Government contractors, cybersecurity, federal contracting, licensing, data rights, and commercialization.
Tangent Law Group
Intellectual Property·Transactions·Business Counsel
Tech Law, Tangibly Smart.
Protecting innovation. Building value.
Guiding businesses through the transactions and decisions that define what comes next.
Who we are
Deep experience.
Direct counsel.
Practical answers.
Tangent Law Group provides patent, intellectual-property, transaction, and outside business counsel to technology companies, engineering firms, manufacturers, government contractors, inventors, and business owners from offices in Washington, DC and Northern Virginia, with New York capability and a nationwide patent practice.
For more than twenty years, Eric Weierstall has advised clients across intellectual property, commercialization, business operations, sales, mergers, and acquisitions—bringing technical understanding and seasoned legal judgment to the entire lifecycle, from protecting an invention to completing the transaction that realizes its value.
20+ years leading TangentFormer USPTO patent examinerVenable and large-firm experienceDirect principal-level counsel
Engineering, defense, manufacturing, and technology clients.
Business, transaction, manufacturing, and attorney-referral work.
Patent prosecution, portfolio strategy, and AI-assisted filing review.
From the Tangent Law Blog
Read the blog ↗Ideas, technology, and business—examined in context.
Practical analysis at the intersection of intellectual property, technology, transactions, and business.
Integrated experience
Legal strategy informed by how inventions, organizations, and transactions work in practice.
Engineering-trained
Mechanical engineering, engineering management, economics, and hands-on experience with technologies spanning industrial machinery, robotics, software, machine learning, medical devices, encryption, and consumer products.
Both sides of the USPTO
Former patent examiner and experienced private practitioner handling U.S. and international patent portfolios, examiner interviews, appeals, opinions, clearance work, and prosecution strategy.
Beyond the patent
Corporate agreements, joint ventures, manufacturing and distribution, foreign sales, business operations, acquisitions, and transactions that convert protected technology into commercial value.
Business-minded counsel
Experience as outside and in-house counsel, a business principal, and an adviser on portfolio systems, federal contracting, international trade, FDA-related processes, risk, budgeting, and organizational policy.
Practice areas
More than protection.
Counsel for the full arc of the business.
Each engagement begins with the same question: what outcome creates real value for the client? The legal work follows from that answer.
01 / 04
Patents & Intellectual Property
Protect the innovation that creates value—and build rights that support where the business is going.
Tangent develops practical intellectual-property strategies for inventors, manufacturers, technology companies, and established businesses. We combine technical fluency with prosecution experience to identify what matters, secure meaningful protection, and manage patent portfolios as connected business assets—not isolated applications.
- Patent preparation and prosecution
- Continuation and divisional strategy
- Review and correction of AI-assisted and self-prepared patent filings
- Patent-family and portfolio mapping
Strategy informed by experience inside the USPTO and in private practice.
02 / 04
Technology & Commercial Transactions
Turn innovation into business through agreements that are clear, workable, and built around the deal.
We structure, negotiate, and document the relationships through which technology is developed, protected, licensed, manufactured, distributed, and commercialized. The objective is not simply a finished contract—it is a durable business arrangement with risks understood and leverage preserved.
- Technology development and licensing
- Manufacturing and distribution
- Services, supply, and commercial agreements
- Confidentiality and strategic partnerships
03 / 04
Business Sales, Mergers & Acquisitions
Navigate consequential transactions with counsel who understands both the business and the technology being transferred.
Tangent represents owners and businesses in sales, acquisitions, mergers, and related strategic transactions. We help shape the transaction, coordinate diligence, negotiate the definitive documents, resolve ownership issues, and carry the matter through closing—with particular attention to intellectual property and technical assets.
- Business and asset sales
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Legal and IP due diligence
- Purchase agreements, transfers, and closings
04 / 04
Outside General Counsel
Recurring senior legal judgment for businesses that need experienced counsel without maintaining a full internal legal department.
Tangent serves as outside general, IP, and technology counsel to engineering and manufacturing companies, government contractors, and technology and cybersecurity businesses. We provide direct, ongoing support across intellectual property, contracts, governance, risk, disputes, growth initiatives, and major inflection points—keeping legal advice connected to the client’s technical and commercial objectives.
- Recurring outside IP and technology counsel
- Corporate governance and risk
- Contract review and negotiation
- Strategic planning and dispute guidance
Begin the conversation
What are you building,
protecting, buying—or selling?
Bring us the objective, the problem, or the opportunity. We will help identify the legal path that moves it forward.
info@tangentlaw.com ↗