Neil Kardos is a patent attorney specializing in patent application drafting. He has drafted over 500 patent applications for a wide variety of Patent 300 companies, and has provided oversight and training on hundreds more. When drafting patent applications and training others, Neil focuses on six key patent prosecution objectives: quality, uniformity, innovation, efficiency, timeliness, and service (QUIETS).
To help others achieve these objectives, Neil has teamed withShawn Lillemoto champion the implementation of innovative software solutions for patent prosecution, includingPatent Draftr(a drafting tool that automates portions of patent application drafting to save at least two hours per patent application),PatentMail(an email tool that interfaces with docketing systems to auto-generate emails),PatentForms(a tool to automatically fill out USPTO forms), andPatent Searchr(a search tool that automatically populates a database of filed applications by connecting to private PAIR). These tools have been implemented firmwide at Harrity and have been licensed to other patent firms, companies, and patent practitioners.
Neil’s work on the QUIETS objectives extends beyond software tools, and he utilizes his degree in industrial and systems engineering to apply lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, and data-driven management principles to patent prosecution. He has implemented these principles at Harrity, and he has consulted with other law firms and companies to apply these principles to their patent prosecution management practices. Neil is the creator and host ofPractical Patents, a short video series in which he shares these principles and strategies.
Neil also conducts monthly webinars for patent practitioners, where he demonstrates Patent Draftr and other software tools. He has also been a panelist at the Intellectual Property Owner’s Association (IPO) annual meeting, the Corporate IP Institute, and for IPWatchdog, where he has provided thought leadership on data-driven firm management, patent analytics, competitive benchmarking, and addressing gender disparity in the patent field.
Prior to joining Harrity in 2012, Neil worked as a Primary Patent Examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, where he examined business method patent applications.
