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Thomas Franklin

Partner, Kilpatrick Townsend

Thomas Franklin is a partner with Kilpatrick Townsend, where he focuses his practice on patent prosecution, licensing and intellectual capital management with more than fifteen years of experience with intellectual property. He is experienced in intellectual property audits, due diligence and strategic planning processes. Through an IP Asset Management plan, he tailors strategy to business goals, competitive pressures and funding constraints to leverage intangible assets with intellectual property. He uses IP protection to maintain the dominance of large companies or assist smaller enterprises who are vying to dominate. Recognized by Chambers USA, sources noted Mr. Franklin as “a brilliant and intelligent attorney who knows IP law inside out.”

Mr. Franklin was recognized as a top patent practitioner in 2021 and the eight years immediately preceding by IAM Patent 1000. In 2020 and the three years immediately preceding, he was listed in the IAM Strategy 300: The World’s Leading IP Strategists. Mr. Franklin was recognized as a Colorado “Super Lawyer” in 2021 and the seven years immediately preceding for intellectual property by Super Lawyers magazine. In 2020, he was selected by Law Week Colorado to its “Barrister’s Best” list as the “People’s Choice” for Best IP Non-Litigator. Mr. Franklin was named a Lawyer of the Year in 2012 by Law Week Colorado for the successful effort to bring a Regional Patent and Trademark Office to the Rocky Mountain Region in Denver to fulfill his vision of a nationwide workforce of the brightest and best examiners. The San Diego State University Alumni Association recognized and honored Mr. Franklin with the 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Engineering.

Mr. Franklin’s technical experience broadly covers the areas of software, Internet technology, content delivery, business methods, clean technology, circuit design, imaging arrays, cryptographic design, telecommunications, electronic design tools, wireless communications, networking and telemetry systems.

Recent Articles by Thomas Franklin

Patent Office Improves Open Data Access to File Wrappers

Last week, the USPTO announced a public release of the Patent Center beta that will eventually replace PAIR and EFS-Web while providing improved access to prosecution histories and related data. The Office has always been on the cutting edge of technology for the Federal government. Their electronic filing system (EFS), Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system, hoteling, and other technology initiatives have put the Office out front of many government agencies. FY2020 Congressional Justification for the USPTO states that it is the responsibility of the USPTO to “foster[] innovation, competitiveness and job growth in the United States by … delivering IP information and education worldwide.” Open access to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) data is core to the USPTO’s mission and aligns with the Open Data policies of the Federal government generally.

Patent Trends Study Part Thirteen: Building Materials

This is the last in a 13-part series of articles authored by Kilpatrick Townsend. The series examined industry-specific patent trends across 12 key patent-intensive industries. In this 13-part series, we introduced our patent trends study (performed in a collaboration between Kilpatrick Townsend and GreyB Services) and provided high-level data across 12 industries. Today’s article pertains to the Building Materials industry and its enabling technology. Innovation in this space is motivated by more than just buildings, but also hydrocarbon production and aerospace applications. For example, deep sea concrete encasements and insulation for space modules are inventions that have far broader applications. California dominated the patent filings in every patent cluster of the study except Building Materials, where Texas has the most filings. This tech cluster is pushing the envelope for cutting-edge applications that will find their way into such things as green or smart building materials over time so that all consumers benefit.