Seed IP’s Electrical Engineering & Computer Science Group proudly welcomes David C. Conlee and William J. Pigott as patent agents.

David specializes in foreign and domestic patent prosecution as well as infringement and invalidity studies. He received a B.S. in Physics (with an emphasis in Nanotechnology) and a minor in Mathematics from Brigham Young University in 2005. David also received an M.E. in Electrical Engineering (with an emphasis in Integrated Circuit Design and Fabrication) from the University of Utah in 2007. He was awarded his J.D. from the J. Reuben Clark Law School of Brigham Young University in 2010. David’s experience includes designing and fabricating digital and analog integrated circuits and MEMS devices at the University of Utah. He has also performed research in the fabrication and applications of carbon nanotubes.

Will specializes in electronic patent matters. He received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Utah State University in 2002. He is a J.D. candidate (Class of 2010) at the University Washington School of Law. Prior to joining Seed IP, Will’s professional experience included working as a CMOS Image Sensor Product Engineer at Micron Technologies in Boise, ID. His experience includes new silicon verification, optimization of production tests, and resolving customer application issues. Will also served for two years as a Submarine Systems Test Engineer at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, WA, where he was responsible for verifying the completion of system dependant repairs as well as testing system components prior to restoring system functionality. Prior to this, he worked as an electrical engineer at SPAWAR Systems Center in San Diego, CA, where he performed research on underwater acoustic signal responses and atmospheric effects on GPS signals. Before becoming a patent agent, Will worked as a Summer Associate at Seed IP, where he gained experience in drafting patent applications and prosecuting Office Actions.

David and Will are registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and are members of the Washington State Patent Law Association. They both recently took the Washington State Bar Exam in their journey towards becoming licensed patent attorneys.

Seed IP Law Group PLLC was recently awarded with the “Washington’s Best Workplaces 2010” accolade and plaque from the Puget Sound Business Journal at a recognition ceremony that took place at Safeco Field on August 12. For the third consecutive year, Puget Sound Business Journal has named Seed IP Law Group PLLC as one of “Washington’s Best Workplaces.” Initially launched in 2007, the “Washington’s Best Workplaces” program was created by the Puget Sound Business Journal in order to identify and recognize the best practices in the hiring and retention of great people. After an extensive and rigorous process, involving more than 300 nominated companies and the surveying of thousands of nominee-company employees across the state, workplaces in five different categories have been identified as “Washington’s Best”, based on their various employee benefit offerings, leadership culture, and work/life balance philosophies. Representing the Puget Sound area and beyond, the finalists (20 small companies, 20 medium-sized companies, 20 large companies, 10 extra large companies, and 10 nonprofits) best exemplify Puget Sound Business Journal’s important role in drawing attention to innovations and excellence in the management of our region’s primary and best resource: its people.

Seed Intellectual Property Law Group PLLC is pleased to announce that nine of its attorneys, Frank Abramonte, David V. Carlson, William T. Christiansen II, William O. Ferron, Jr., Karl R. Hermanns, Lorraine Linford, Stephen J. Rosenman, Jeffrey M. Sakoi, and Richard G. Sharkey are to be listed in the 2011 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession. Mr. Abramonte and Mr. Carlson are partners within Seed IP’s Electrical Engineering & Computer Science Group; Mr. Ferron, Jr., Ms. Linford, and Mr. Sakoi are partners within Seed IP’s Mechanical Engineering & Trademark Group; Dr. Christiansen II, Mr. Hermanns, Dr. Rosenman, and Dr. Sharkey are partners within Seed IP’s Biotechnology, Chemistry & Pharmaceuticals Group.

First published in 1983, Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive annual peer-review survey. The upcoming 17th edition of Best Lawyers contains results based on a national survey involving more than 3.1 miilion detailed evaluations of lawyers and their legal abilities by other lawyers in the same and related specialties. Because of the rigorous and transparent methodology used by Best Lawyers, and because lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.” Steven Naifeh, Managing Editor of Best Lawyers, says, “We continue to believe - as we have believed for 28 years - that recognition by one’s peers is the most meaningful form of recognition in the legal profession.” For the past three decades, Best Lawyers has come to be regarded - by both the legal profession and the public - as the definitive guide to legal excellence in the U.S.

The Center for Advanced Study and Research on Intellectual Property (CASRIP) Summer Institute offers in-depth legal education and training for U.S. and international intellectual property lawyers, patent agents, post-graduate scientists and engineers, and law students. Held annually on the campus of the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle, CASRIP is a two-week intensive program that teaches the fundamentals of patent prosecution, patent litigation, and technology licensing and management, from a comparative law perspective. During the CASRIP Summer Institute, a special two-day program called the High Technology Protection Summit also takes place, attracting experts from around the world who discuss cutting-edge legal issues in intellectual property law and innovation. Seed IP attorneys Karl R. Hermanns, David V. Carlson, Stephen J. Rosenman, Shoko I. Leek, and Nathan E. Durrance took part as lecturers and panelists during the 2010 CASRIP Summer Institute. Also participating was Sean M. O’Connor, Professor and Director of LTA (Law, Technology and Arts) at the University of Washington School of Law. Professor O’Connor is Of Counsel to Seed IP. A cocktail reception for all 2010 CASRIP Summer Institute and High Technology Protection Summit participants was held on the evening of July 23 at the Seed IP Law Group office.

For the third consecutive year, Puget Sound Business Journal  has named Seed IP Law Group PLLC as one of “Washington’s Best Workplaces.” Initially launched in 2007, the “Washington’s Best Workplaces” program was created by the Puget Sound Business Journal  in order to identify and recognize the best practices in the hiring and retention of great people. After an extensive and rigorous process, involving more than 300 nominated companies and the surveying of thousands of nominee-company employees across the state, workplaces in five different categories have been identified as “Washington’s Best”, based on their various employee benefit offerings, leadership culture, and work/life balance philosophies. Representing the Puget Sound area and beyond, the finalists (20 small companies, 20 medium-sized companies, 20 large companies, 10 extra large companies, and 10 nonprofits) best exemplify Puget Sound Business Journal’s important role in drawing attention to innovations and excellence in the management of our region’s primary and best resource: its people.

Seed IP partners Dr. William T. Christiansen II, Kevin S. Costanza, William O. Ferron, Jr., Karl R. Hermanns, and Dr. Richard G. Sharkey were recently selected as Super Lawyers for year 2010 on the annual Super Lawyers list, as published by Thomson Reuters. Since 1991, Super Lawyers has provided a yearly listing of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Super Lawyers is published as a special supplement in leading newspapers and city and regional magazines across the country. Each specializing in intellectual property law, our selected attorneys are all multiple-year Super Lawyers honorees. Dr. Christiansen, Mr. Hermanns, and Dr. Sharkey are attorneys within Seed IP’s Biotechnology & Chemistry Group; Mr. Costanza and Mr. Ferron are attorneys within Seed IP’s Mechanical Engineering & Trademark Group. We proudly congratulate each of them on being selected as Super Lawyers for 2010!

Law students Michael Swett (Seattle University School of Law) and Stephen Chen (University of Washington School of Law) were recently selected as the recipients of Seed Intellectual Property Law Group’s annual Founders Scholarships for year 2010. In 2003, Seed IP Law Group created two scholarships to honor its founders, Richard W. Seed and Benjamin J. Berry. Seed IP Law Group’s Founders Scholarships are given annually to students at the University of Washington and Seattle University Schools of Law. Seed IP seeks to annually recognize outstanding students who have a keen interest in the field of intellectual property law and who also have an undergraduate degree that qualifies him/her to sit for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Bar Exam. “We think it’s very important to train the next generation of intellectual property attorneys so that we can continue to build on the legacy started by Ben Berry and Dick Seed,” said Karl R. Hermanns, Seed IP’s Managing Partner. “Only through strong support of higher education will our country continue to be a leader in the world.”

Intellectual Property Today magazine has ranked Seed IP Law Group at #64 in its annual “Top Trademark Firms” survey. The data, gathered from reporting nationwide firms, is based on the total amount of United States trademark registrations issued in 2009 where the law firm, or member of the firm (i.e. partner/associate), is listed as the legal representative on the registration. Seed IP issued 231 trademark registrations in 2009. Seed IP has consistently been among the Top 100 in this annual survey.

Seed IP Law Group PLLC proudly welcomes Jeffrey M. Sakoi as a new partner. Jeff specializes in strategic intellectual property counseling, patent procurement and enforcement, licensing, and patent assertion management services to chemical, mechanical, and electro-mechanical companies. He provides these services across a broad range of multi-disciplinary industry sectors, including semiconductor, pharmaceutical, pulp and paper, wireless telecommunication, transportation, medical devices, and alternative energy industries. Jeff received a B.S. (cum laude) in Chemical Engineering (1982) from the University of Idaho and holds a J.D. (1985), also from the University of Idaho. Prior to joining Seed IP, Jeff served as a patent attorney at the Dow Chemical Company (Midland, MI) for several years. He has since amassed over twenty-five years of experience as a patent attorney, drafting and prosecuting patent applications across a multitude of industries.

Jeff is admitted to the state bars of Washington, Idaho, and Michigan. He is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court of Idaho, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Jeff is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He is a member of the Washington State Patent Law Association, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the Intellectual Property Owners Association, the Asian Bar Association of Washington, and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. Jeff has been a past lecturer at CASRIP (Center for Advanced Study and Research on Intellectual Property), a seminar which takes place annually at the University of Washington, and has been selected as a Washington Law & Politics “Super Lawyer” annually since 2004.

Seed IP’s Electrical Engineering & Computer Science Group proudly welcomes Joshua A. Kading as a new associate attorney. Joshua specializes in U.S. and foreign electrical engineering, computer science, and mechanical patent matters, including patent procurement, licensing, business methods, and strategic domestic and international intellectual property portfolio management. He has many years of experience in drafting and prosecuting patent applications, drafting and presenting non-infringement, invalidity, and patentability opinions, and developing client patent programs. Josh received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering (2003) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and holds a J.D. (2008), also from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to joining Seed IP, Joshua served for several years as a Patent Examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (Alexandria, VA), followed by four years as a law clerk and associate. Joshua is admitted to the Washington State Bar, the Wisconsin State Bar, and the United States District Court – Western District of Wisconsin, and is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He is a member of the American Bar Association and the Washington State Patent Law Association.