Sixteen Years of Ideas Worth Protecting: The Advent Story So Far

Advent is an intellectual property law firm in Omaha, Nebraska, founded in 2010 by Ryan Grace and Kevin West. When they started the firm in the summer of 2010, they set out to build something the legal world didn't quite have yet: an intellectual property firm shaped around the people it served. Sixteen years later, that idea hasn't aged into a slogan. It's still the thing that gets us out of bed.

A lot has changed since 2010. The pace of innovation, the technologies our clients bring through the door, the questions they're asking about how to protect what they've built. What hasn't changed is why we do this. We've always believed innovation deserves innovation, and that protecting an idea is really about helping the person behind it move forward with confidence. 

Why we do this

Advent was never about names on a door. From the start, we focused exclusively on intellectual property, not as a narrow specialty, but as a way to sit alongside inventors, creators, and brand owners at the exact moment their ideas are most full of potential. Helping someone protect what they've built, and then watch it grow, is one of the most rewarding parts of this work. After sixteen years, it still feels that way.

We have the advantage of speaking the same language as the people we serve. Many on our team are inventors and creators themselves, with backgrounds in engineering, design, and the sciences. That shared perspective shapes how we work: we understand what it takes to bring an idea to life, and we care about protecting it well. Our model reflects this. 

Advent was built with flexibility at its core, offering tailored approaches designed around each client's goals rather than a one-size-fits-all process. We invest in our team the same way we invest in our clients, because curious, fulfilled people do their best work when they're trusted to think differently.

In their own words

Sixteen years is long enough to look back in two directions at once: at where each of us started, and at how far the work itself has come. We sat down with our founders to reflect on both.

For Kevin West, a founding partner, the path into IP began in engineering. Before practicing law, he worked as an aerospace engineer, drawn to how airplane design, electronics, and software came together. IP offered something that field couldn't: room to keep learning. As he's put it, working in IP "gave me the opportunity to expand my knowledge in many different fields; it never gets boring." That curiosity still shows up in his work today, from GPS systems to motor-generator technology that could reshape how electric motors perform.

For co-founder Ryan Grace, the biggest change since 2010 has been what clients want from the relationship itself. As he puts it, clients have shifted from needing traditional IP preparation services to wanting highly collaborative partnerships: help building internal innovation processes, shaping corporate innovation strategy, educating their teams, and understanding innovation on a global scale. "Thankfully, we saw this need when we created Advent in 2010," he says, "to be a holistic intellectual property law firm with a flexible business model that allows us to create unique engagements and products for our clients."

The throughline isn't nostalgia. It's the same conviction that started the firm: that behind every patent application and trademark filing is a person with something worth protecting.

Looking ahead

Every July, we find ourselves grateful for the same things. Our clients, who trust us with the ideas they've poured themselves into. Our team, who show up with fresh eyes and real care. And the belief, still intact after sixteen years, that a firm can be built differently and thrive.

Here's to the next chapter, and to continuing to build something different, together.

Thank you for being part of the Advent story.

If you're an inventor, creator, or brand owner looking to protect your intellectual property, we'd love to hear from you.

Let’s talk!