Bruce Anderson*

Counsel 
[email protected]

Team Member Profile

Bruce Anderson is Counsel at Fluet, supporting the Government Contracts Practice. With more than 25 years of experience advising defense and aerospace organizations, Mr. Anderson focuses his practice on the intersection of intellectual property, government contracting, and national security law. He regularly counsels government contractors on data rights, patent portfolio development, technology licensing, Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements, and complex dispute resolution.

His practice encompasses the full spectrum of government intellectual property and patent disputes, agreement drafting and negotiation, patent portfolio development, and competitor patent avoidance. His consistent negotiation success with domestic and international customers, partners, and suppliers is achieved by projecting long-term effects of proposed terms on business success, considering likely market and technology changes over time, and negotiating aggressively on behalf of his clients.

Prior to joining Fluet, Mr. Anderson served as in-house Intellectual Property Counsel for Northrop Grumman’s Weapon Systems Division following Northrop Grumman’s acquisition of Orbital ATK, where he also served as IP Counsel. Throughout his in-house career with Northrop Grumman, Orbital ATK, and Alliant Techsystems (ATK), Mr. Anderson served as the lead IP stakeholder across hundreds of commercial, FAR-based, and innovative defense transactions. He developed market-focused, highly cost-effective integrated data rights and patenting strategies for defense businesses, and supported fast-growing mixed commercial and defense ammunition businesses, including designing around hundreds of competitor patents to facilitate continual penetration of lateral market spaces. He has extensive experience working closely with technology and contracts teams to coordinate technology development and spending with government contract timing and terms to cost-effectively maximize market power.

Notably, Mr. Anderson conceived a weapon system invention patented by Northrop Grumman with five Northrop Fellows as co-inventors, an invention placed under a secrecy order by the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM).

Earlier in his career, Mr. Anderson practiced patent litigation and general litigation at a major law firm. He earned his Juris Doctor from Columbia University School of Law and holds a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

*Bruce Anderson is admitted to practice law in New York.

  • Successfully resolved a dispute with the U.S. Army concerning a Government-Owned Contractor-Operated (GOCO) facility, negotiating a license granted in exchange for $30 million and a multi-year operating contract extension.
  • Successfully represented a major defense contractor in a landmark dispute with the U.S. Navy establishing eligibility to contract under SBIR agreements, initiating a multi-decade series of defense contracts.
  • Successfully negotiated resolutions with foreign military and commercial entities—including halting foreign military reverse-engineering programs in favor of co-production and compelling a foreign defense manufacturer to cease unauthorized production and destroy prototypes.
  • Persuaded the U.S. Army to withdraw, modify, and reissue the Department of Defense Ordnance Technology Consortium (DOTC) Base Agreement to protect contractor terms.
  • Negotiated a perpetual, exclusive, royalty-free North American sales license with a premier European defense contractor for advanced weapons propellant technology.
  • Successfully resolved a high-stakes data rights challenge against the U.S. Army, preserving proprietary status over delivered technical formulations and manufacturing processes against government claims of Unlimited Rights.
  • Counsel, Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation
  • Intellectual Property Counsel, Orbital ATK Inc.
  • Intellectual Property Counsel, Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK)
  • Patent Litigation Associate
  • General Litigation Associate
  • J.D., Columbia University School of Law
  • B.I.E., Georgia Institute of Technology
  • New York Bar
  • Registered Patent Attorney