Featured Contributors

We are always happy to consider guest contributions for publication on IPWatchdog.com from those with expertise in all areas of Intellectual Property. In fact, we publish several hundred guest authors each year and are increasingly publishing articles from distinguished guest authors, including Members of Congress, Judges and Politicians. If you are interested in contributing please see our Editorial Guidelines.

Below are our Featured Contributors who publish with us on a recurring basis, some weekly, some monthly, some more frequently. If you would like to become a recurring featured contributor on IPWatchdog.com please contact us.

 

Joseph AllenJoseph Allen

Contact: [ Web | LinkedIn ]

Joe Allen is a Featured Contributor on IPWatchdog.com, and a 30-year veteran of national efforts to foster public/private sector commercialization partnerships, and author of numerous articles on technology management for national publications.

Joe served as a Professional Staff Member on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee with former Senator Birch Bayh (D-IN), and was instrumental in working behind the scenes to ensure passage of the historic Bayh-Dole Act. He is our resident Bayh-Dole expert, and will write frequently about Bayh-Dole and issues surrounding the commercialization of university research.

In 2008, Joe founded Allen & Associates, through which he offers consulting services assisting clients in technology transfer issues, including developing effective communication strategies with national policy makers.

 

Bruce Berman

Contact: [ Web | LinkedIn ]

Bruce Berman is CEO of Brody Berman Associates, a management consulting and strategic communications firm he founded in 1988. He has supported 200+ IP-focused businesses, portfolios and executives, as well as law firms and their clients. Bruce is responsible for five books, including From Ideas to Assets (Wiley) and, since 2003, approximately 100 columns for IAM magazine. He also has written on IP for publications such as Nature Biotechnology and Forbes. His weekly observations about trends can be seen on IP CloseUp. In 2016, Bruce founded the the Center for Intellectual Property Understanding, an independent non-profit that raises awareness and provides outreach to improve IP literacy, promote sharing and deter theft.

 

Joseph Gushue

Contact: [ Web | LinkedIn ]

As a Shareholder at Volpe Koenig, clients of all sizes praise Joe’s attentiveness as he helps them monetize their patent portfolios through the strategic prosecution of US and foreign patents and participation in licensing programs. Whether the client is a publicly traded corporation or a private equity firm, Joe provides guidance and assists them with the full spectrum of their intellectual property needs.

Joe’s experience includes analyzing patent portfolios for the most valuable assets, taking part in licensing meetings, and performing strategic patent prosecution to support patent licensing efforts. He also works with technical experts and develops test plans to determine if intellectual property assets are infringed by commercial products. An example of his recent work includes counseling a client through the marketing and sale of a large patent portfolio.

Among other work, Joe has extensive experience prosecuting and licensing patents directed to standards for wireless, video, and computer architecture technology. He has prepared claim charts with mappings to standards and commercial products. He additionally prepares arguments that rebut proposed mappings in claim charts. On behalf of clients, Joe regularly performs due diligence work across a wide swath of technical areas in order to better evaluate business transactions.

He is a contributor to the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Young Lawyer Division (YLD) newsletter and also contributes to The Legal Intelligencer and presents at CLEs held in the area.

 

Eli MazourEli Mazour

Contact: [ Web | LinkedIn ]

Eli Mazour is the host of the Clause 8 interview series and a Partner with Harrity & Harrity LLP in Fairfax, Virginia, where he leads the firm’s patent prosecution team.  Eli’s practice focuses on helping large technology companies build valuable, high-quality patent portfolios in an efficient manner.  In this role, he develops and implements best practices for managing workflow and innovative, data-driven patent prosecution strategies for reaching favorable results at the USPTO.

Eli personally has experience preparing and prosecuting hundreds of patent applications related to computer software, Internet and e-commerce, telecommunications, networking devices, electronic consumer products, and medical devices.

Although Eli is known for being able to successfully reach agreements with USPTO patent examiners for clients’ most important patent applications, he is equally skilled at identifying and successfully utilizing alternative channels within the USPTO when that is not possible.  In one such instance, the PTAB recently ruled in favor of one the firm’s oldest clients after Eli argued in an Oral Hearing.

Eli also helps clients evaluate existing patent portfolios, identify strategic areas for patenting, and create processes for harvesting disclosures of patentable inventions.  In addition, he has been involved with licensing negotiations, patent infringement investigations, clearance of products (freedom to operate opinions), and patent litigation. As a result, he is keenly aware of the pitfalls to avoid and opportunities to grasp during patent prosecution.

Eli is also the creator and host of the Clause 8 podcast, which features interviews with the most interesting members of the IP community.  Due to Clause 8 and his previous track record, he is sought out by various technology companies, legal and business professionals, and media organizations for his insights on various patent policy developments, including legislative proposals and changes at the USPTO.

 

Eileen McDermott

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Eileen McDermott is Editor-in-Chief of IPWatchdog.com. A veteran IP and legal journalist, Eileen started with IPWatchdog in January 2019.  Eileen is no stranger to the intellectual property world, having held editorial and managerial positions at several publications and industry organizations since she first entered the industry more than a decade ago.

Most recently she has acted as an editorial consultant for the International Trademark Association (INTA), chiefly overseeing the editorial process for the Association’s twice-monthly newsletter, the INTA Bulletin.  Eileen has also served as a freelance editor for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO); as a senior consulting editor for the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) from 2015 to 2017; as Managing Editor and Editor-in-Chief at INTA from 2013 to 2016.  She was also Americas Editor for Managing Intellectual Property magazine from 2007 to 2013.

 

Charles E. MillerCharles Miller

Contact: [ Web | LinkedIn ]

Charles E. Miller, Ph D. is a patent, trademark, and copyright lawyer in the Intellectual Property Group of Leichtman Law PLLC where he is a Senior Counsel in the Firm’s midtown Manhattan offices.  His practice focuses on counseling and representing clients in IP controversies and transactions involving intellectual property cases in manufacturing, process, and design industries and technologies including chemicals, polymers, pharmaceutical and life sciences, medical devices, and machinery. Dr. Miller also has been an arbitrator in commercial cases for the American Arbitration Association and for the World Intellectual Property Organization.  He testified in patent and related antitrust cases as an expert on patent litigation and on U. S. Patent and Trademark Office customs, practices, and procedures, and served as special master in patent infringement litigation on appointment by the U. S. District Court in Massachusetts.  Dr. Miller taught patent law and appellate advocacy as an adjunct professor at St. John’s University School of Law. He is a founding member of the Association of Amicus Counsel and has participated as counsel-of-record in amicus curiae briefs filed in   high-profile IP cases in the U.S. Supreme Court and in the U.S. Court of Appeals.

James Nurton

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James has worked as an editor and journalist for 21 years specializing in intellectual property law and practice. He was Editor of Managing Intellectual Property from 2000-2017 managing all editorial content for the magazine and online including the annual rankings of the world’s IP law firms. He launched the conference newspapers for INTA, AIPPI and AIPLA events and has originated and moderated conferences, webinars and awards dinners for Managing Intellectual Property and organizations including EPO, WIPO, EUIPO, INTA, ECTA, UCL-IBIL and Fordham IP Institute. He is a member of MARQUES Communication and Membership Team and was an INTA Committee member.

James Pooley

Contact: [ Web | LinkedIn ]

James Pooley is one of the world’s foremost experts in trade secret law and management. His first volume, “Trade Secrets,” updated semi-annually, is the leading lawyer’s desk reference on the subject. His latest business book is “Secrets: Managing Information Assets in the Age of Cyberespionage” (Verus Press, 2015).

Mr. Pooley’s career as a sought-after advisor, IP litigator, and information security expert spans over 37 years. His many leadership roles include his tenure as president of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and current term as chairman of the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

On the international stage, Mr. Pooley served as Deputy Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva from December 2009 to November 2014, where he was responsible for the international patent system.

Having returned to Silicon Valley, Mr. Pooley established a private law practice where he specializes in high-level litigation counseling and strategy.

 

Gene Quinn

Contact: [ Web | LinkedIn]

Gene Quinn is a patent attorney and a leading commentator on patent law and innovation policy. Mr. Quinn has twice been named one of the top 50 most influential people in IP by Managing IP Magazine, in both 2014 and 2019. From 2017-2020, Mr. Quinn has also been recognized by IAM Magazine as one of the top 300 IP strategists in the world, and in 2021 he was recognized by IAM in their inaugural Strategy 300 Global Leaders list.

Mr. Quinn founded IPWatchdog.com in 1999, and he is currently President & CEO of IPWatchdog, Inc. According to IAM Magazine, Mr. Quinn “has reshaped the IP debate in the United States in a way that has forced policy makers to carefully consider the macroeconomic effects of IP law and its potential to drive innovation and economic activity.”

Regarded as an expert on software patentability and U.S. patent procedure, Mr. Quinn has advised inventors, entrepreneurs and start-up businesses throughout the U.S. and around the world. He consults with attorneys facing peculiar procedural issues at the Patent Office, advises investors and executives on patent law changes and pending litigation matters, and has represented patent practitioners before the Office of Enrollment & Discipline.

 

Michael Snyder

Contact: [ Web | LinkedIn ]

As a Shareholder at Volpe Koenig, Michael’s natural and engaging approach in laying out alternatives and potential outcomes is genuinely appreciated by clients. He advances their causes with all-encompassing intellectual property portfolio management including experience in patent, trademark and copyright prosecution as well as litigation. Michael also counsels and advises clients with regard to due diligence matters including intellectual property clearance, licensing and acquisition.

His intellectual property portfolio management work covers prosecuting domestic and foreign patents and trademarks, representing client interests in transactional matters and performing due diligence investigations. Michael’s experience in inter partes matters covers litigation and alternative dispute resolution proceedings concerning patents, trademarks, trade dress, unfair competition, non-competition agreements, trade-secrets and internet domain names.

Michael’s clients range from local startups to companies having a worldwide footprint, representing a wide variety of industries and technologies. His work has included handling trade dress litigation for a national casino chain, obtaining trademark protection for restaurant chains, managing the worldwide patent portfolio for global companies, brand management for professional athletes, reviewing copyright agreements for authors, and litigating patent, trade dress and trademark disputes in the field of action sports. Michael also frequently provides legal commentary on topical intellectual property news stories for the Philadelphia area media.

 

Jonathan Stroud

Contact: [ Web | LinkedIn ]

Jonathan Stroud is Chief IP Counsel at Unified Patents, LLC, where he manages a growing team of talented, diverse attorneys and oversees a docket of administrative challenges, appeals, licensing, pooling, and district court work in addition to trademark, copyright, administrative, amicus, policy, marketing, and corporate matters.

Prior to Unified, he was a litigator with Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP, and prior to that, he was a patent examiner at the USPTO. He earned his J.D. with honors from the American University Washington College of Law; his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Tulane University; and his M.A. in Print Journalism from the University of Southern California. He enjoys teaching, writing, and speaking on patent and administrative law.