Partner Elaine Spector discusses diversity in patent law, remote work, family, and overcoming her fears with On the Ball’s Steve Nudelberg as part of his “Tell Me Something Good” segment.
Watch the full video below!
See all of our Diversity Initiatives here and join our Diversity Mentor Network here!
Harrity & Harrity is pleased to announce that Head of Patent Analytics, Rocky Berndsen, was selected by IAM as a 2022 World Leading IP Strategist. This award identifies the individuals who are leading the way in the development and implementation of strategies that maximize the value of IP portfolios.
According to IAM-Media.com, “These world-class IP strategists are primarily identified through confidential nominations made online. However, the extensive research process also involves face-to-face and telephone interviews, as well as email exchanges, with senior members of the global IP community.”
This is the third consecutive year that Rocky has been named on the IAM Strategy 300 List.
Rocky Berndsen is the head of the patent analytics group at Harrity & Harrity. The group’s practice specializes in providing corporate clients with data analytics that focus on gaining insight and intelligence relating to their patent portfolio, their competitors, their outside counsel, and the patent field in general.
Harrity & Harrity has been named the #1 Midsize Law Firm to Work For by the Vault. Harrity also received this award in 2021!
According to the Vault’s announcement, Harrity received a 9.55/10, taking the number one spot overall. Harrity was also recognized in the following categories:
Click HERE to learn more.
We are thrilled to announce John Harrity‘s new position on the American Heart Association Greater Washington Region Board of Directors.
John has been involved with the American Heart Association since 2016, after suffering a near-fatal widow maker heart attack. CPR and medical advances from the AHA saved John’s life, and he has since been dedicated to promoting their vital mission through Harrity 4 Charity and as Co-Chair of the annual Lawyers Have Heart event. John’s term on the Board of Directors, from July 2022 – June 2024, will be a further opportunity for him to leverage his experiences in a way to make a positive impact on the community and to help save lives.
“So many lives depend on the critical work of the American Heart Association, including my own. It is an honor to extend my involvement with this incredible organization as a member of the AHA Greater Washington Region Board of Directors to increase awareness of heart disease, fund life-saving research and education, and encourage heart healthy lives across the globe,” says John.
Read more about John’s involvement with the American Heart Association here.
A recent article by Angela Morris for IAM features patent data and insight from Rocky Berndsen, Head of the Harrity Patent Analytics Team. Using the annual Patent 300® report, Rocky provides reasoning for the apparent decline in patents from major players since the start of Covid.
“The slide in patent grants means something, according to Rocky Berndsen, head of patent analytics at Harrity & Harrity, which conducted the data analysis.
First, it could be indicative of changing prosecution patterns. ‘Thinking back, 2020 was the covid year. It was really when it started hitting and we all had the shut-downs. But some of the impact is showing in the 2021 data. We had a drop-off in 2021 as a result of what was happening in 2020. There is a lag that happens in the patent field with filings and prosecution budgets,’ explains Berndsen.”
Read the full article at HERE.
Learn more about our patent analytics capabilities by visiting the Harrity Analytics site HERE.
Harrity & Harrity has recently been recognized by Bloomberg Law for our diversity initiatives, specifically with respect to increasing the representation of African-American/Black women within patent law.
The article, Black Women Lawyers Still Sparsely Seen at Federal Circuit, refers to Harrity as a law firm focused on moving the needle by creating programs that target the pipeline problem of a lack of women and minorities sitting for the patent bar, including quotes from Diversity Co-Chair, Elaine Spector, on our Patent Pathways program.
“Harrity & Harrity LP—after conducting a diversity and inclusion study that found that there are more patent attorneys and agents named “Michael” than there are racially diverse women in those roles in the US—launched a program to register more Black women as patent practitioners.
The initiative, called Patent Pathways, starts this summer. Harrity & Harrity will help women who complete the program find law firm jobs afterward. The inaugural program’s 20 participants could ‘move the needle quickly,’ said Elaine Spector, a Harrity partner leading Patent Pathways.
‘We want to make sure that innovation is expanded across all of our populations,” Spector said. ‘Women and racially diverse inventors are inventing or showing up on patents at a lower rate, and there is that correlation, to make sure that they can go to attorneys that represent them.'”
Patent Pathways is a Diversity & Inclusion Program dedicated to increasing numbers of registered African-American/Black women patent attorneys and agents through free patent skills training, mentoring, career counseling, and expenses paid to prepare for and take the patent bar exam. This program was created to help address the significant lack of diversity found in IP Law.
To learn more about the Patent Pathways program, click HERE.
Click HERE to read the full article by Samantha Handler.
John Harrity shares his story for Comcast Newsmakers on behalf of the American Heart Association.
John Harrity, Co-Chair for the Lawyers Have Heart 10K, 5K and Fun Walk sits down with Elena Russo to discuss his personal story with heart disease and his strong connection to the American Heart Association and this event.
Watch the full interview here.
DONATE TO THE 2022 LAWYERS HAVE HEART EVENT HERE!
Washington Lawyer Magazine features John Harrity, Co-Chair of the Lawyers Have Heart event for the American Heart Association.
When Harrity was asked to co-chair the race on its 30th anniversary in 2020, he thought it would be “a piece of cake.” “This is the easiest one to chair because it’s a big number anniversary,” he recalls thinking. “Then we had the pandemic.”
That did not stop Harrity and others at the AHA from spreading their message about the importance of physical and emotional health, especially during challenging times. The AHA originally planned on canceling the 2020 race, but Harrity had a better idea.
“I thought, ‘It’s always been a Washington, D.C., race. Why don’t we take it out of the D.C. area and not only go national but [also] global with it?’” Harrity says. “My vision for this event was to bring lawyers from around the globe together to focus on this thing that’s the number one killer, heart disease.”
REGISTER FOR THE 2022 LAWYERS HAVE HEART EVENT HERE!
My experience with heart disease completely changed not just my outlook on life, but also the trajectory of the patent law firm I co-founded, Harrity & Harrity, LLP in Fairfax, Virginia. For the first 15 years of business, we were exclusively focused on success — hiring the best talent, attracting the best clients, doing the best work. While success is still important, it has moved further down the list. Now, the focus is first and foremost on giving back.
It all started on May 2, 2016, when I played in my regular Monday night basketball game. In a five-minute time span that night, I went from feeling fantastic, which I did almost every minute of every day, to feeling a kind of discomfort that I had never experienced before in my life. I told the guys I needed to go outside for some fresh air; when I got there the discomfort got even worse. That’s when I asked my friends to call 911 and I passed out. As I lay unconscious, my friend Rocky Berndsen called while another friend, James Bennin, started CPR. Their quick actions truly helped save my life.
That night on the basketball court, I experienced the worst type of heart attack you can have. It’s called the widow-maker (for a reason). It was triggered by a blockage of the left main coronary artery that runs down the front of the heart. Hours later, while I was at the hospital, my situation got gravely worse. I experienced bleeding into my lungs, which sent me into respiratory distress and eventually led to multiple organ failure. While I lay unconscious during those first few weeks in the hospital, my body fought off numerous blood clots and infections. My wife was told more than half a dozen times that the chances of me surviving were very slim and to say her goodbyes. In fact, my cardiologist said the odds of me making it through were a million to one.
But what the doctors didn’t realize, what they didn’t know about me, was that I had been training for this event my whole life. I’d been obsessive about exercising seven days a week and following a very strict diet. I was down to nearly 10 percent body fat nearing my 50th birthday. I was obsessed with my health, and this obsessiveness allowed me to survive.
I eventually woke up three weeks after my heart attack, unable to speak or move. But, from the second I opened my eyes and understood what had happened, I was laser focused on two things: getting back to 100 percent and ensuring that I didn’t waste the opportunity for a second chance. I wanted to do good with what time I had left; I wanted to leave the world better than I entered it.
I would be remiss if I didn’t address the importance and ease of learning CPR. More than 350,000 Americans experience a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital each year, and only 1 in 10 survives. Even though 911 is frequently called, 60 percent of people do not receive bystander CPR. Hands-only CPR (pushing hard and fast in the center of the chest) has been shown to be as effective in the first few minutes as conventional CPR for cardiac arrest at home, at work, or in public.
While I was in intensive care over the following weeks regaining my ability to speak and move, my twin brother and I had many conversations about giving back. It was in that hospital bed that Harrity 4 Charity, our firm’s philanthropic arm, was born.
To date, Harrity 4 Charity has donated more than $1.5 million, and each year our team devotes more than 1,400 hours to our diversity initiatives and charitable efforts. One of the organizations we support through Harrity 4 Charity is naturally the American Heart Association (AHA) and its Lawyers Have Heart 10K, 5K & Fun Walk, an annual event for the legal community that has evolved into a staple on Washington, D.C.’s running calendar. Launched in 1991, Lawyers Have Heart attracts more than 6,500 participants of all experience levels and from all walks of life. I love this event because of my love for fitness and exercising, and because it helps save lives. In fact, it was one of my first goals back in 2017, after all that I had been through, to cross the Lawyers Have Heart finish line.
To me, Lawyers Have Heart is more than just crossing the finish line. It’s truly a movement for the health and well-being of us all. It’s a way to support the AHA in reaching its mission to eradicate heart disease and stroke and promote cardiovascular education. And if my story can motivate one person to train for the race, live a heart-healthier life, or learn CPR, then it is worth sharing.
To date, Lawyers Have Heart has raised more than $17 million to benefit the AHA. And I am here today because of the more than $4.1 billion invested in research by the AHA. It’s my mission to share this event with as many people as possible — mainly because so many lives depend on it.
Due to the pandemic, the race went virtual — and global — the last two years, with runners and walkers participating from around the world, including England, Croatia, Spain, South Africa, Japan, Turkey, Chile, and more. Lawyers Have Heart will return as an in-person event on June 11, but you can also run or walk with us from wherever you are. Sign up as a team or individual at LawyersHaveHeartDC.org, or learn how you can support AHA and its mission by emailing ESLawyersHaveHeart@heart.org.
John Harrity, co-founder of Harrity & Harrity, has been involved in the patent field for 20 years. His practice consists primarily of client counseling and preparing and prosecuting patent applications.
REGISTER FOR THE 2022 LAWYERS HAVE HEART EVENT HERE!
Eli Mazour‘s Clause 8 Podcast, The Voice of IP, has returned for Season 3, featuring all new exclusive interviews with the intellectual property community’s biggest names.
Raymond Millien likes to compare himself to Forrest Gump.
As someone who pivoted from a programming job at GE Aerospace to a career in intellectual property law, bounced between inside and outside counsel roles within that space, and even briefly dabbled in public policy, he’s definitely a renaissance man. And he’s fallen into many of those jobs by accident.
He credits his adventurous and successful career — working as Chief IP Counsel for big-name companies like Volvo, founding his own IP boutique, and now serving as the CEO of Harness IP — to intellectual curiosity and openness.
Appreciating every aspect of the game, Millien says, means you’ll play smarter.
“I never want to take one camp or the other because your client may be a patent troll today, it may be an operating company tomorrow. And all of them are necessary in the ecosystem,” he says.
On this episode of Clause 8, Millien sits down with us to tell all about what it means to have a “renaissance” career in IP law and what it takes to be an inside IP lawyer for major corporations. He even reveals some industry secrets about startup patents along the way.
You can subscribe and listen to the full episode on your favorite podcasting app and learn more at voiceofIP.com. New episodes will drop every Tuesday!
Harrity & Harrity has been named a Recommended Firm in Virginia on the 2022 Managing Intellectual Property IP Stars Rankings.
The Managing IP Awards program recognizes remarkable achievements and developments in the last year. Now in its 17th year, the program covers several IP practice areas and more than 50 jurisdictions.
Click HERE to learn more.
Harrity’s Elaine Spector was recently featured in a blog by ChIPs in celebration of World IP Day.
The organization shared what World IP Day means to their ChIPsters, and what needs to happen to make the theme of this year, IP and Youth: Innovating for a Better Future, a reality.
Elaine’s feature can be found below.
What are the opportunities to continue to increase access for young women inventors, creators, and entrepreneurs in intellectual property?
“In recent years, we have learned through numerous studies that women are not showing up on patents in proportion to their representation in the workforce. And that’s a loss for all of us.
In fact, the Hamilton Project found that bringing more women, Black Americans and other underrepresented groups into the innovation process could increase GDP by more than 4%. We all win when these groups are informed about our amazing patent system and given the amazing tools to become a part of the innovation ecosystem.
As such, it is important for us in the innovation ecosystem to reach back to young women to provide them with the information, tools, and resources to innovate, create, and protect their intellectual property. Consider hosting an outreach event to expose these young women to intellectual property, whether it be presenting through organizations like the Girls Scouts or Girls Who Code. To truly make a difference, we need “all hands on deck!”
Elaine Spector, Member, ChIPs Washington, DC Chapter, Partner, Harrity & Harrity, LLP
Click HERE to read the full article.
Harrity & Harrity has recently been recognized by IM-Media, in their article “Closing diversity gaps in patenting: current initiatives and the HP perspective” for it’s many DEI initiatives – in particular, the Patent Pathways program which Harrity is helping to launch the first iteration of this program Summer 2022.
Patent Pathways is a Diversity & Inclusion Program dedicated to increasing numbers of registered African-American/Black women patent attorneys and agents. This program was created to help address the significant lack of diversity found in IP Law.
To learn more about the Patent Pathways program, click HERE.
Click HERE to read the full article.
Eli Mazour‘s Clause 8 Podcast, The Voice of IP, has returned for Season 3, featuring all new exclusive interviews with the intellectual property community’s biggest names.
The 2017 TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Supreme Court decision led to a major shift in where patent litigation cases are filed in the United States. Before TC Heartland, a patent owner could bring a case in almost any district where an alleged infringer conducted business. Because of its predictable rules and streamlined procedures, the Eastern District of Texas became the most popular forum for such cases; nearly 40% of patent infringement actions were filed there in 2016.
When Professor Timothy Hsieh clerked in the Eastern District of Texas, he saw firsthand the benefits – for patent owners and defendants – of experienced judges handling patent cases. TC Heartland changed that by changing the rules regarding where companies can be sued for patent infringement. By 2017, only 15% of patent infringement cases were tried in the Eastern District of Texas. Instead, patent cases became concentrated in Delaware and California.
“If you’re not solving that forum shopping issue and you’re just changing the forum, then you might have a new problem that’s created […] wherever you shift the cases to,” Hsieh says.
But Hsieh’s key point is that forum shopping — or even judge shopping — is not a problem at all. In fact, it’s a good thing. “If anything, the defense are also getting a much fairer, much more balanced adjudication because you have someone who’s very knowledgeable about patent law,” Hsieh says.
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) seemed to recognize these benefits of district court judges who have relevant patent expertise and experience when he included the Patent Pilot Program in the Leahy-Smith American Invents Act. The program allowed federal district court judges in select districts to volunteer to handle patent cases. The goal was for certain judges to have increased expertise – and as a result – do a better job.
However, after the program expired and Judge Alan Albright started attracting patent cases to his Waco court room in the Western District of Texas, Leahy had a change of heart. In an unprecedented letter to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, Leahy pressured Roberts to do what he could to stop Waco from being a go-to patent venue by suggesting there was something untoward about Albright’s interest in patent cases. The pressure campaign seems to have worked. In his end-of-year report, Roberts highlighted the issue and stressed “the role of district judges as generalists.”
Since Hsieh has become known as an expert on the subject of patent venues, I knew he was the perfect person to talk to about this recent controversy.
I also spoke with Professor Hsieh about whether how courts think about venue is outdated and his fascinating career trajectory of patent litigator turned patent examiner turned law school professor.
You can subscribe and listen to the full episode on your favorite podcasting app and learn more at voiceofIP.com. New episodes will drop every Tuesday!
Harrity & Harrity has been named #1 on Patent Bots Quality Score rankings for 2022, topping all other firms with over 500 patents issued in 2021. This is the 3rd consecutive year Harrity has made the Top 10, placing second in 2021 and 2020.
#1 of Firms with 500+ Patents Issued (97.8)
#1 Tech Center 2400 (99.7)
#1 Tech Center 3600 (99.6)
#3 Tech Center 2600 (99.8)
#5 Overall (97.8)
Click HERE to learn more.
Eli Mazour‘s Clause 8 Podcast, The Voice of IP, has returned for Season 3, featuring all new exclusive interviews with the intellectual property community’s biggest names.
Before Phil Warrick began working for Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), Capitol Hill wasn’t in his career plans.
But when an opportunity to work with Coons emerged, he decided to take the leap. For two years, he served as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) IP counsel detailee to Coons after Coons helped to restart the Senate’s IP Subcommittee, working on bipartisan initiatives like the IDEA Act and legislation to fix the Section 101 patent eligibility mess. Those efforts were a dramatic departure from Congress’s previous fixation on the “patent troll” narrative.
“And for me, as a detailee, it was just a great opportunity to learn more about all these issues that were at play with intellectual property, and having really interesting conversations with folks on and off the hill, who said, I understand why this is your perspective, why you might have this view as a patent litigator, but let me give you this view from a completely different perspective,” Warrick says. “And it really opened my eyes.”
After Coons friend and fellow Delawarean, Joe Biden, was elected as president, the innovation community was hopeful that Coons would use his top role on the Subcommittee to prioritize patent issues within the Biden administration and Congress.
However, Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) had other ideas, and took over as the top Democrat on the Subcommittee. Since that time, the Subcommittee has moved in a very different, arguably anti-patent direction, and Leahy’s views have won out in seemingly every major administration decision related to patents.
But in yet another twist, Leahy has announced that he is retiring and won’t seek re-election in 2022. So, Coons is likely to return to his role as the top Democrat on the IP Subcommittee. Warrick’s insights from working for Coons are critical for anyone who wants to impact patent policy in the future.
You can subscribe and listen to the full episode on your favorite podcasting app and learn more at voiceofIP.com. New episodes will drop every Tuesday!
Eli Mazour‘s Clause 8 Podcast, The Voice of IP, has returned for Season 3, featuring all new exclusive interviews with the intellectual property community’s biggest names.
The golden age for patent brokers has come and gone, but that doesn’t stop Louis Carbonneau.
“There are very, very few patent brokers nowadays,” Carbonneau says. “We’re just one of a handful left. And frankly, we get about four or five portfolios every single day that people want us to broker. We only say yes 1% or 2% of the time.”
As one of the world’s leading patent brokers, the CEO and Founder of Tangible IP has brokered over 4,500 patents and boasts close to 30 years in the intellectual property industry.
With experience as Microsoft’s former General Manager of International IP & Licensing, Carbonneau has sat on many sides of the intellectual property table. He shares his adventures in the industry and lessons learned with Eli Mazour, host of the Clause 8 podcast, including behind-the-scenes stories from his time at Microsoft, the common pitfalls of patent licensing, and why price isn’t always an essential part of the conversation when buying and selling intellectual property.
“Some people will not even want to acquire patents for free if they don’t like the patents because then they have to start paying for maintenance fees and prosecution fees. It’s like a free puppy. It’s only free for a few hours, and after that, you start paying,” Carbonneau explains.
Those that are interested in selling their patents need to understand what brokers — and buyers — are looking for in a deal.
You can subscribe and listen to the full episode on your favorite podcasting app and learn more at voiceofIP.com. New episodes will drop every Tuesday!
Eli Mazour‘s Clause 8 Podcast, The Voice of IP, has returned for Season 3, featuring all new exclusive interviews with the intellectual property community’s biggest names.
Good lawyers effectively deal with the present. Very few have what it takes to create the future. Professor Ryan Abbott is doing just that.
He leads the DABUS project: the first time ever an AI machine has been named as an inventor on a patent application. Most thought that the project was an interesting academic exercise that was unlikely to go anywhere. Some – uncharitably – dismissed it as “a publicity stunt.”
Yet, the DABUS project did get a patent in South Africa. And, an Australian judge ruled that AI machine can be recognized as an inventor. Even more significantly, the DABUS project successfully raised awareness about the issue of AI inventorship among policy makers all over the world.
But what does it mean for an AI system to be named as an inventor in the real world?
In this episode, Abbott makes his case for the skeptics: Identifying AI as the inventor on patents is morally and commercially important. He also explains how to judge whether the human pushing the buttons is as much an inventor as the AI they’re programming.
On this episode, Eli and Prof. Abbott talk about the Artificial Inventor Project, whether everything will be “obvious” in the future, and Prof. Abbott’s fascinating new book “The Reasonable Robot: Artificial Intelligence and the Law.”
You can subscribe and listen to the full episode on your favorite podcasting app and learn more at voiceofIP.com. New episodes will drop every Tuesday!
Harrity & Harrity, LLP’s research and innovative diversity initiatives are featured in a recent Bloomberg article on diversity in the patent field.
The article references research found in Elaine Spector and LaTia Brand‘s “Diversity in Patent Law: A Data Analysis of Diversity in the Patent Practice by Technology Background and Region” piece for ABA’s Landslide Magazine, including the following excerpt:
More ‘Michaels’ Than Racially Diverse Women
Fewer than 22% of patent attorneys and agents registered with the Patent and Trademark Office are women, a 2020 study led by the Virginia patent law firm Harrity & Harrity LLP found. Patent agents aren’t attorneys but can work on inventors’ patent applications.
The average number of PTO registrants who are racial minorities has been around 6.5% over the past two decades, according to the study.
“Among racially diverse women, the numbers are significantly worse,” the authors wrote in a September 2020 article for Landslide, a magazine published by the ABA’s Section of Intellectual Property Law.
“In fact, there are more patent attorneys and agents named ‘Michael’ in the United States than there are racially diverse women,” the authors wrote.
Managing Partner Paul Harrity is also quoted in the Bloomberg article, specifically with regard to Harrity’s upcoming Patent Pathways program.
“The Harrity & Harrity law firm has plans for a ‘Patent Pathways’ program this summer. It’s a free, 42-week virtual course, with the aim to register 20 underrepresented minorities with the patent bar in the first year.
The program will target engineering and science students, or individuals in those fields looking to change careers. Paul Harrity, a founding partner at the firm, said they’re looking to connect with candidates with presentations at universities and through groups like the National Society of Black Engineers.
Harrity said he stumbled into the patent field after seeing a job advertisement for a patent examiner position at the PTO. It’s not an uncommon experience.
‘A lot of people have the same story—somebody just mentioned it to them,’ Harrity said. ‘We want to be the people to mention it.'”
You can find the full article by Bloomberg Law HERE.
About Harrity & Harrity, LLP
Harrity & Harrity is a leading patent preparation and prosecution firm specializing in the electrical and mechanical technology areas, with a focus on giving back through its Harrity 4 Charity program and many diversity initiatives. Harrity is considered a Go-To Firm for the Patent 300™ and their clients trust in their high-quality work, experienced people, industry leading innovation, and outstanding service.
For more information on Harrity’s analytics, automation, and patent services, firm culture, and current openings, please visit harrityllp.com.
Eli Mazour‘s Clause 8 Podcast, The Voice of IP, has returned for Season 3, featuring all new exclusive interviews with the intellectual property community’s biggest names.
Professor Dan Brown and his son, Dan Brown Jr., are straight out of central casting. Prof. Brown, the father, grew up in a working-class Irish family on Chicago’s South Side before eventually becoming a professor of engineering at Northwestern University. Dan Jr. is a moppy-haired marketing genius who is now President of LoggerHead Tools.
As a result of a father-son argument, Prof. Brown invented an award-winning tool called the Bionic Wrench and pursued the audacious idea of manufacturing it in entirely in America. Sears positioned itself to become their exclusive retailer when the initial order of 300,000 units sold out between Black Friday and Christmas. Unfortunately, not long after, Sears started pressuring them to manufacture it in China to lower the price of the bionic wrench.
“It was pure greed. And we said no,” Prof. Brown said.
When Prof. Brown refused, Sears got another company, Apex, to make a knockoff of the bionic wrench in China. So, LoggerHead Tools, represented by Skiermont Derby, took them to court. They were on their way to being vindicated when the death of the original federal judge, assigned to the case, put that into doubt.
Today, they continue to tell the story of their “David and Goliath” battle in hopes that the patent law can be improved to support America’s innovators.
You can subscribe and listen to the full episode on your favorite podcasting app and learn more at voiceofIP.com. New episodes will drop every Tuesday!
Congratulations to Harrity’s newest Partner, Ryan Thelen!
(WASHINGTON, DC) Harrity & Harrity, LLP, a leading patent law firm based in Fairfax, VA, is pleased to announce the promotion of Ryan Thelen to the position of Partner with the firm. Harrity & Harrity operates nationwide, with 37 total patent attorneys and agents across 26 states. Ryan is Harrity’s 8th Partner and first promotion of 2022.
Ryan has been with Harrity since 2018. His practice focuses on the preparation and prosecution of patent applications in various fields, such as telecommunications, networking, software, semiconductors, cloud computing, automation, data analytics, and security. He has been instrumental in landing, onboarding, and managing one of the firm’s largest clients and is regularly involved in firm innovation and best practice implementation. Ryan is an active member of the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) and PTAB Bar Association.
“It is an honor to be a part of the leadership of such an amazing firm with such a bright future. I could tell right away when I first joined Harrity that this firm was going to be very different from other firms because how amazing the support staff is and the level of training that was provided. Everyone here really cares about the success of others and the firm as a whole. I am really grateful to be given the opportunity to pay it forward and to help the firm continue to grow,” said Ryan of his new position.
Prior to joining Harrity & Harrity, Ryan practiced in-house at Panduit Corp. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. While in-house, Ryan gained extensive experience in patent portfolio management, product clearance, invention disclosure mining, infringement analysis, and post-grant proceedings before the Patent Trial & Appeal Board. Prior to his work in-house, Ryan worked at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett, & Dunner as well as Arent Fox while attending law school in the evenings.
Ryan received his Juris Doctor with honors from The George Washington University Law School (2016) and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Kettering University (2008). Prior to starting his legal career, Ryan was a project engineer for United Technologies in the UTC Aerospace Systems business unit, where he led teams of engineers in the development of commercial and military aircraft engines.
Ryan works remotely out of Flushing, MI, where he lives with his wife and three young daughters.
About Harrity & Harrity, LLP
Harrity & Harrity is a leading patent preparation and prosecution firm specializing in the electrical and mechanical technology areas, with a focus on giving back through its Harrity 4 Charity program and many diversity initiatives. Harrity is considered a Go-To Firm for the Patent 300™ and their clients trust in their high-quality work, experienced people, industry leading innovation, and outstanding service.
For more information on Harrity’s analytics, automation, and patent services, firm culture, and current openings, please visit harrityllp.com.
HARRITY PATENT ANALYTICS: A LOOK AT PATENT 300® COMPANIES’ OFFICE ACTIONS PER PATENT
By Rocky Berndsen, Head of Harrity Analytics
One of the stats I find most interesting in the patent field is the office action per patent statistic. There can be so many reasons why this statistic could vary so greatly from company to company. Here are a few of my ideas on the factors that go into it.
1. Filing strategy / Claim breadth – some filers will fight tooth and nail for every claim, whereas, other filers are just trying to get to allowance as quickly as possible.
2. Technology area – some technology areas may be more difficult to get patents in for a number of reasons (e.g., quality prior art, large numbers of filings, patentability issues).
3. Prosecution quality – the quality of prosecution quality varies from firm to firm, and even from attorney to attorney.
4. Foreign priority – apps with foreign priority tend to have fewer office actions per patent and typically will have fewer claims.
5. Budget/Cost consideration – prosecution strategy may be impacted by budget and therefore applications that reach higher numbers of office actions or RCEs may be abandoned.
6. Continuation strategy – continuation filings will tend to have fewer office actions than original priority filings.
Below, you can see the Patent 300® Companies with the highest and lowest office actions per patent.
I’d love to hear if you have any additional thoughts on the factors that go into these OA statistics.
The official 2022 ranking of the top 300 companies, organizations and universities can be found here. You can find more information regarding prosecution statistics in the interactive Patent 300® Dashboard here.
About Harrity Patent Analytics
Harrity Patent Analytics, an analytical team within the boutique IP law firm of Harrity & Harrity, LLP, uses cutting-edge capabilities to analyze patent data and extract insights for clients to use when making strategic decisions regarding patent portfolios. Patent 300® companies rely on Harrity Patent Analytics services to understand their patent portfolios, the patent portfolios of their competitors, and patent office trends around the world. For more information, visit harrityllp.com/services/patent-analytics/.
Law360 publishes report based on Harrity Analytic’s annual Patent 300® List.
Law360 (January 6, 2022, 7:42 PM EST) — IBM Corp. maintained its long-running status as the top patent owner in 2021 while Samsung clocked in close behind, but patent grants to companies that notched a spot on the list highlighting the top 300 patent owners released Thursday were largely down…
Rocky Berndsen, head of patent analytics at Harrity & Harrity, told Law360 in an interview that the drops in patent grants in 2021 can be partly attributed to budget considerations spurred by the pandemic.
“Anecdotally, what we can see from this year’s list is that some companies have been more strategic with what patent applications they continued to prosecute in light of those budget considerations,” Berndsen said. “Maybe last year, or the year before, they would’ve filed or prosecuted more applications. But they decided to drop some, and so we’re seeing the results of that in this year’s list.”
But there were some companies that landed on the list for the first time, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. at 275. Berndsen said that reflects growth happening in the fintech world.
“There’s a lot of technology development in fintech, and we’re seeing a lot of that with a company like JPMorgan Chase making the list for the first time this year,” he said.
Read the full Law360 report by Britain Eakin here.
About Harrity Patent Analytics
Harrity Patent Analytics, an analytical team within the boutique IP law firm of Harrity & Harrity, LLP, uses cutting-edge capabilities to analyze patent data and extract insights for clients to use when making strategic decisions regarding patent portfolios. Patent 300® companies rely on Harrity Patent Analytics services to understand their patent portfolios, the patent portfolios of their competitors, and patent office trends around the world. For more information, visit harrityllp.com/services/patent-analytics/.
Diversity Dialogue Host Elaine Spector is joined by Wardrobe Stylist and Confidence Curator Melanie Lippman for this special holiday-themed networking event aimed at improving confidence among women attorneys through simple adjustments to daily routines.
During this session, Melanie will teach you what to wear, how to wear it, where to find it, when to save and when to splurge. By editing your wardrobe and identifying the pieces that make the most impact on your look with minimal reinvestment, you can have less frustration and more confidence.
With video calls consuming more of our every-day life interactions, Melanie will focus on statement pieces that fit into curating your professional persona online, what to wear to that virtual holiday party, the perfect gift guide, and how to “own your box” on a group video meeting.
WATCH NOW!
To see more Diversity Dialogue episodes and Driving Diversity tips, click here.
Lawyers Have Heart brings together runners and walkers — of all ages, levels of experience — to raise funds for the American Heart Association (AHA) and increase awareness of heart attack and stroke prevention. In 2022, the Lawyers Have Heart 10K, 5K and Fun Walk will be back in-person in Washington, DC on June 11 to reinvigorate heart-healthy lifestyles by uniting the community around better health and well-being, a fun experience and opportunity to help save lives. This year will also offer a virtual option to run or walk wherever inspiration strikes.
Stepping up again are previous Co-Chairs Harrity & Harrity LLP’s Co-Founder John Harrity and American University Washington College of Law’s Associate Dean of Student Affairs, David Jaffe.
Lawyers Have Heart Co-Chair, John Harrity
“No matter where you choose to walk, participating and donating to Lawyers Have Heart will save lives and improve lives.” said Harrity. “As a survivor of a widow-maker heart attack, this race is truly personal to me. I am here today because of the science funded by the AHA. It’s my mission to share this event with as many people as possible. So many lives depend on it!”
For Jaffe, the event serves as a platform for mental health awareness and stress reduction in the legal profession. Research shows that chronic stressors like long work
Lawyers Have Heart Co-Chair, David Jaffe
hours, financial stress, and work-life conflict may be as risky for health as secondhand smoke. “Chronic stress does not have to be the norm, and according to the AHA, reducing stress and cultivating a positive mindset can improve health and well-being. Being a part of the Lawyers Have Heart campaign allows many to set personal goals to begin their positive health journey,” said Jaffe.
Courtesy of platform sponsor Harry & Harrity LLP, between December 1 – 31 sponsorships, donations, and registration fees will be matched for up to $50,000. “That’s doubling the impact your dollar has,” added Harrity.
Lawyers Have Heart began in 1991 as a running and walking event for the legal community and has evolved into a staple on DC’s running calendar attracting runners and walkers of all levels of experience and from all walks of life. This event annually attracts over 6,500 runners and walkers to participate in a 10K or 5K course through neighborhoods in DC. Due to the pandemic, the last two years have been fully virtual with participants running and walking in support of the AHA from around the world – United States, England, Croatia, Spain, South Africa, Japan, Turkey, Chile, and more. To date, Lawyers Have Heart has raised over $17 million to benefit the American Heart Association to further its mission of being a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives.
The 2019 Lawyers Have Heart Start Line
“We can’t wait to come together in person this year with the beloved race experience we’ve all missed,” said Jaffe. “We also are excited to continue to grow this race and field runners and walkers from around the world.”
Registration opens on December 1 with virtual and in-person options and prices to enter will increase in 2022. Sign up as a team or individual at www.LawyersHaveHeartDC.org. For sponsorship opportunities email ESLawyersHaveHeart@heart.org. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and use #RUNLHH.
About Harrity 4 Charity
Harrity 4 Charity represents a partnering of law firm Harrity & Harrity, LLP, with charities that are near and dear to our hearts. Harrity pledges to give five percent of profits to partner charities and all Harrity employees pledge to donate a portion of their paychecks. Harrity & Harrity is a patent preparation and prosecution firm specializing in the electrical and mechanical technology areas and is considered a Go-To Firm for the Patent 300 ™. Our clients have come to trust in our high-quality work, experienced people, industry leading innovation, and outstanding service. For more information, visit harrityllp.com.
We have a lot of matching dollars to give! Please consider making a donation to one of our #Harrity4Charity partners, & we will DOUBLE your impact! We are currently matching donations to Inova Children’s Hospital and No More Stolen Childhoods. On December 1st, we will begin matching donations to the American Heart Association, and on December 21st, we will match donations made to ZERO!
Harrity 4 Charity, the giving-back initiative of Harrity LLP, is leading the way in Giving Tuesday efforts and challenging others to join.
Harrity 4 Charity will match up to $200,000 of donations gifted between now and Dec. 31st to the American Heart Association ($50,000 match), INOVA Children’s Hospital ($75,000 match), No More Stolen Childhoods ($50,000 match) and ZERO—The End of Prostate Cancer ($25,000 match).
American Heart Association
Starting December 1st, Harrity 4 Charity is matching up to $50,000 of donations made to the American Heart Association, the largest non-profit organization dedicated to fighting heart disease, through the upcoming Lawyers Have Heart event. Click here to donate and to register for the 2021 LHH 5K, 10K and Fun Walk, virtually or in-person. You can also make a donation by simply texting ‘RUNLHH’ to 41444.
No More Stolen Childhoods
In an effort to put an end to childhood sexual abuse and help survivors with recovery, we are matching $50,000 of donations made to NMSC by December 31st. Please click here to contribute.
INOVA Children’s Hospital
Harrity 4 Charity will double $75,000 of donations made to INOVA from now until 11/30. All donations will go directly towards purchasing toys and books, and providing support for children undergoing treatment and surgery at INOVA Children’s Hospital during the holidays for Poppy’s Toy Drive — an initiative started by eight-year old cancer survivor, Poppy, who spent 160 days at Inova in 2018. Click here to donate to Poppy’s Toy Express.
ZERO: The End of Prostate Cancer
On December 21, Harrity is matching $25,000 of donations made to ZERO- The End of Prostate Cancer! You can join the fight against prostate cancer and support prostate cancer education, testing, patient support, research and advocacy by donating here.
About Harrity 4 Charity
Harrity 4 Charity represents a partnering of law firm Harrity & Harrity, LLP, with charities that are near and dear to our hearts. Harrity pledges to give five percent of profits to partner charities and all Harrity employees pledge to donate a portion of their paychecks. Harrity & Harrity is a patent preparation and prosecution firm specializing in the electrical and mechanical technology areas and is considered a Go-To Firm for the Patent 300 ™. Our clients have come to trust in our high-quality work, experienced people, industry leading innovation, and outstanding service. For more information, visit harrityllp.com.
We are humbled to announce that we have been ranked #1 on the Corporate Philanthropy – Small Companies by Giving in Greater D.C. by the Washington Business Journal! With $448,165 donated in 2020, we are proud of Team Harrity for their commitment to giving back!
If you’d like to see the full list, visit The Washington Business Journal.
Harrity is focused on providing high-quality work to our clients in a timely & efficient manner, a lot of which comes down to our people.
Legal Management, the magazine of Association of Legal Administrators (ALA), recently featured interviews with Neil Kardos, John Remsen, Jr., and other law experts on the implementation of technology in the legal practice as a way to improve efficiency, deliver better service, and increase profitability – and the associated obstacles with making technology part of your strategic planning.
“Having an adaptable workforce is usually the bigger challenge over finding the right tools,” Kardos says.
Check out all of their advice in the full article by Mark Brewer at http://ow.ly/ZyLT50Gu3N9.
Harrity & Harrity, LLP, a leading patent preparation and prosecution firm in the electrical and mechanical space, is excited to announce the addition of four experienced patent professionals. Over the last six months, Harrity has welcomed Jim Nuxoll, Thomas Hartin, Christopher Wen, and Christopher Dawson to the firm. With over five decades of combined experience across a variety of complex technologies, including semiconductors and 5G networks, each hire is a valuable addition to the team. “At Harrity, we handpick every single individual to join our firm. To say that we are excited to have these four superstars on our team is an understatement,” Managing Partner Paul Harrity says of the firm’s recent growth.
Learn more about the new Harrity team members below.
Jim Nuxoll | Working remotely from Idaho (Joined June 7, 2021)
Jim Nuxoll is a registered patent agent has over twenty-five years of experience in the semiconductor industry, including having served on Micron Technology’s patent committee. He is a listed inventor on nine U.S. patents and has extensive experience in drafting and preparing patent applications covering various aspects in the field of semiconductors, as well as prosecuting patent applications in the U.S. as well as non-U.S. jurisdictions.
Learn more about Jim Nuxoll here.
Thomas Hartin | Working remotely from New York (Joined August 9, 2021)
Thomas Hartin is a registered patent attorney and a member of the firm’s patent prosecution team with a focus 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. Thomas has 7 years of experience in the patent field, with experience in patent litigation, as well as preparing and prosecuting hundreds of patent applications related to telecommunications, computer software, consumer cable products and technologies, networking devices, data privacy, and the Internet of Things.
Learn more about Thomas Hartin here.
Christopher Wen | Working remotely from Michigan (Joined September 27, 2021)
Chris Wen is a registered patent attorney with nearly a decade of experience whose practice includes assisting clients obtain patent rights in the U.S. and abroad. His experience covers a variety of technologies, including various types of mechanical and electro-mechanical devices, among others. Prior to joining Harrity & Harrity, Chris was a partner at an intellectual property boutique firm in the metro-Detroit area where he worked on a wide array of patent and other intellectual property matters.
Learn more about Chris Wen here.
Christopher Dawson | Working remotely from Kansas (Joined October 11, 2021)
Chris Dawson is a registered patent attorney with over a decade of experience in patent preparation and prosecution, intellectual property litigation, and technology transactions. He has extensive experience drafting patent applications directed to computer software, telecommunications, power generation and alternative energy, aerospace, LED and lighting, consumer electronics, and many other technologies.
Prior to joining Harrity & Harrity, Chris was a partner in a Midwest-based intellectual property boutique firm, where he represented clients through all phases of intellectual property procurement and enforcement.
Learn more about Chris Dawson here.
Ask A Mentor: How Do I Negotiate Long-Term Flex Work?
By Elaine Spector (September 16, 2021)
Experts answer questions on career and workplace conundrums in this Law360 Pulse guest column series. Have a question you’re afraid to ask your law firm chair, practice area leader or mentor? Submit it anonymously here.
In this installment, Harrity & Harrity LLP’s Elaine Spector offers advice on how attorneys can negotiate a flexible work arrangement that preserves their opportunity to advance professionally at a firm and safeguards their partnership prospects.
Q: As a parent who has enjoyed better work-life balance when working from home, how can I negotiate a flexible work arrangement with my law firm, and ensure the arrangement doesn’t hinder my career advancement, as we plan returning to the office? —Associate at midsize firm
Women have been advocating for change with regard to work-life flexibility for years. Prior to the pandemic, many law firms were reluctant to allow remote work. Often, law firms equate lawyers who want to work remotely with a lack of commitment. As such, if a law firm actually agreed to a remote work arrangement, the lawyer working remotely would often be taken off the partnership track. And then the pandemic hit. Employers, including law firms, were forced to allow their lawyers to work from home. And what did they discover? That lawyers, as professionals, were able to be just as efficient and effective at home. In fact, many firms discovered that billable hours actually increased, as the pandemic eliminated commuting time and other commitments. However, many law firms are still reluctant to embrace the flexibility that would allow working parents, especially women, to thrive both at home and in the office. As offices begin opening back up, here are five tips for negotiating a flexible work arrangement that does not hinder your career advancement.
1. Determine your firm’s revised COVID-19 remote work policy. Before you begin your negotiations, determine your firm’s current remote work policy. Some law firms have taken the initiative to revise these policies prior to opening offices back up. It could be that your law firm has a modified policy that allows for remote work due to health and safety reasons born out of the pandemic, particularly one that does not take you off the partnership track, that you are unaware of. If your firm has not revised its policy or does not formally allow a remote work option, that fact alone doesn’t mean you can’t negotiate one. I was able to negotiate a remote work schedule when my children were very young. It happened during a job transition. A partner that I worked for in the past wanted me to join his new firm. At our first discussion, I asked him if they allowed for a remote work schedule. I was living in Baltimore, and knew that commuting to the District of Columbia five days a week was a deal breaker for me. He said he didn’t know, but that he would find out. The next day he got back to me and indicated that they could accommodate a remote work schedule for my situation. However, if I had not asked, I would not have been offered the option to work from home. So, don’t be afraid to ask about a remote work schedule when it is not clearly offered. You won’t know what options you can negotiate if you do not try.
2. Do exceptional work — become indispensable. It might go without saying that doing exceptional work provides you with a negotiation advantage. Your negotiating power increases dramatically when you do exceptional work and become indispensable to your firm. Not only should your legal work be exceptional, but it is also important to spend time thinking about how you can be a contributor at your firm. Look for high-value, low-commitment opportunities to get involved. This might mean taking on a mentoring role, joining firm committees, planning firm activities, representing your firm in the legal community, participating in external events and more. Designating just 30 minutes per week, whenever possible, to contribute to your firm’s initiatives allows you to maintain work-life balance while making yourself more valuable. Firms are more willing to negotiate with lawyers that they want to keep.
3. Be clear with your intentions. It is imperative to make clear your intentions to stay on the partnership track despite wanting flexibility to work from home after offices reopen. Although I was able to negotiate a remote work schedule, I was not clear with my intention to stay on the partnership track at my previous firm. This led to challenges in my ability to climb the ladder, like many women on flexible schedules face. When I interviewed for my current firm, I explicitly asked how working a remote and reduced-hour schedule would affect my ability to become partner. This outlined my intentions for the interviewer and compelled them to provide a clear answer about whether I would be treated differently based on my flexible status, rather than on my skills. Fortunately, I was told that it would not affect my partnership track whatsoever — a response that held up when I made partner just two years later. Do make it clear in your negotiation that working remotely does not equal a lack of commitment or a desire to abandon the partnership track, or whichever other career goals you are working toward.
4. Stay connected virtually. Relationship-building is the core of culture, inclusion and, ultimately, success at your firm. It is critical to continue to build relationships in the remote work environment. If you plan to work remotely either a few days a week or full time, I recommend having weekly virtual video meetings with the members at your firm you would typically interact with in an office setting. This type of face-to-face interaction is so much more engaging than a telephone call, as we have all experienced during the pandemic, and can allow for better communication through gesture and expression. When holding the video call, put an emphasis on personal connection. You can talk about your life to whatever extent you feel comfortable sharing, whether it be your weekend, your family or a new TV show, just as you would in the office. This watercooler talk, untied to any pressing work matters, will transform your internal relationships.
5. Find a firm that supports your family values and career goals. I began working remotely a few years before the pandemic hit. My firm allows for any lawyer at the firm, regardless of the numbers of hours they work or whether they show the requisite face time in the office, to make partner. And I did — remotely. Many of my female colleagues at other firms have reached out to me to ask: How can we keep the remote work going? How do we continue to develop relationships and culture within our firm? And how can someone make partner while working remotely? It is wonderful to be at a firm that unequivocally supports remote, flexible work. If your firm does not support a remote work schedule and is unwilling to compromise after you have a candid conversation, it may be time to consider switching employers. Regardless of your stature at your current firm, if they do not respect your need for flexibility, it will be hard to be fulfilled.
Be open about finding a law firm that supports you where you are and what you need to be happy. After all, happy workers are more productive workers. As a mom who just dropped off her first child at college, I know that the time you have with your children is limited. Don’t ever sacrifice that time for a rigid policy of your employer. So many law firms are embracing this new way of working. Why be stuck at firm that is living in the dark ages?
Conclusion It is far past time to shift perspectives from the old, rigid mindset of the traditional firm, to one that embraces a more diverse and flexible workforce — one where we, as parents, don’t have to give up the important job of raising our children, while also providing top-quality service to our clients. Lawyers should not be excluded from partnership because they work remotely or are on flexible schedules. An attorney can contribute just as much to the success and advancement of the firm, its culture and its future without physically being in the office. In fact, the benefits of working a flexible schedule may contribute to more growth and innovation in the firm. Flexibility is essential for advancing talented women and other lawyers seeking balance in their life and careers. Good luck with your negotiations!
Read more at Law360.com.
Harrity & Harrity is pleased to announce that Head of Patent Analytics, Rocky Berndsen, was selected by IAM as a World Leading IP Strategist. This award identifies the individuals who are leading the way in the development and implementation of strategies that maximize the value of IP portfolios.
Rocky Berndsen is the head of the patent analytics group at Harrity & Harrity. The group’s practice specializes in providing corporate clients with data analytics that focus on gaining insight and intelligence relating to their patent portfolio, their competitors, their outside counsel, and the patent field in general.
Congratulations are in order for the IPO Diversity & Inclusion Committee for being awarded the 2021 Outstanding Committee of the Year Award!
Harrity Partner and Committee Vice Chair, Elaine Spector, says: “It is such a pleasure to work with such a committed group in furthering diversity of the legal profession, which is in dire need of improvement. I am excited to see how this committee can make a direct impact on diversity of the IP profession, as well as the legal profession.”
From IPO:
“In recognition of exceptional service, IPO will present its 2021 Outstanding Committee of the Year Award to the Diversity & Inclusion Committee during the 2021 IPO LIVE + Virtual Annual Meeting. The Diversity & Inclusion Committee is chaired by SHRUTI COSTALES (Dell Technologies). Its co-vice chairs are CARYLN BURTON (Osha Bergman Watanabe & Burton LLP), SERENA I. FARQUHARSON-TORRES (Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.), and ELAINE SPECTOR (Harrity & Harrity, LLP). The secretary is CLAUDIA W. STANGLE (Leydig, Voit & Mayer, Ltd.) and Board Liaison is DARRYL FRICKEY (Dow Chemical Co.).
The committee has gone above and beyond this year by preparing the Practical Guide on Diversity & Inclusion in the Legal Profession and several webinars supporting it, as well as creating a new D&I resource group for IP Professionals with Disabilities and Advocates. The committee continues to be forward-thinking in creating content and materials for those inside and outside the IPO membership. Congratulations to the committee and all its members!”
EPISODE THIRTY ONE | BLACK WOMEN IN LAW
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
Harrity & Harrity, LLP, a leading patent preparation and prosecution firm based in Fairfax, Va., is excited to announce the launch of a new video blog series, The Precise Prosecutor.
The Precise Prosecutor consists of quick, practical tips and best practices for efficiently prosecuting high-quality patent applications. Brought to you by Harrity Counsel and IP matters expert George Howarah, the vlog is released each Friday across Harrity’s social media channels and its webpage, harrityllp.com/the-precise-prosecutor.
Howarah, a patent attorney for nearly a decade, leverages his wide variety of experience, use of automation tools, and best practices knowledge to strategize and prosecute litigation-ready patent applications in sophisticated technologies. His diverse background provides for interesting insights and well-thought-out guidance shared exclusively in his Precise Prosecutor videos.
After graduating from law school, Howarah spent three years as a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, examining hundreds of patent applications, learning how examiners operate, and facing a wide range of practices from outside counsel. Since then, he has spent almost a decade in private practice working with a wide range of clients on various technologies, including telecommunications, computer architecture, virtualization, integrated circuits, software as a service, semiconductors, medical devices, and sophisticated computer applications.
In doing so, Howarah has prepared and prosecuted a substantial volume of patent applications, including managing a global patent portfolio of 500+ patent assets for one of the world’s most innovative organizations.
“I have been involved in all facets of the patent process, including patent preparation, examination, prosecution, and litigation,” Howarah says of his experience. “I have prepared and prosecuted hundreds of patents applications, including managing a global patent portfolio for a subsidiary of a Fortune 50 company, and preparing and prosecuting standard-essential patents for a leading telecommunications company. I have opined on the enforcement and validity of patents and been deeply involved in several complex post-grant proceedings at the U.S. Patent Office and the Federal Circuit. Accordingly, I have become aware of the issues that patent prosecutors and litigators encounter.”
Howarah is now looking forward to turning those experiences into actionable advice for followers of his vlog.
“I look forward to sharing the patent prosecution experience that I acquired from examining patent applications at the U.S. Patent Office and from patent procurement and litigation in private practice through The Precise Prosecutor. I hope to provide patent prosecutors with valuable tips on prosecuting patent applications precisely and efficiently while upholding the integrity of each invention and enhancing the quality of this unique practice of law.”
The Precise Prosecutor is the third vlog series to be released by Harrity, joining Neil Kardos’s Practical Patents, which focuses on best practices for drafting high-quality patent applications, and Driving Diversity, a short video series hosted by Elaine Spector on increasing diversity of the patent bar.
You can find each vlog series below:
The Precise Prosecutor: https://harrityllp.com/the-precise-prosecutor/
Practical Patents: https://harrityllp.com/practical-patents/
Driving Diversity: https://harrityllp.com/thediversitychannel/
EPISODE THIRTY | WOMEN’S EQUALITY DAY
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
EPISODE TWENTY NINE | WORK/LIFE BALANCE FOR PARENTS
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
The “secret sauce” for creating an exceptional firm culture? Hiring the right people who align with the culture that you want to create.
At the Managing Partner Forum Webinar, “Building a Truly Exceptional Law Firm Culture”, Harrity Co-Founding Partner John Harrity and Jimerson Birr Managing Partner Charles Jimerson shared how they built a firm culture that attracts and retains both clients and legal superstars.
Special thanks to John Remsen, Jr. and Uri Gutfreund from Managing Partner Forum for hosting this incredibly insightful webinar!
EPISODE TWENTY EIGHT | BLACK WOMAN’S EQUAL PAY DAY
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
EPISODE TWENTY SEVEN| LAWYERS WITH DISABILITIES
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
Harrity & Harrity is pleased to announce that Paul Harrity & Elaine Spector were recently selected by Managing Intellectual Property, the leading specialist guide to IP law firms and practitioners worldwide, as a 2021 Patent Star.
This is Paul’s 4th consecutive year on the list and Elaine’s inaugural year. The annual “IP Stars” list recognizes leading lawyers and law firms for intellectual property work in more than 125 jurisdictions.
Paul is Harrity’s Managing Partner. He focuses on preparing and prosecuting patent applications. He began his career in 1991 as a patent agent at the United States Patent and Trade Office. Since leaving the USPTO, Paul has prepared hundreds of patent applications and thousands of Patent Office responses.
Elaine is a Partner at Harrity and has over 20 years of experience in intellectual property law. Her current practice consists primarily of prosecuting patent applications with a focus on electromechanical technologies. Prior to joining Harrity & Harrity, Elaine worked in private practice for over 15 years handling various intellectual property matters, including patent application drafting and prosecution, trademark prosecution and enforcement, as well as litigating complex patent cases in federal courts. Elaine’s extensive litigation experience provides her with a unique perspective in prosecuting patent applications.
Harrity Partner Eli Mazour is featured in Law360’s recent analysis regarding retiring Federal Circuit Judge Kathleen O’Malley as an IP expert..
Law360 (July 28, 2021, 9:43 PM EDT) — Retiring Federal Circuit Judge Kathleen O’Malley is the only member of the court who has served as a district judge, a background that attorneys say provided a necessary perspective that informed her incisive decisions and that they hope to see in her eventual replacement…
“Judge O’Malley’s departure will likely be cause for concern among patent owners, said Eli Mazour of Harrity & Harrity LLP, because she was viewed as more pro-patent than other Federal Circuit judges, particularly on the issue of patent eligibility.”
Read more on what Eli and the other experts have to say at Law360.com.
EPISODE TWENTY SIX| ARE WINEB LAWYERS PAYING ENOUGH ATTENTION TO UPWARD MOBILITY
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
EPISODE TWENTY-FIVE | THE MANSFIELD RULE
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
Harrity’s Elaine Spector helped prepare comments, on behalf of IPO, submitted to the Supreme Court of Florida in response an order issued on April 15 regarding a recently adopted policy regulating the composition of faculty at section-sponsored continuing legal education (CLE) programs. The Court noted that “quotas based on characteristics like the ones in this policy are antithetical to basic American principles of nondiscrimination.”
Elaine also covered this topic in Episode 19 and Episode 21 of Driving Diversity, a weekly vlog series covering important issues related to improving diversity in the legal field.
IPO’s comments, which were prepared with assistance by several additional members of IPO’s Diversity & Inclusion and Women in IP Committees, noted four main issues: 1) A rule requiring a minimum number of diverse panelists advances diversity and the quality of programming with no evidence of harm; 2) the Court fails to offer any guidance on permitted diversity policies moving forward; 3) the order could have a chilling effect on addressing current structural and ongoing inequity; and 4) sua sponte revision of the rule, without notice, will cause harm to Florida attorneys and diversity of the Florida Bar
Read the full response below.
In-The-Supreme-Court-of-Florida-Comments
Harrity’s LaTia Brand & Elaine Spector’s research regarding the the gender gap and lack of diversity in the field of patent law, specifically as it pertains to women in the space, was quoted in a recent IP Watchdog Article, On Tiffany Cunningham’s Appointment to the CAFC: An Impeccable Candidate and a Rallying Call for More Diversity in IP.
Cunningham is the first African-American, and therefore first African-American woman, to join the Federal Circuit bench. “Although a cause for celebration, this momentous occasion should not be wasted in self-congratulation but rather should provide momentum for further public and private efforts to increase diversity at the most senior echelons of the IP bar. Without a ready supply of diverse and qualified candidates, we remain in danger of this important ‘first’ becoming a ‘last.'”
Read the full article on IPWatchdog.com.
EPISODE TWENTY THREE | MARYLAND LEGAL EDUCATION SUCCESS COLLABORATIVE
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
Eli Mazour‘s Clause 8 Podcast, The Voice of IP, has returned for Season 2, featuring all new exclusive interviews with the intellectual property community’s biggest names.
The first episode of this season of Clause 8 featured the most recent USPTO Director – Andrei Iancu – discussing his efforts to strengthen America’s patent system over the last three years. One of the most publicly vocal opponents of those efforts was Josh Landau, patent counsel at the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA). Now that those views are in ascendancy in the Biden administration and Congress, it made sense to finish this season by talking to Josh.
This is an incredibly insightful episode exploring first hand how the patent process helps innovative individuals and small companies bring their ideas to fruition. Listen here!
On today’s podcast:
You can subscribe and listen to the full episode on your favorite podcasting app and learn more at voiceofIP.com. All Season 2 episodes are available now!
EPISODE TWENTY TWO | PRIDE MONTH
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
Eli Mazour‘s Clause 8 Podcast, The Voice of IP, has returned for Season 2, featuring all new exclusive interviews with the intellectual property community’s biggest names.
Don’t miss this latest episode of Clause 8 with President and Chief Legal Officer of IntuitiveX, Mark Han, about the new business model IntuitiveX created to help innovators in the medical field.
Mark cut his teeth working for the largest and most notorious “patent troll” Intellectual Ventures (IV). During the episode, Mark talks about what he learned from that experience and why he’s now excited to be in the business of bringing new products to market and building new companies at IntuitiveX.
This is an incredibly insightful episode exploring first hand how the patent process helps innovative individuals and small companies bring their ideas to fruition. Listen here!
On today’s podcast:
You can subscribe and listen to the full episode on your favorite podcasting app and learn more at voiceofIP.com. New episodes drop every Tuesday!
To see more tips for achieving patent quality, visit our Practical Patents page.
Welcome to another episode of Tech Transfer IP. Today I am pleased to speak with Elaine Spector. Elaine is a patent attorney with Harrity & Harrity with over twenty year’s experience in intellectual property law. Elaine’s current practice consists primarily of prosecuting patent applications with a focus on electromechanical technologies.
Before joining Harrity & Harrity, Elaine worked in private practice for over fifteen years handling various intellectual property matters, including patent application drafting and prosecution, trademark prosecution and enforcement and litigating complex patent cases in federal courts. Her extensive litigation experience provides her with a unique perspective in prosecuting patent applications.
Listen as Elaine shares some key differences between working in a University Tech Transfer office and working in a law firm. She also talks about the Rooney Rule and how Hannity has improved it by making it Rooney Rule 2.0, and how the Rooney Rule is different from the Mansfield Rule.
Elaine discusses her company’s rigorous hiring process to remove bias, the factors that contribute to the problem of having a small amount of diverse individuals in the legal profession, and the programs her office has launched to help bring more women into her firm, like the Annual Women’s Patent Law Workshop and the Minority Firm Incubator Program to name a few.
Elaine shares some suggestions for small firms that might struggle to develop diversity and inclusion procedures, standards, and programs. She says that reaching out is one action step patent professionals can take to improve diversity for the Patent Bar.
In This Episode:
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
Harrity & Harrity Launches Black-Owned Firm Through Minority Incubator Program
Florida-Based Onyx IP Group is the first Minority Owned Firm Specializing in IP Law to Come Out of Diversity-Focused Program
Fairfax, Va. — June 21, 2021 — For Immediate Release: Harrity 4 Charity (H4C), the giving-back initiative of Harrity & Harrity, LLP, one of the country’s preeminent patent law firms, is thrilled to announce the launch of the Onyx IP Group (OIPG), the first minority-owned firm to come out of the Harrity Minority Firm Incubator (MFI), a program initiated in 2019 to address the fact that the practice of law remains one of the least diverse professions in the U.S.
Based in Orlando, Florida, OIPG is a 100% Black-owned, Intellectual Property (IP) law firm launched by the MFI’s first graduate, James Bennin. Bennin has approximately 15 years of experience in the IP field, with an extensive background in counseling clients on various IP matters in the U.S. and other jurisdictions. Prior to joining Harrity’s MFI program, Bennin was an associate general counsel handling transactional matters (including IP matters) for the University of Central Florida, one of the largest universities in the country and formerly served as IP counsel at Caterpillar, a large multi-national company, where he counseled multiple business units on matters related to IP.
Raised by a single mother in a low-income household, Bennin was the first college graduate in his immediate family. With African-Americans making up just 1.94% of all equity partners in the U.S., Bennin’s launch of OIPG is making strides for a severely underrepresented group in the field of law.
“I understand the obstacles someone with my background needs to overcome to be successful in this profession and the importance of improving diversity in the legal field,” Bennin said. “I want to use this program/platform as a means to give back and to help provide a blueprint or guide to success for members of underrepresented groups, so they can see that success in any professional field, more particularly in the legal field, is a realistic possibility in their future.“
Serving as Of Counsel for OIPG are Keri Sicard, who has more than 20 years of experience in the field of IP law and is experienced in a wide variety of technologies from the simple to the highly complex; and Michael Antone, who has over 20 years of experience in large law firm, corporate, and venture capital environments in the area of IP and business operations counseling.
Added Bennin, “I am tremendously excited about the opportunity to launch the Onyx IP Group and am well prepared to provide exceptional work to clients while also furthering my goal of making a positive impact – particularly for those, like myself, in minority groups.”
The Stats … According to the 2019 Vault/MCCA Law Firm Diversity Survey on overall law firm demographics, 82% of all lawyers and 89% of all partners are Caucasian. Just 2% of all partners are African-American, under 3% are Hispanic and under 4% are Asian. None of the statistics regarding specific minority percentages have changed over the past decade, despite the fact that those populations in the U.S. have increased during the same timeframe.
About the Minority Firm Incubator … Harrity—which has launched a variety of service-driven initiatives under its H4C philanthropic arm—is hoping to help be the change for diversity in the legal field with the MFI program, which supports the recruitment, retention and advancement of attorneys who will contribute to the diversity of the legal field by launching minority-owned patent firms. A year-long, multi-phase program, Harrity’s MFI program works to train minority attorneys in patent law and help them overcome the barriers to launching their own patent law firms. The program encourages minorities to become leaders in the field for both quality and diversity and sets them up for success.
Commented Elaine Spector, a partner at Harrity, who co-chairs the firm’s diversity committee. “Having a diverse workforce leads to a more integrated practice. Women and diverse inventors want to consult capable attorneys who look like them and who understand them and the context of the goals they are working to achieve.”
Adds partner John Harrity, who co-chairs the diversity committee with Spector, “Diversity generates quality legal innovation. The benefits of differential skillsets, outlooks, approaches and ways of processing make a team stronger, bringing varied and valuable insights to cultures, systems and policies, which is what is required to be change leaders.”
More H4C News on ‘Driving Diversty’ … Visit us online to learn more about Harrity’s multi-faceted diversity initiatives, which, in addition to MFI, also include The Diversity Channel, The Harrity Academy and Harrity for Parity: A Women’s Patent Workshop. Visit the firm’s weekly vlog, Driving Diversity, which addresses such issues as hiring practices; how intersectionality relates to underrepresented groups falling into more than one community; implementing the Rooney Rule 2.0; how a firm’s culture affects diversity; flexibility; patents pathways for women of color; mentoring/tutoring programs; and more.
Harrity’s diversity initiatives: https://harrityllp.com/diversity
Driving Diversity vlog: https://harrityllp.com/thediversitychannel
About Onyx IP Group:
With combined experience (private practice and in-house) in the electrical, software and mechanical technology areas, the Onyx IP Group provides legal counseling for patent drafting, patent prosecution, trademark, and transactional matters. Visit us online at https://onyxipgroup.com
About Harrity & Harrity, LLP:
Harrity & Harrity, headquartered in Fairfax, Va., is a leading patent preparation and prosecution firm specializing in the electrical and mechanical technology areas. The firm has obtained more than 8,000 patents since its founding in 1999. Our clients trust in our high-quality work, experienced people, industry-leading innovation, and outstanding service. Harrity actively promotes diversity and inclusion at the firm and throughout the legal industry, with an additional focus on giving back to the community through Harrity 4 Charity. Visit us online at https://harrityllp.com
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Eli Mazour‘s Clause 8 Podcast, The Voice of IP, has returned for Season 2, featuring all new exclusive interviews with the intellectual property community’s biggest names.
Chris Agrawal is President of the Association of Intellectual Property Firms. He’s also the reason Eli got into patent law in the first place. If you’re a startup founder worrying you’re already behind on building a portfolio of patents, or you’re wondering how to scale your patent program, listen here!
You can subscribe and listen to the full episode on your favorite podcasting app and learn more at voiceofIP.com. New episodes drop every Tuesday!
EPISODE TWENTY ONE | FLORIDA CLE REGULATIONS CONTINUED
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
Eli Mazour leads Harrity’s patent prosecution team, developing and implementing best practices for managing workflow and creating innovative, data-driven patent prosecution strategies which allow him to reach favorable results at the USPTO. Eli has been using Patentprufer, the world’s first community-based examiner analytics tool, since its inception to help him reach agreements with USPTO patent examiners for our clients most important applications.
In “Perfecting Your Prosecution Strategy with Patentprufer”, Eli demonstrates some of the most valuable features of this tool and shows how to efficiently use examiner analytics in your patent prosecution strategy.
You can watch the full webinar below.
Register for Patentprufer, the world’s first community-based USPTO examiner decision-making tool, for free through the end of the year. Visit patentprufer.com to get started!
EPISODE TWENTY | THE IDEA ACT
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
Questions covered in this discussion include:
You can watch the full session below.
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Diversity Dialogue webinars, check out The Diversity Channel.
You can watch the recording, which shares various perspectives and stories to help and empower law firms to move the needle towards increasing Diversity and Inclusion in a significant way, below.
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
Watch the incredibly candid interview below:
To learn more about Harrity’s charity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/harrity4charity.
EPISODE NINETEEN | ARE CLE PROGRAMS DISCRIMINATORY?
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
Eli Mazour‘s Clause 8 Podcast, The Voice of IP, has returned for Season 2, featuring all new exclusive interviews with the intellectual property community’s biggest names.
If you’ve ever wondered how and why Judge Alan D Albright of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas became America’s go-to judge for patent cases, you don’t want to miss this episode of Clause 8.
Judge Albright is as transparent in this episode as he is in the courtroom. So if you’re wondering how to make your case more efficient, how you can clerk for him, or why it’s easier to predict where to be struck by lightning than how to become a district court judge, don’t miss him on this week’s Clause 8.
On this podcast:
You can subscribe and listen to the full episode on your favorite podcasting app and learn more at voiceofIP.com. New episodes will drop every Tuesday!
EPISODE EIGHTEEN | SIMPLE STRATEGIES FOR ENGAGING DIVERSE INVENTORS
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
FAIRFAX, Va. – A lawyer in Fairfax had a sudden heart attack and was saved by a friend’s knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Next week is National CPR and Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) Awareness Week, and now he’s challenging folks to join a fundraiser to support research for these life-saving procedures.
In 2016, John Harrity was a healthy, 49-year-old athlete who followed a strict diet and had no family history of heart disease. Playing in a weekly basketball game, he felt like he couldn’t breathe and suddenly fainted. Harrity had what he described as one of the worst types of cardiac arrest – a so-called “widow-maker.”
“Luckily, that night my friend called 911 immediately, and within seconds of me hitting the ground, they were performing CPR – and that saved my life,” he said. “I mean, it is the reason that I am here today.”
Harrity encouraged people to watch the American Heart Association’s Hands-Only CPR video to learn how to help in a heart-attack emergency. Another way is to participate in the upcoming Washington, D.C., “Lawyers Have Heart” 10-K race. The free event is open to everyone and will be held online the weekend of June 11. More information is online at lawyershaveheartdc.org.
Federal data show heart disease remains the number one killer in the nation and the second-leading cause of death in Virginia. Harrity pointed to his own experience as evidence the chances of survival are double or triple if CPR is performed immediately after cardiac arrest. He noted the urgency behind learning the life-saving technique.
“Seventy percent of out-of-the-hospital cardiac arrests happen in the home,” he said, “and only about 46% of people who experience an out-of-the-hospital cardiac arrest receive that immediate help that’s needed, including that CPR.”
More than 350,000 Americans have a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital setting each year, and about 90% of those are fatal, according to the American Heart Association.
Click HERE to listen to the newscast on Public News Service.
Join us for the 31st Annual Lawyers Have Heart free virtual event in support of the American Heart Association, the largest organization dedicated to educating the community on heart disease & CPR. Register here.
Eli Mazour‘s Clause 8 Podcast, The Voice of IP, has returned for Season 2, featuring all new exclusive interviews with the intellectual property community’s biggest names.
In today’s incredibly candid episode, Prof. Stephen Yelderman shares stories about his journey into patent law, why he chose to become a patent agent, meeting Justice Amy Coney Barrett, clerking at the Supreme Court, and the creative ways companies try to influence the Supreme Court. Listen here!
Prof. Yelderman insights are not to be missed by anyone who is interested in having a better understanding of how the Supreme Court approaches IP issues, how the patent system truly works, and how to succeed in the legal field.
“A piece of advice I have is when an opportunity comes, say yes to it because you oftentimes don’t have good visibility to all the doors that will open down the road.”
On the episode:
You can subscribe and listen to the full episode on your favorite podcasting app and learn more at voiceofIP.com. New episodes will drop every Tuesday!
EPISODE SEVENTEEN | GENDER DIVERSITY
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
Harrity & Harrity has been named the #2 Best Place to Work by Washington Business Journal and Quantum Workplace for organizations with 50-249 employees. The rankings are based off of results of surveys given to employees at hundreds of companies headquartered in the Greater Washington Region.
Congratulations to all of those at the firm who make this a wonderful place to be!
Click HERE to learn more.
Eli Mazour‘s Clause 8 Podcast, The Voice of IP, has returned for Season 2, featuring all new exclusive interviews with the intellectual property community’s biggest names.
If you’re keen to follow in Andrei Iancu’s footsteps, to be a future director of the USPTO, or to find out how to communicate with the new director, check out this latest episode of the Clause 8 podcast.
On the episode:
You can subscribe and listen to the full episode on your favorite podcasting app and learn more at voiceofIP.com. New episodes will drop every Tuesday!
Image Rights: Alexandria, VA – January 5, 2018: Portrait of Andrei Iancu, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). (Photo by Jay Premack/USPTO)
EPISODE SIXTEEN | BLACK INVENTORS
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
Harrity & Harrity has been named in the Top 10 for Patent Bots Quality Scores for the second consecutive year. Harrity received top scores in the following categories:
#2 of Firms with 500+ Patents Issued (96.2)
#1 Tech Center 2100 (100.0)
#1 Tech Center 2400 (99.5)
#1 Tech Center 3600 (99.5)
#3 Tech Center 2600 (99.6)
#6 Overall (96.2)
Click HERE to learn more.
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
Women have been advocating for change with regard to work/life flexibility for years. For decades, choices for women starting a family while working in a law firm setting have been limited: either return to work full-time to stay on the partnership track or return to work part-time and be put on the dreaded “mommy track.” Women in partner roles would often return to work within days of giving birth. That is just how things have always been, the model many women had no choice but to follow. So, it is no surprise that many women, myself included, defaulted to the “mommy track,” or worse yet, left the practice of law entirely.
In addition to a lack of flexibility regarding part-time work, law firms have been reluctant to allow flexibility with regard to remote work. Often, law firms equate lawyers who want to work remotely with a lack of commitment. As such, if a law firm actually agreed to a remote work arrangement, the lawyer working remotely would be taken off the partnership track.
While the pandemic has been a struggle across the world, a lot of women are quietly cheering from their homes. Finally, our employers are forced to allow us to work remotely, and now they see that we can work well at home. In fact, for some of us, working at home is where we shine. We are happy, less stressed, and feel some sense of control and balance. At least, that is the way I feel.
I began working remotely a few years before the pandemic hit. My firm allows for any lawyer at the firm, regardless of the numbers of hours they work or whether they show the requisite face time in the office, to make partner. And I did. Remotely. Working part-time hours. Many of my female colleagues at other firms have reached out to me to ask, “How can we keep the remote work going?” “How do we continue to develop relationships and culture within our firm?” and “Can someone make partner while working remotely?”
As offices begin opening back up, I encourage law firms to look at this time as an opportunity to re-evaluate their outdated policies regarding remote work. Despite the physical separation, you can build a firm culture focused on nurturing relationships. Relationship building is the core of culture, inclusion, and ultimately, success at your firm. Here are five tips to improve your firm culture while working remotely.
It is critical to continue to build relationships in the remote work environment. How do we replicate water cooler conversations? One way is to require leadership to meet weekly or biweekly with both lawyers and support staff via a video call. This type of face-to-face interaction is so much more engaging than a telephone call, as we have all experienced over the past year. When holding the call, talk about your life to whatever extent you feel comfortable sharing, just as you would at the water cooler. Set up a rotation within the firm, so that leadership is meeting with different individuals throughout the year and be sure to mix it up from those who typically work closely together. This personal connection, untied to any pressing work matters, will transform your internal relationships.
Get in the habit of holding monthly firm meetings, which include both lawyers and support staff. The firm meeting is a great place to talk about your shared vision, to highlight people who have done exceptional work that particular month, and to address any issues that might need attention. The firm meeting is also an opportunity to get to know each other. Have a few employees present about their families/backgrounds, or cultural holidays and celebrations. The days of keeping your family and work life separate are over! An appropriate overlap, where employees feel the firm knows what is important to them, will make everyone feel more comfortable and supported in the workplace.
A game changer at our firm was when one of my colleagues suggested forming committees focused on firm goals, such as diversity, employee relations, recruiting, automation, and new client development. These committees perform optimally when the majority employees of the firm participate in at least one committee. It is important to firm culture and work satisfaction that everyone at your firm has a voice, which also inspires innovation and progress. The committee work furthers important objectives at your firm, while forging important relationships among your employees as they work together to create and implement new initiatives and reach common goals.
A virtual book club is yet another way to build relationships among employees of your firm. The topics can range from fiction, to self-help, to business-oriented books. A book club allows support and professional staff yet another way to get to know each other on a personal level, which is important for firm culture. Participants can grow better through sharing their perceptions of what was read and have a better sense of camaraderie. When employees feel seen and valued, the work environment becomes so much more effective and fulfilling.
It is important to replicate face-to-face meetings as much as we can. These interactions are crucial to developing meaningful relationships. Face-to-face meetings allow you to see expressions on your colleagues’ faces and talk on a more personal level to allow for a more understanding culture. Make it a policy at your firm, that when you would ordinarily walk into someone’s office, to instead, make a quick Zoom or Teams call with video always on. After all, you wouldn’t force your colleague to speak to you through a closed door in the office – why make them talk to a blank screen? Again, virtual face-to-face meetings are integral to developing a highly effective, remote working environment.
CONCLUSION
It is far past time to shift perspectives from the old rigid mindset to embracing a more diverse work force. One where we, as women, don’t have to give up the important job of raising our children, while also providing top quality service to our clients. In addition, lawyers should not be excluded from partnership because they work remotely or prefer to work a reduced schedule. An attorney can contribute just as much to the success and advancement of the firm, its culture, and its future without packing in the hours. In fact, the benefits of working a flexible schedule may contribute to more growth and innovation in the firm, as, from my own experience, those who work reduced-hours tend to be less stressed and more engaged. Flexibility is essential for advancing talented women and other lawyers seeking balance in their life and careers.
Law firms have essentially two options for proceeding when offices begin opening back up. Return to the way you ran things, pre-pandemic, with rigid work policies and lack of flexibility. Or, embrace the future, where environments of flexibility and freedom reap the benefits of a happy and productive workforce. You choose.
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, including all Driving Diversity episodes, check out The Diversity Channel.
Harrity diversity thought-leaders Elaine Spector, Edward Kim, and Ayana Marshall provided comments in response to USPTO‘s National Strategy for Expanding American Innovation alongside other members of the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO)‘s Women in IP and Diversity & Inclusion committees.
For more information regarding our diversity initiatives, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. To see more diversity and inclusion resources, visit The Diversity Channel.
The first Diversity Dialogue webinar in a series of diversity-focused discussions hosted by Harrity’s Elaine Spector features HP’s Shruti Costales and MCCA’s Sophia Piliouras as panelists and covers challenging topics associated with increasing diversity in the patent field.
Some of the questions covered during the panel discussion include:
Watch the full webinar below:
For more information regarding our diversity initiatives, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. To see more diversity and inclusion resources, visit The Diversity Channel.
Partner John Harrity discusses the origins of Harrity 4 Charity, our Diversity Initiatives, and why giving back is so important to our firm culture with On the Ball’s Steve Nudelberg as part of his “Tell Me Something Good” segment.
John highlights changing our firm’s mindset to be “serving-others” focused. Once Harrity 4 Charity was established, he says, “we asked whats the next giving back thing? We went right to diversity…We have to be foundational with what we are doing.”
Learn more about Harrity 4 Charity here and see all of our Diversity Initiatives here. Open positions can be found at harrityllp.com/careers.
To learn more about Harrity’s diversity efforts, visit harrityllp.com/diversity. For more diversity resources, check out The Diversity Channel.
Harrity Partner Eli Mazour is featured in IPWatchdog’s recent article as an IP expert regarding what the profile of the next USPTO Director should look like.
January 26, 2021 (IPWatchdog) At 12:00pm EST on January 20, 2021, Joe Biden was sworn in as America’s 46th President. Over the next several months he and his staff will be working to fill thousands of positions within the federal government that have become vacant due to resignations. This is normal and expected. At the end of each presidential term all presidential appointees offer their resignation, which can then either be accepted or not at the discretion of the President.
The position of Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as well as Deputy, is now vacant. Commissioner for Patents Drew Hirshfeld has been vested with the authority to act with the powers of the Under Secretary of Commerce for IP and Director of the USPTO, although he has not been given the title Acting Director. This is almost certainly due to the fact that no one in the federal government can hold a title of Acting head of an agency for more than 270 days.
In our space, the position of Under Secretary and Director of the USPTO is a front-line, top-level position. In the greater political scheme, it is likely we will not have an appointee for many months. President Obama did not nominate David Kappos until June 18 and President Trump did not nominate Andrei Iancu until August 26.
There are many capable people—all realistic, based on party affiliation—who should be considered by the Biden Administration for nomination as Under Secretary of Commerce for IP, but in my opinion several names stand out above everyone else based on their background, ties with the tech sector, and what appears to be a preference on the part of President Biden (at least so far) to appoint those with close ties to the Obama Administration and longstanding ties to the Democratic party..
See these suggestions, and what Eli and the other experts have to say on IPwatchdog.com.
Harrity & Harrity’s efforts to help the American Heart Association in their mission to promote longer, healthier lives has been recognized in The Business Voice from the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce.
Through the end of 2020, Harrity doubled all American Heart Association donations and registration fees up to $100,000 for the Lawyers Have Heart 10k, 5k, and Fun Walk.
“As a person who had his life saved by the AHA’s science, this cause is beyond important to me and my family,” said John Harrity, Harrity & Harrity LLP’s Co-Founding Partner. “Our firm wanted to give in a big way and we hope this inspires others to do the same.”
Learn more about giving back through Harrity 4 Charity here.
Harrity is excited to announce that we have obtained our 8,000th patent! Our team of superstars is dedicated to providing our clients with the highest quality patents in the field, and we’re proud to have achieved this milestone. Congratulations to each member of our team for their hard work to make this happen!
Learn more about Harrity’s patent services here.
2020 was a difficult year for all – with plenty of pitfalls, including quarantining, social distancing, and economic concern brought on by the ongoing global pandemic. At Harrity, we were fortunate enough to be able to continue to provide outstanding service to our clients and build upon the productivity and success of our remote workforce. We are pleased to announce that our firm also welcomed ten superstar patent attorneys to our team in 2020, making it one of our biggest years of growth to date.
Check out the newest members of Team Harrity below!
Robert ‘Bob’ O’Loughlin | Lakewood, CO (Joined 1/6/2020)
Bob has over 12 years of experience in patent preparation and prosecution for electrical and mechanical applications, with specific expertise in software patentability in light of Alice. Prior to joining Harrity & Harrity, Bob worked for over a decade in private practice representing clients with a focus on collaborating to navigate intellectual property opportunities and risks in light of his clients’ objectives regarding innovation, commercialization and competition. Click here to learn more about Bob.
James Bennin | Winter Garden, FL (Joined 2/3/2020)
James is the first recipient of Harrity’s Minority Firm Incubator, a four-year program designed to train, develop, and launch minority-owned patent law firms. James has 15 years of experience in the intellectual property field, with extensive experience counseling clients on various IP matters in the United States and in various other jurisdictions. Prior to joining Harrity in the MFI program, James was previously an associate general counsel at one of the largest universities in the US, and IP counsel at a large multinational company where he counseled multiple business units on matters related to IP. Click here to learn more about James.
Michael Woodward | Albany, NY (Joined 2/3/2020)
Michael has experience in conducting all phases of prosecution for U.S. and foreign patent applications related to computer software, telecommunications, networking devices, and mechanical devices. Prior to joining Harrity, Michael worked at a boutique intellectual property law firm where his practice focused on patent preparation, prosecution, litigation, and patent portfolio management. He also served as Executive Managing Editor of the Albany Law Review, President of the Intellectual Property Law Society, and was a Sponsler Honors Teaching Fellow while attending Albany Law School. Click here to learn more about Michael.
Alexander Zajac | Greenbelt, MD (Joined 4/6/2020)
Alex is a patent attorney specializing in the preparation and prosecution of applications in electrical and computer technologies. Prior to Harrity, Alex worked with an intellectual property law firm in Washington, DC, where he drafted and prosecuted patent applications as well as assisted with opinions and litigations. He also previously worked at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia with Magistrate Judge Alan Kay. Click here to learn more about Alex.
Steven DiPasquo | Basking Ridge, NJ (Joined 6/1/2020)
Steven has prepared and prosecuted hundreds of patent applications in a wide range of technical fields, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, computer hardware and software systems, and telecommunications. Prior to joining Harrity & Harrity, Steven worked for over 15 years in private practice and has extensive experience counseling clients and preparing opinions regarding patentability, infringement, validity, and freedom to operate. Click here to learn more about Steven.
Nelson Nolte | Manchester, MO (Joined 6/16/2020)
Nelson has more than twenty years of experience as a patent attorney, including patent preparation, prosecution, opinion matters, trademark preparation and prosecution, and copyright protection. During this time, Nelson has drafted and prosecuted hundreds of patent applications in the electrical, software and mechanical arts. Click here to learn more about Nelson.
Madhu Ramanujam | Portland, OR (Joined 7/13/2020)
Madhu’s experience as a patent attorney includes diverse areas of technology, particularly in the electrical and software arts. He has extensive experience in developing patent licensing strategies and creating claim charts to maximize a patent’s monetary value. As an inventor himself, Madhu’s knowledge in patent licensing and his passion for inventing has led to him successfully licensing his own patents to several large multinational corporations. Click here to learn more about Madhu.
Edward Kim | New York, NY (Joined 8/3/2020)
Edward’s practice focuses on helping companies build high-quality patent portfolios in an efficient manner, with specific experience prosecuting patent applications related to up-and-coming technologies. Prior to joining Harrity, Edward worked in patent litigation and spent over a decade as a Primary Patent Examiner at the USPTO. During this time, Edward served the Office of International Patent Cooperation on global IP initiatives. He previously has experience working with engineers overseas as an intern engineer and is both fluent in Korean and proficient in Japanese. Click here to learn more about Edward.
George Howarah | Reston, VA (Joined 11/2/2020)
George is a patent attorney with nearly a decade of experience in all facets of patent procurement and enforcement. Prior to joining Harrity, George worked as a Patent Examiner at the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) and as an associate at Venable LLP and Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox PLLC, where he prepared, prosecuted, and enforced patents for Fortune 500, midsize, and startup companies. Click here to learn more about George.
Jim Weixel | Sandwich, MA (Joined 12/14/2020)
Jim is a patent attorney with over 20 years of in-house and law firm experience in patent procurement enforcement and in IP operations, including time at Verizon, Bowditch & Dewey, LLP, and The MathWorks Inc. Most recently, Jim served as the IP lead at Accenture for several business units, with a combined annual revenue exceeding $20B. Jim has been involved with protecting innovations in a variety of technologies, such as healthcare, financial services, machine learning, process automation, artificial intelligence, biometric identification, and pharmacovigilance. Click here to learn more about Jim.
Wish Upon a Star: Experts Share Their Wildest IP Dreams for 2021
Harrity Partner Eli Mazour is featured in IPWatchdog’s recent article as an IP expert.
January 4, 2021 (IPWatchdog) We have already published industry roundups on the biggest moments in IP for 2020 and predictions and thoughts for 2021. But the longest running industry insider feature on IPWatchdog is our annual “wishes” article. Each year, we invite stakeholders to share their wildest IP dreams and wishes for the coming year.
Unlike our Predictions and What Mattered roundups, this series allows our experts to get creative. The responses may have nothing to do with what is likely to happen, but rather gives commenters a chance to explain how 2021 would unfold in their dream scenario. This year, responses remained fairly grounded in reality, with the possible exceptions of hope for clarity on Section 101 law and other issues from the Supreme Court and that Andrei Iancu will remain USPTO Director under future President Biden…
See what Eli and the other experts have to say on IPwatchdog.com.
By Edward Kim, Harrity Associate
Some time ago, in discussing humanitarian efforts and engineering, a friend of mine told me about a concept project he worked on to create a new iteration of the Leveraged Freedom Chair (LFC), an all-terrain wheelchair manufactured by Global Research Innovation and Technology (GRIT). The original LFC was created by engineering graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to allow people with disabilities in developing countries to gain mobility and independence. Conventional wheelchairs didn’t function well on the rugged terrain and rough local roads, and most were difficult and expensive to maintain. The three-wheeled LFC uses a push-lever drivetrain to help people navigate over rugged terrain with ease and is built from commonly found bicycle parts to allow easy maintenance and repair. Naturally, being an intellectual property professional, I started looking into patents related to the LFC.
That’s when I first discovered Patents for Humanity, an awards competition hosted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The creators of the LFC secured US Patent No. 8,844,959 in 2014 and was awarded a Patents for Humanity award in the subsequent year. Nearly a decade has passed since the program itself started, but little is known about it. Given the current situation with the global pandemic, and the season of giving around us, I thought it might be timely to share some information about the awards competition with our network of IP professionals.
Patents for Humanity was launched in February 2012 as part of an initiative to promote “game-changing innovations to address long-standing development challenges” and showcase how patent holders are pioneering innovative ways to provide affordable, scalable, and sustainable solutions for the less fortunate. Awards have been given for innovations that range from Golden Rice that’s genetically enhanced to provide a source of vitamin A for people relying mainly on rice to the LFC to compact human wastewater converters called NEWgenerator.
Two types of awards are given – Patents for Humanity awards and Honorable Mentions awards. Patents for Humanity award recipients are given an acceleration certificate, and of course, public recognition of their work at an awards ceremony sponsored by the USPTO. The certificate can be used to accelerate a patent application examination, ex parte reexamination, and ex parte appeal to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.* Honorable Mentions award recipients receive accelerated examination of one patent application but not other types of matters.
The program is open to patent owners, applicants, licensees (including inventors who haven’t assigned their ownership rights to others), assignees, and exclusive and non-exclusive licensees. Applicants must describe how they’ve used their patented technology or products to address a humanitarian issue, which, for the competition purposes, is defined as “one significantly affecting the public health or quality of life of an impoverished population.”
Applicants using a patent application as a basis for entry to the competition must show that a Notice of Allowance for one or more claims from that patent application has been issued before any certificate is awarded. Applicants mainly compete in the following five categories:
Applicants may also team together to submit joint applications explaining actions taken by multiple parties. However, only one certificate will be issued to the joint applicants, and the certificate can be redeemed for only one matter.
The applications are then judged under one of two criteria: (1) Humanitarian Use (applying eligible technologies to positively impact a humanitarian issue, focusing on demonstrable real-world improvements) and (2) Humanitarian Research (making available patented technologies to other researchers for conducting research with a humanitarian purpose, particularly areas lacking commercial application).
The applications are reviewed and scored by qualified judges outside of the USPTO, and the USPTO forwards the top-scoring applications to participating federal agencies for award recipient recommendations.
As we prepare to bid farewell to a year that will live in infamy, I think it’s fitting to recognize this year’s award recipients: Global Vision 2020; Sisu Global; Sanaria Inc; Flexcrevator; NEWgenerator; Nonspec; Rubitection; and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Congratulations! Perhaps, now more than ever, we need and should honor more innovation that makes progress in human lives. Keep an eye out for the next awards competition application period.
More information about the Patents for Humanity awards competition can be found at:
https://www.uspto.gov/ip-policy/patent-policy/patents-humanity
For those interested in the details of the Terms and Conditions:
https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USPTO-P4H-2020Terms.pdf
*Inter partes matters and other post-grant proceedings may not be accelerated with the certificate at this time.
Law360 (December 23, 2020, 4:20 PM EST) — To address some of the issues underlying a lack of diversity in patent law, Harrity & Harrity LLP has announced a new set of free classes the firm hopes will inspire more patent lawyers from underrepresented populations.
The Harrity Academy, which the midsize firm launched this fall, consists of three Zoom classes that will convene throughout 2021. Ranging from four to eight weeks in length, the three classes address different aspects of patent law and range in scope depending on the participants’ experience. Each course will be led by a Harrity & Harrity attorney and has 20 spots available, the press release says. The program also includes mentorship and breakout sessions for more individualized attention…
Law360 (December 21, 2020, 4:47 PM EST) — Intellectual property firms ranging from just a handful of lawyers to several hundred attorneys said the COVID-19 pandemic was a logistical curveball, but their industry has largely been insulated from the worst of the pandemic’s financial woes.
Law360 spoke with seven IP firms that span in size and location to get a snapshot of how the novel coronavirus pandemic impacted the industry, including Harrity’s John Harrity.
“Harrity & Harrity’s staff was already three-quarters remote before the pandemic hit, said John Harrity.
‘We were ready for it,’ he said. ‘We were already paperless — we had done that several years ago. It was probably as seamless a transition for us as possible.’
He said the firm has been continuously growing, and with a dozen new attorneys added in 2020, it marked its biggest year for hiring.
While Harrity said the firm had always allowed for flexibility with attorneys, such as letting them choose their own hours, it extended that same freedom to support staff during the pandemic.
‘[We’re letting them start] as late as 3 p.m. so that they could do their homeschooling if they have young kids and then start their day after that’s over,’ he said. ‘We’re put in this really awkward position with this, especially with virtual learning. If you have small kids, what are you supposed to do? We didn’t want our parents to have to choose between teaching their kids or working. We gave them an opportunity to be able to keep doing both.’
The patent preparation and prosecution specialists say they’ve seen particular growth in the telecom sector, which has blown up in the remote work environment.
Internally, the firm has used that remote technology to try and keep its employees connected to each other, including with virtual happy hours and live meditation sessions.
‘It’s necessary during a situation [like] we’re in — the inherent stress that’s involved with the pandemic and the uncertainty that’s around it,’ Harrity said.”
(Erie News Now) JJ’s Retro Eatery, a family-owned-and-operated diner in Union City, PA, has faced some challenges during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. When Harrity Docketing Specialist Julie Swartz heard about their struggles, she knew that she needed to get Harrity 4 Charity involved.
“We have put everything we have into this business and have been blessed with many successful years,” said Debbi James. “But the past year has been an extreme struggle with the times we are face with during this pandemic. We are struggling to survive day-to-day and we owe so much to Harrity for offering their help, along with a thank you to Julie, who has the most caring heart ever.”
Erie News Now featured JJ’s story:
JJ’s will host a Holiday Baked Goods Drive By through Christmas. 10 of JJ’s most popular pies will be sold during the event, along with six flavors of cheesecake, four types of turnovers, jumbo cinnamon or maple rolls and an assorted Christmas cookie tray.
JJ’s Retro Eatery is located at 16411 Route 8 in Union City. Business hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The restaurant will also be open on Dec. 23 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. for customers to pick up pre-ordered baked goods only.
To view a menu and place an order, click here.
Orders must be placed by Dec. 20 and can be picked up curbside. Free delivery is available within a 10-mile radius of the restaurant.
(NOVA Chamber Newsletter) The American Heart Association (AHA), the world’s leading voluntary health organization devoted to a world of longer, healthier lives is excited to announce that through December 31 all donations and registration fees up to $100,000 will be doubled for its Lawyers Have Heart 10K Race, 5K Run and Walk. Made possible through the generosity of race sponsor Harrity & Harrity LLP to promote increased around Giving Tuesday, a global movement to support charities. Donations to Lawyers Have Heart benefit the Association to further its work for a world of longer, healthier lives and can help fast track research and train front-line workers.
“As a person who had his life saved by the AHA’s science, this cause is beyond important to me and my family,” said John Harrity, Harrity & Harrity LLP’s Managing Partner. “Our firm wanted to give in a big way and we hope this inspires others to do the same. Millions of people are counting on the American Heart Association for science-based information, health resources, community programs and patient support. They need us to be generous now more than ever.”
There are many ways to take part in the matching opportunity:
“Planning is moving forward for a huge 2021 event and we hope to once again attract participants from around the world,” said Harrity. “There was an incredible response when we took the 2020 event to a digital experience where 3,000 participants ran and walked their courses all over the United States, England, Croatia, Spain, South Africa, Japan and more. We will definitely plan to keep a virtual component moving forward so anyone can take part from anywhere in the world.”
Harrity serves as a co-chair for the 2021 event along with his firm’s Controller Sandra Maxey and American University Washington College of Law’s Associate Dean of Student Affairs, David Jaffe. Since 1991, the event has raised over $15.6 million, in support of vital research and programming to improve health and well-being across the Greater Washington Region.
“We are so thankful to Harrity & Harrity for their tremendous support that will build excitement,” said Soula Antoniou, Executive Director, American Heart Association. “This gift helps ensure the Association’s continued work with researchers, medical experts, hospitals, community leaders, businesses, families and more to improve health and well-being for all and to reduce the impact of the coronavirus.”
How does the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) actually operate? What does it take to win an ex parte appeal? When should you request an oral hearing? What are the chances of the PTAB reversing a Section 101 rejection? How do you become an Administrative Patent Judge?
In this latest episode of Clause 8, I speak with former Administrative Patent Judge Joe Lentivech to get answers to these questions. He’s not only an expert in how the PTAB operates, but also a master storyteller.
Listen and subscribe on IPwatchdog.com or your favorite podcasting app!
(Eerie News Now) A Union City restaurant is receiving some much needed help through a random act of kindness.
In July, Debbi and Greg James, owners of JJ’s Retro Eatery, posted on Facebook about the dire challenges the restaurant has faced amid the COVID-19 pandemic. They also posted a thank you to an unknown person who mowed the lawn of the restaurant.
After seeing the Facebook post, a former customer of the restaurant who now lives in Virginia took action.
Julie Swartz, a docketing specialist for Fairfax, Va.-based law firm Harrity, LLP, saw the post on Facebook. Swartz grew up in Erie and had eaten at the restaurant years ago. Seeing the post and learning about the situation the restaurant was in, as well as the random act of kindness of someone mowing the lawn of the restaurant, Swartz knew she had to somehow pay it forward.
Swartz, who now lives in Evans City, Pa., with the help of a COVID-19 relief fund established by Harrity 4 Charity – the giving-back initiative of Harrity LLP -, got in the car and drove to JJ’s.
There, she presented the restaurant with a relief check, new banners for the restaurant’s front, flowers for curb appeal and cleaning supplies. Swartz then spent the day with the Debbi and Greg James and their family to prepare for reopening after Pennsylvania’s spring shutdown.
Since then, Harrity has provided a financial helping hand to the struggling eatery.
This holiday season, Swartz is now helping the James family organize a Holiday Pie Drive By for JJ’s, which is known for its baked goods. Swartz has volunteered to help pass out flyers and make deliveries.
“We have put everything we have into this business and have been blessed with many successful years,” said Debbi James. “But the past year has been an extreme struggle with the times we are face with during this pandemic. We are struggling to survive day-to-day and we owe so much to Harrity for offering their help, along with a thank you to Julie, who has the most caring heart ever.”
JJ’s will host the Holiday Baked Goods Drive By through Christmas. 10 of JJ’s most popular pies will be sold during the event, along with six flavors of cheesecake, four types of turnovers, jumbo cinnamon or maple rolls and an assorted Christmas cookie tray.
JJ’s Retro Eatery is located at 16411 Route 8 in Union City. Business hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The restaurant will also be open on Dec. 23 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. for customers to pick up pre-ordered baked goods only.
To view a menu and place an order, click here.
Orders must be placed by Dec. 20 and can be picked up curbside. Free delivery is available within a 10-mile radius of the restaurant.
(NBC4 Washington) Small but mighty: That’s a good way to describe a Fairfax County second grader who is helping Inova raise thousands of dollars to buy toys for kids who are in the hospital this holiday season.
Poppy Sellier, 7, has a special appreciation for what those toys mean, because it wasn’t long ago that she was in the hospital herself.
Playing with her LEGOs today, Poppy is the picture of health. But when we first met her in summer 2019, she was just wrapping up treatment for leukemia at Inova Children’s Hospital.
Poppy and her family always carried the other children at the hospital in their hearts, even while Poppy was still a patient there. Her mom, Charlotte, brought in donated toys, with Poppy making deliveries in a red wagon.
“They would be very happy and they would like all the toys that I brought them,” Poppy recalled with a smile.
Last year during the holidays, with a bow in her newly regrown hair, Poppy and her siblings returned to the hospital, reuniting with staff and helping to deliver hundreds of LEGO sets donated by the community to Inova.
But coronavirus means some adjustments this year.
“Because this year it’s the coronavirus, we can’t go into the hospital and give it,” Poppy said.
And Inova can’t ask the community to donate toys. So instead, they’ve made Poppy an ambassador of sorts for what they’re calling Poppy’s Toy Express, asking the community to give money instead of toys this year.
“Usually we love accepting the gifts from the community, and people are so generous during this time,” Inova Health Foundation President Sage Bolte said. “But because we can’t, Poppy actually offered up her own allowance to start this campaign.”
And Poppy’s story has been inspiring lots of giving.
“We got a lot of generous donations, and we got right now over like 55,000 kind of money,” Poppy said.
That $55,000 means they’re already very close to making their $60,000 goal to supply toys not only at the holidays but throughout the year. And once that $60,000 is raised, it will be matched by a group called Harrity 4 Charity.
As for Poppy, she’s enjoying feeling well and being back in school in 2nd grade.
“It feels so much better. I like my teacher and she’s really, really nice,” Poppy said.
But Poppy and her family are hoping that by next year, the red wagon full of toys will roll again.
Harrity 4 Charity is doubling up to $60,000 of donations made to INOVA for Giving Tuesday. All donations will go directly towards purchasing toys and books for children undergoing treatment and surgery at INOVA Children’s Hospital during the holidays for Poppy’s Toy Express — an initiative started by a seven-year old cancer survivor, Poppy, who spent 160 days at Inova in 2018. Click here to donate to Poppy’s Toy Express.
By Michael Woodward, Harrity Associate
Patent owners often obtain patents to protect products, as well as complementary products or use cases associated with those products. However, when selling or licensing the patented products, a patent owner may inadvertently extinguish potential revenue streams associated with the complementary use cases due to the doctrine of patent exhaustion.
Patent exhaustion follows the basic idea that if a company sells or licenses a patented product to a buyer, the company cannot sue the buyer (or a third party that the buyer provides the patented product to under the license) for patent infringement for using the product. Patent owners should take care when preparing and licensing patents to ensure that infringement claims for complementary products or use cases associated with patented products are not exhausted by the sale or licensing of the patented products, as shown by the Federal Circuit case of Helferich Patent Licensing v. New York Times, 778 F.3D 1293 (Fed. Cir. 2015)…
Keep reading on IPwatchdog.com.
To make a contribution to one of our Harrity 4 Charity partners, please see below.
American Heart Association
Harrity 4 Charity pledges to match up to $100,000 of donations made to the American Heart Association, the largest non-profit organization dedicated to fighting heart disease, through the upcoming Lawyers Have Heart event. Click here to donate and to register for the 2021 LHH 5K, 10K and Fun Walk, virtually or in-person. You can also make a donation by simply texting ‘RUNLHH’ to 41444.
No More Stolen Childhoods
In an effort to put an end to childhood sexual abuse and help survivors with recovery, we are matching $45,000 of donations made to NMSC by December 1. Please click here to contribute.
INOVA Children’s Hospital
Harrity 4 Charity will double $60,000 of donations made to INOVA for Giving Tuesday. All donations will go directly towards purchasing toys and books for children undergoing treatment and surgery at INOVA Children’s Hospital during the holidays for Poppy’s Toy Express — an initiative started by a seven-year old cancer survivor, Poppy, who spent 160 days at Inova in 2018. Click here to donate to Poppy’s Toy Express.
ZERO: The End of Prostate Cancer
This year, we are matching $50,000 of gifts made to ZERO. You can join the fight against prostate cancer and support prostate cancer education, testing, patient support, research and advocacy by donating here.
