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SILICON VALLEY—Every year, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issues a Patent Pro Bono Achievement Certificate to attorneys who have completed more than 50 hours of patent pro bono work in the previous calendar year. The certificate recognizes the attorneys’ commitment and drive in assisting under-resourced inventors in the United States.
Womble Bond Dan Ovanezian, Bill Jacobs, Mike Sutliffe and Jon Wolfsberger are recipients of the 2018 Patent Pro Bono Achievement Certificate in recognition for having completed a remarkable amount of pro bono legal services for the patent pro bono program in 2018. All four attorneys practice in the firm’s Silicon Valley office.
Womble Bond Dickinson also is a recipient of a 2018 Patent Pro Bono Achievement Certificate as members of the firm totaled 326 hours of pro bono legal services for the patent pro bono program.
Womble Bond Dickinson is one of only 21 law firms in the country to receive the 2018 Patent Pro Bono Achievement Certificate. Only five attorneys in the entire state of California received the 2018 Patent Pro Bono Achievement Certificate, four of which are from Womble Bond Dickinson. In total, 82 attorneys in the United States received the 2018 Patent Pro Bono Achievement Certificate.
Dan Ovanezian has 20 years of experience in intellectual property law. His practice encompasses the entire patent life cycle, including mining and identifying patentable inventions and advising patent committees, conducting training seminars in IP matters, and prosecuting patent applications with the USPTO. Ovanezian also helps companies establish patent committees and perform IP landscaping, and regularly guides startups looking to develop IP portfolios for IPOs and other exit strategies.
Bill Jacobs is an intellectual property attorney with an electrical engineering background who helps clients formulate strategies to protect and utilize their IP assets. His practice includes patent and trademark prosecution, software copyrights and licensing. He also counsels clients in patent infringement and validity matters.
Michael Sutliffe is a registered patent attorney whose practice focuses on intellectual property protection in software and hardware in a wide variety of technology areas. Michael provides patent related services including preparation and prosecution of domestic and foreign patent applications. Prior to becoming an attorney, Sutliffe worked as the Principal Software Engineer for a laser design and manufacturing company in Silicon Valley providing embedded systems controls and graphical user interfaces for diode lasers and flash lamp-pumped lasers.
Jon Wolfsberger is an intellectual property attorney who helps clients prepare and prosecute patent applications involving a wide range of technologies, particularly in the computer hardware, software, and medical device industries. He has significant experience negotiating with United States Patent and Trademark Office examiners in order to help make each client’s vision a patented reality.
