FisherBroyles Strengthens IP Group with James Vaughan and Andrew Claerbout as Partners

Duo Brings Combined 60 Years of Experience in Patent, IP Litigation and Strategy to Firm

ATLANTA—(September 15, 2025)—FisherBroyles, LLP, the world’s first and one of the largest distributed law firms, has grown its Intellectual Property group in Atlanta with the additions of partners James Vaughan and Andrew Claerbout. The former Womble Bond Dickinson duo brings a combined 60 years of IP and patent experience to the firm.

Vaughan is a veteran IP litigator and strategist with nearly four decades of experience guiding companies through high-stakes patent disputes and portfolio-driven business decisions. He formerly served as the leader of Womble Bond Dickinson’s patent and patent litigation teams and as chair of the firm’s IP department.

Vaughan has served as lead trial counsel, managed complex multi-venue matters, and briefed and argued appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He has also represented clients in post-grant proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, including inter partes reviews and other specialty U.S. Patent and Trademark Office actions.

A member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and the International Trademark Association, Vaughan’s work includes strategic portfolio assessments, offensive patent enforcement and defensive risk mitigation on behalf of corporate legal and executive teams.

Prior to becoming an attorney, Vaughan worked as a mining engineer and certified mine foreman with the Pittston Coal Group. His on-the-ground engineering experience, paired with decades in patent litigation, enables him to align legal strategy with operational and commercial objectives for market-leading clients in manufacturing, energy and technology.

Claerbout joins FisherBroyles after helping to secure more than 1,000 domestic and foreign patents over his more than 20 years as a patent attorney. With a deep technical background, he drafts and prosecutes U.S. and foreign patents across a broad swath of technologies, including mechanical, electrical, materials, manufacturing, medical devices, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

He draws upon his previous experience as a product design engineer to manage global patent portfolios for leading companies, overseeing design, process, method and machine patents for consumer and food-packaging innovations.

Claerbout counsels clients on design patents and ornamental protectable features, conducts freedom-to-operate and right-to-use analyses across manufacturing and other sectors, drafts patent applications, negotiates with patent offices and coordinates national and international filing strategies.

“The extensive experience and engineering qualifications that James and Andrew each bring to FisherBroyles seamlessly align with and enhance our already venerable IP and patent practice groups,” said Kevin Broyles, cofounder and managing partner of FisherBroyles. “Their client-first approach paired with the deep technical backgrounds they each possess will serve our clients well in the highly competitive economies in the U.S. and abroad.”

FisherBroyles was founded in 2002 by Broyles and James Fisher II.