Sonal Agarwal

Senior Counsel

Sonal Agarwal

Senior Counsel

Sonal Agarwal is a senior counsel with Foley & Lardner LLP. She is a member of the firm’s Electronics Practice. Sonal counsels clients with respect to patent matters in a wide range of electrical, electromechanical, computer hardware, and computer software industries. She has significant patent drafting and prosecution experience in areas including, but not limited to: artificial intelligence/machine learning, including optimizing neural network processing, training models and classifiers, and applications utilizing artificial intelligence/machine learning; virtual and cloud computing, including database management systems, server/datacenter management, and disaster recovery; hardware, software, and fabrication of memory systems; computer networks and wireless communications; telecommunications; business method patents such as in healthcare, finance, and insurance areas; point-of-sale devices and associated software; medical devices; electrical circuits and components; semiconductor devices and fabrication techniques; microelectromechanical systems (MEMS); freight transportation and logistics software; off-road engines/vehicles; earth moving machinery; unmanned vehicles; internal combustion engines; exhaust aftertreatment systems; Internet of Things; and systems and software for managing food processing and supply chain processes.

Sonal is also experienced in IP due diligence, including patent landscaping, assessing IP assets, and agreement review. Sonal is also well-versed in leading inventor brainstorming sessions, risk mitigation by way of patentability and freedom-to-operate opinions, assessing patentability of new technologies, and patent portfolio management. She also assists with litigation and inter partes review.

Previously, Sonal was a summer associate and law clerk at Foley. Before Foley, Sonal was a patent engineer/technical specialist at an intellectual property boutique firm in Chicago, and at a general practice law firm in Madison.

Awards and Recognition

  • Received, Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch recognition for:
    • Intellectual Property Law (2023-2024)
    • Technology Law (2023-2024)

Presentations and Publications

  • Co-author, “Duplicating and Deconstructing Load/Store Queues,” Fifth Annual Workshop on Duplicating, Deconstructing, and Debunking at International Symposium on Computer Architecture (June 2006)
17 August 2023 Honors and Awards

Foley Attorneys Recognized in 2024 Best Lawyers in America

Foley & Lardner LLP proudly announced today that 236 of the firm’s attorneys across 20 U.S. offices have received recognition in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America©.
19 July 2023 Health Care Law Today

IP Toolbox Is Crucial In AI-Powered Drug Discovery

This article provides an overview of IP considerations for entities engaging in drug discovery, the benefits and challenges of leveraging AI/ML technology for this purpose, and how to handle breakthroughs that result from collaborations between companies in this space.
18 August 2022 Press Releases

Foley Attorneys Recognized in 2023 Best Lawyers in America

Foley & Lardner LLP proudly announced that 250 of our attorneys across 20 offices have received recognition in the 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.
09 February 2022 In the News

Sonal Agarwal Discusses IP Ramifications Around NFTs

Foley Senior Counsel Sonal Agarwal was quoted in a Wisconsin Lawyer article, “What’s Hot, What’s Not: Wisconsin Practice Trends 2022,” on the implications of intellectual property laws as they relate to nonfungible tokens (NFTs).
13 October 2020 The Path & The Practice

Podcast Episode 17: Sonal Agarwal, Associate

This episode of The Path & The Practice features a discussion with Sonal Agarwal. Sonal is an associate in Foley’s Madison office where she is an intellectual property attorney focused on patent prosecution. Sonal shares about growing up in India and coming to the U.S. for graduate school.