedings against Dutch chemical giant Akzo N.V. regarding the aramid fibers sold by DuPont under the name Kevlar®. The firm's success in obtaining an order to exclude imports of infringing aramid fibers attracted extensive international attention, even prompting diplomatic protests against the ITC procedures from the European Community.

In the 1990s the firm expanded into new areas of intellectual property law. Our trademark practice grew substantially with the ever increasing importance of branding in the global economy. Fitzpatrick, Cella was also one of the first to enter the field of new media, drafting and prosecuting patent applications on internet business methods even before the term "e-commerce" was coined.

Fitzpatrick, Cella has grown from the original six partners to nearly 150 lawyers and is widely acknowledged as one of the premier intellectual property firms in the country.