Sadler, Breen, Morasch & Colby PS, a Spokane law firm that specializes in patent law, has moved into the Chase Financial Center downtown, where it says it has room to expand.

The firm, which also does business under the name SBMC, has leased the entire 12,000-square-foot 13th floor of the building at 601 W. Main, says Scott Simon, SBMC's director of finance and administration. It moved there from the U.S. Bank Building, at 422 W. Riverside, where it occupied less than 8,000 square feet of floor space.

"We filled up the old space, and it wasn't ideal for the number of people we had," Simon says.

He says the firm has 10 attorneys and a staff of 10 people, including three patent agents—more than twice the staff it had when attorneys Lance Sadler, Jamie Breen, Dave Morasch, and Michael Colby founded it in 2007.

The firm handles intellectual property and patent preparation and protection.

Despite the economic downturn, clients see value in intellectual property, in seeing patent applications through, and in protecting those assets, Simon says.

An economic challenge also can be a catalyst for creativity, he says.

"My understanding is that a down economy is a breeding ground for new ideas," Simon says.

Spokane-based commercial real estate brokerage Kiemle & Hagood Co. handled the lease.