Jan Little-Washington Harrity Team

Jan Little-Washington Joins the Firm

Harrity & Harrity is excited to announce that Jan Little-Washington has joined our team as Of Counsel. Jan has more than 18 years of experience preparing and prosecuting patent applications, for electrical and computer technologies.

Prior to joining Harrity & Harrity, Jan practiced law for over 18 years with law firms based in Washington, D.C., and Seattle, Washington.  She has worked with developers, engineers, business leaders, in-house counsel, and university technology transfer professionals to identify methods of protecting intellectual property created from software, hardware, business methods, and internet related products and services.

Learn more about Jan and the rest of the Harrity & Harrity team HERE.

Clause 8 The Voice of IP

Eli Mazour Launches Clause 8 – An Online Video Interview Series Starting With Paul Michel

April 26, 2017 – Eli Mazour launched a new online video series, Clause 8, that will feature video interviews with prominent members of the IP community. IPWatchdog.com published an article highlighting the details of the first interview. 

His first interview is with former Chief Federal Circuit Judge Michel. During the interview, Judge Michel talks about his personal story and shares his thoughts about America’s patent system, patent eligibility, and the PTAB. He also provides great advice to those in, or thinking about being in, the IP field.

Please check it out and sign up to be notified about future interviews! www.clause8.tv

Eli Mazour Harrity Team

Eli Mazour Hosts Webinar on Patent Eligibility

On April 19, Eli Mazour presented during a webinar titled “Patent Eligibility: Navigating the Supreme Court’s 2016 Decisions and Its Impacts,” hosted by The Knowledge Group.  Eli’s presentation focused on practical patent preparation and prosecution strategies for dealing with trends related to patent eligibility and the The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) for business, software, and high-tech related inventions.
Eli is an active member of the IP community, frequently publishing articles and participating in panels discussing preparation and prosecution.

For over 10 years, The Knowledge Group has produced thousands of best in class educational webcasts for a variety of industries and professions including legal, tax, accounting, finance, human resources, risk/compliance, and many others.

Click HERE to purchase a recording.

Harrity Blog

Is It Really That Obvious? A Tale of Two Decisions

By William Gvoth & Paul Gurzo

On January 3, 2017 the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (the court) handed down two decisions relating to obviousness under § 103 – In re: Marcel Van Os, Freddy Allen Anzures, Scott Forstall, Greg Christie, Imran Chaudhri, No. 2015-1975 (Fed. Cir. 2017) (Van Os) and In re: Ethicon, Inc., No. 2015-1696 (Fed. Cir. 2017) (Ethicon).  This article will tell the tale of these two decisions as well as highlight some of the questions that these decisions raise.

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Harrity Blog

Analysis of December 2016 USPTO Subject Matter Eligibility Examples

By Kris Rhu & Paul Gurzo

On December 15, 2016, the USPTO published three subject matter eligibility examples focusing on business method claims, which can be found here.  The purpose of these examples is to give guidance on how claims should be analyzed using the 2014 Interim Guidance on Subject Matter Eligibility, recent Supreme Court and Federal Circuit decisions, and recent Memorandums published by the USPTO.  These examples seem to indicate that the power of §101 to restrict patentability has been whittled down since Alice and that the USPTO would like to reduce the number of §101 rejections for technological claims in light of court decisions post-Alice.  Below, we describe each example provided by the USPTO, explain the USPTO guidance for each example, and provide practical practice tips that practitioners can use to help reduce or overcome §101 rejections.

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Top Patent Firms 2018

Top Patent Firms for 2016

By Paul Harrity & Anna Yee (Originally published by IP Watchdog)

We compiled a list of the top patent firms that are ranked based on the total number of U.S. utility patents that issued in 2016 where the patent firms were listed on the front of the utility patents. We have included only patent firms that have obtained at least 50 utility patents. We made an attempt to correct for typographical errors. We did not eliminate company legal departments from the list.

For the list from last year see: Top Patent Firms for 2015.

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Alice in Wonderland falling surrounded by playing cards

Alice on Dulany Street: How the PTAB Handles 101 in Ex Parte Appeals

By Eli Mazour & James Bennin

“The outlook has become only more grim for appellants who are hoping that the PTAB will overturn a § 101 rejection.”

Previously, we analyzed ex parte appeal decisions by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) from the year following the Alice v. CLS Bank decision. At the time, we concluded that the PTAB is unlikely to reverse § 101 rejections based on Alice. We decided to revisit this conclusion based on ex parte appeal decisions from December 2016.

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Neil Kardos, Harrity Team

Neil Kardos Named Senior Associate

Harrity & Harrity is pleased to announce that Neil Kardos has been named a Senior Associate of the Firm. Neil has been with the firm since 2012. John Harrity, Managing Partner, says of Neil, “Neil is one of the best and brightest attorneys I have ever met. He goes above and beyond what’s expected from an associate. He not only produces some of the highest quality patent applications in our field, but also is vital to my firm’s recruiting, business development, training, and innovation initiatives. Neil’s promotion was well deserved.”

To learn more about Neil and the rest of the Harrity & Harrity team, click HERE.

Nathan Phares Harrity Team

Drafting Software Patents Amidst the Heightened Standard: The Alice v. CLS Bank Aftershock

September 28, 2016 – Nathan Phares was part of a panel of speakers that discussed software patents in the aftermath of Alice v. CLS Bank. He provided insights and recommendations regarding post-Alice case law, drafting strategies in view of recent software eligibility decisions, and winning prosecution techniques for software patents.

For over 10 years, The Knowledge Group has produced thousands of best in class educational webcasts for a variety of industries and professions including legal, tax, accounting, finance, human resources, risk/compliance, and many others.

Click HERE to order recording of the webinar.

Harrity Cybersecurity

Harrity Ranked as Top Firm in Cybersecurity by Juristat

September 21, 2016 – Harrity is ranked in the top 3 of firms prosecuting patent applications in the cybersecurity technology area, as ranked by Juristat.

All firms on the list have had at least 100 disposed applications in the relevant art units during the 10-year period between 2006 to 2015 and are ranked by allowance rate.

Click HERE to read the complete article by Juristat.

Career 4

Harrity Participates in Annual “2016 Lawyers Have Heart” 10K Race

Harrity Participates in Annual Lawyers Have Heart 10k Race
The Harrity Team participates in an event to raise money for Lawyers Have Heart

Since 2001, Harrity & Harrity, LLP has participated in the 2016 Lawyers Have Heart 10K race to raise money for the American Heart Association.

To learn more about the American Heart Association click HERE.

To donate to the American Heart Association click HERE.

Harrity IAM Patent 1000

Harrity Recognized by IAM Patent 1000 2016

Harrity & Harrity, LLP has been recognized by IAM Patent 1000 as one of the world’s leading patent firms in patent prosecution for the second consecutive year.

“Harrity & Harrity is a go-to when it comes to having high-quality patent applications drafted and pending applications prosecuted efficiently. It employs a uniform writing style for applications and responses that is well thought out, and tried and tested at the USPTO – it makes for clearly written, well-organised applications that robustly cover the most important aspects of any invention. It also reduces any rejections that could be attributed to an examiner’s lack of understanding of the invention. The team is very proactive in conducting interviews with examiners, which helps to expedite the allowance of cases. It can quickly and proficiently perform intelligence analyses, which provide real insights into what competitors are doing and how you stack up against them; with this sort of information, you can refine your patenting efforts to best protect your most important technologies.” “One of John Harrity’s strongest attributes is his fast turnaround time on any piece of work – you never have to pester him as to where a matter stands in terms of completion. In fact, he routinely delivers ahead of schedule, while keeping the quality at a very high level. His squad doesn’t have any weak attorneys from a skill set standpoint – they are all easy to deal with and very clear communicators.” “Paul Harrity goes above and beyond of his own volition and is very sharp at tracking examiner behaviour, so he can make informed recommendations about how best to proceed. He is absolutely stringent about quality and is very dedicated.” “We consistently get high praise from our inventor community for what he does,” adds one respondent.

Click HERE to see Harrity & Harrity’s listing on the 2016 IAM Patent 1000 list.

Paul Gurzo, Harrity Team

Paul Gurzo Conducts Webinar: “How to Develop Cost Effective & Winning Prosecution Strategies”

May 13, 2016 – Paul Gurzo, Harrity & Harrity Partner, was part of a panel of speakers that discussed how to develop cost effective and winning preparation and prosecution strategies.

Paul frequently speaks on different areas of patent practice, with a focus on strategically preparing and prosecuting applications, and ways companies can maximize the value of their portfolios.

For over 10 years, The Knowledge Group has produced thousands of best in class educational webcasts for a variety of industries and professions including legal, tax, accounting, finance, human resources, risk/compliance, and many others.

Click HERE to order recording of the webinar.

IPO Education Foundation Girl Scout IP Patch Event

May 7, 2016 – Harrity & Harrity had a wonderful time hosting
a booth at the IPO Education Foundation Girl Scout IP Patch Event at the United States Patent & Trademark Office. The patch curriculum was developed jointly by IPO Education Foundation (IPOEF), U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and Girl Scout Counsel of the Nation’s Capital (GSCNC). Patches were presented by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and USPTO Deputy Director Michelle Lee at a ceremony at the Langdon Education Campus.

Watch the video below to highlights of this great event!

John Harrity, Harrity Team

John Harrity Receives Client Choice Award

Established in 2005, Client Choice recognizes those law firms and partners around the world that stand apart for the excellent client care they provide and the quality of their service. The criteria for this recognition focus on an ability to add real value to clients’ business above and beyond the other players in the market. Uniquely, law firms and partners can only be nominated by corporate counsel.

The Client Choice website is a fully searchable online resource, listing partners and law firms that have been recognized by their clients for the quality of their service, and includes quotes from satisfied customers in the ‘What clients said’ section. Our extensive research has been specially designed to assist clients in finding the best lawyers for client service worldwide, and to facilitate referrals between client service-focused law firms.

To learn more about Client Choice, visit www.clientchoice.com/

Kris Rhu Joins Harrity as an Associate

January 4, 2016 – Kris Rhu joins Harrity & Harrity as an associate.

pic_krisPrior to joining Harrity & Harrity, LLP, Kris was a Primary Patent Examiner at the USPTO, where he examined patent applications directed to electrical and computer technologies, including input/output interfaces and devices, computer memory, computer networking, processors, and software development. Kris also worked at the Patent and Trial Appeals Board helping Administrative Patent Judges write opinions for Ex Parte Appeals. While working full-time at the USPTO, Kris attended The George Washington University National Law Center.

Click HERE to learn more about Kris Rhu and the rest of our team.

Paul Gurzo, Harrity Team

Paul Gurzo Becomes a Partner of the Firm

January 1, 2016 – Paul Gurzo becomes a partner at the firm. For more than 14 years, Paul Gurzo’s work has been successful in client counseling, and preparing and prosecuting patent applications. Paul’s career has encompassed domestic and foreign patent applications at all stages of prosecution. Paul focuses his practice on electrical and electromechanical technologies, including telecommunications, computer hardware and software, computer networking, optical systems, internet-related systems, and business methods.

Paul has extensive experience preparing all types of opinions involving diverse technologies as well as performing portfolio analysis and counseling clients with respect to building their portfolios.

In practice, clients look to Paul because he is knowledgeable, responsive, and attentive to their needs. He uses strategic thinking when looking forward to future challenges coming their way. Paul is a great asset to the Harrity and Harrity team and finds fulfillment in helping the firm grow.

Click HERE To learn more about Paul Gurzo and his practice.

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