Ann DeFranco

Ann DeFranco is Of Counsel at Sheridan Ross P.C. in Denver, Colorado. An aerospace engineer turned patent attorney, she works with startups, emerging companies, and established businesses to protect intellectual property. Her practice focuses on patent preparation and prosecution, trademark matters, and broader intellectual property strategy. She helps clients connect patent decisions with business objectives across technologies such as artificial intelligence, software, telecommunications, cloud computing, and advanced engineering systems.

Ann earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering in Aerospace, cum laude, and a Master of Science in Engineering in Aerospace from the University of Michigan. She also holds a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University of Colorado. She received her JD, cum laude, from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, where she earned the Northwestern Pritzker Entrepreneurship Prize. Her education combines technical study with legal training.

Ann’s patent work includes generative AI, computer vision, wireless networks, satellite and autonomous systems, virtual and augmented reality, industrial automation, biomedical technologies, and mechanical devices. Before becoming an attorney, she worked as a research engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Space Systems/Loral. She also taught in the University of Colorado Boulder’s Department of Applied Mathematics. That experience supports communication with inventors and engineers about the technical details underlying patent applications.

Ann DeFranco is licensed in Colorado and admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. During law school, she served as a judicial extern for Judge Sharon J. Coleman of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She brings legal and engineering perspectives to intellectual property planning, helping clients explain complex inventions and develop protection strategies that fit the technology and its intended commercial use.

Law Office Affiliations

• Of Counsel, Sheridan Ross P.C.
• Member, Colorado Bar Association

Licensed State

• Colorado

Education

• Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
  Juris Doctor (JD)
• University of Colorado
  Master of Science (MS) in Aerospace Engineering Sciences
• University of Michigan
  Master of Science (MS) in Engineering, Aerospace
• University of Michigan
  Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering Cum Laude

Awards & Badges