Tom handles all phases of intellectual property protection, with a focus on litigation. He has litigated utility patents, design patents, trade secrets, trademarks and trade dress, unfair competition claims, and defamation claims both on the plaintiff side and on the defendant side in federal courts and in front of the International Trade Commission. Tom has successfully obtained summary judgment of patent validity and infringement, injunctive relief, and numerous favorable settlements.Tom also writes and prosecutes patents, works on reexamination and reissue proceedings, prepares non-infringement and freedom to operate opinions, prosecutes trademark applications, and performs trademark clearances. Tom has experience in a variety of industries, including medical devices, lighting devices, specialty materials and processes for forming the same, food processing systems and methods, analytical instrumentation, consumer and recreational products, electrochemical cells, building materials, and automotive components. Some representative matters include:
- Obtained summary judgment of patent validity and infringement and a permanent injunction for a small, three-person toy design company against a large toy manufacturer and two multinational retailers.
- Enforced patents for an innovative lighting company against a series of competitors, obtaining several favorable judgments and settlements that increased the value of the company and ultimately led to the sale of the company to an industry giant.
- Negotiated a settlement that precluded a direct competitor from selling infringing fire fighting gear while avoiding the expense of trial.
- Forced a number of competitors to stop selling competing fluorescent lighting fixtures based on client’s design patents.
- Assisted several start-up companies in selecting, clearing and registering trademarks, avoiding potential future problems before significant investment was made under a potentially infringing mark.
