BOULDER, Colo. – February 16, 2023 – Cozen O’Connor today announced the addition of eight veteran IP professionals with a substantial U.S. and international client base to its fast-growing international IP practice. The group consists of IP attorneys Curtis A. Vock, Douglas W. Link, X. Peter Chen, Ph.D., and Steve K. Barton, M.D.; patent agents Brian T. Schwartz, Ph.D., Daniel M. Farkas, Ph.D., and Rebecca "Becky" Rudolph; and tech specialist Perry Youngs. All eight come to Cozen O’Connor from Lathrop GPM and will work out of Cozen O’Connor’s Boulder office, which will open soon.
“The strategic benefits of having an office in Boulder are two-fold,” said Michael J. Heller, Cozen O’Connor’s Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “First and foremost, it will serve as a home base to a remarkably successful, well-established team of IP professionals who will help us continue to grow our IP practice, especially on the international front. At the same time, adding an office in Boulder further expands our presence and reach in Colorado and the Mountain West, both of which are an important part of our expansion strategy.”
“Collectively, these eight professionals bring diverse IP backgrounds and decades of relevant experience as counsel, IP advisers, and/or government regulators. They’ve been working together for years, counseling a range of domestic and international clients on all aspects of patent, trademark, copyright, trade secrets, and unfair competition — from clearance and procurement to litigation,” said Camille M. Miller, co-chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Department. “Their addition underscores Cozen O’Connor’s commitment to the further expansion of our IP practice and the services we provide, and I’m very much looking forward to working with them.”
Curtis Vock joins as a shareholder and will serve as the managing partner of the Boulder office. As direct U.S. IP counsel for a range of U.S., Canadian, European, Japanese, Chinese, and Australian clients, he focuses on IP strategy, patent prosecution and litigation, licensing, brand and trademark issues, and corporate counseling. His 30-plus years of IP experience encompasses a range of technologies, from wearable activity devices to complex CMOS focal planes and blockchain delivery software. Prior to becoming a lawyer, he worked as a design and systems engineer with industrial stalwarts BAE Systems, Lockheed-Martin, Loral, Honeywell, and Hughes Aircraft.
“I’m very pleased to be joining Cozen O’Connor and being a part of such a robust intellectual property practice,” Vock said. “Cozen O’Connor is a growing, cutting-edge firm, and my team of attorneys, agents, and staff is genuinely excited to be a part of the IP department. Cozen O’Connor has an environment that will benefit not only our team but our clients as well. I’m very much looking forward to working with Camille and Kerry B. McTigue to help further expand our IP practice.”
Douglas Link, who joins as a member, focuses his practice on patent prosecution and post-AIA review proceedings. Leveraging an electrical engineering background, he helps clients secure IP protection for electrical and software-related patents impacting a range of technologies, from quantum computing to financial processing automotive components, antenna systems, and optical guidance systems. He regularly manages cases involving software patents facing the “Alice” test related to subject matter eligibility; and has substantial post-AIA invalidity review proceedings experience at the USTPO. He also counsels clients on corporate IP management, patent portfolio management, and federal litigation infringement claims and defense.
“I’m excited to join this great IP department at Cozen O’Connor and for the opportunity to be a part of this growing team,” said Link. “Being part of such a highly regarded practice — one with big-time national and international reach — is a tremendous opportunity. I look forward to meeting and working closely with my new colleagues.”
Peter Chen, Ph.D., who joins the firm as a member, focuses on patent, trademark, and copyright issues, including counseling, patent prosecution, and litigation. He helps clients procure patents for products ranging from biologics and chemical synthesis to biomass processing and artificial intelligence. With clients in the United States, China, Japan, Australia, and Europe, he frequently counsels companies large and small on strategic IP planning, particularly in international business transactions. A former medical and pharmaceutical researcher, Chen brings to the firm experience with the scientific issues and client needs in the chemical, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and agricultural industries.
Steve Barton, M.D., who also joins as of counsel, crafts and prosecutes patents on behalf of university and various technology clients, including medical instrumentation and devices to computer hardware and software architecture. His MSEE degree, combined with more than 20 years of engineering experience, gives him a thorough grounding in the practical aspects of the latest-generation medical devices, computer architecture and logic, and circuits for integrated circuitry. His M.D. coursework in biochemistry, molecular biology, and other topics also provides a solid foundation in modern biotechnology as well as the synthesis of cutting-edge modern medical devices.
Brian Schwartz, who joins as a patent agent, advises on matters related to physics and optical engineering, with an emphasis on numerical simulations of photonic technologies such as CMOS image sensor pixels and photonic-crystal waveguides. A former senior optoelectronic engineer for advanced digital imaging solutions developer OmniVision Technologies, Schwartz assists in patent prosecution, litigation, patentability determinations, and infringement analyses in cases involving a wide range of optics technologies.
Daniel Farkas, Ph.D., who joins as a patent agent, is an experimental physicist with laboratory experience in atomic, molecular, and optical physics. Focusing on managing technical research and development projects, he advises on a host of technologies, including lasers and optics, photonics, quantum, vacuum systems, magnetics, electronics, and software. Earlier in his career, he served as both manager of Contract Research and Development and lead scientist at a quantum technology development and design company.
Becky Rudolph, who joins as a patent agent, brings a background in electrical and computer engineering. Working with corporate clients and individual inventors, she has extensive experience with satellite systems, UAVs, nanomaterials, cell phone systems, optical fibers, communication protocols, and circuitry. As a former primary patent examiner in computer and memory architecture with the USPTO, she brings to the firm substantial and beneficial experience with issues related to foreign patent prosecution.
Perry Youngs, a tech specialist, brings more than 30 years experience in diversified technologies, including software/hardware design and development, firmware, and mechanical/electrical device engineering. Youngs dives deeply into the technology of invention disclosures to assist in patent prosecution in the areas of technical research, intellectual property evaluation, drafting U.S. and Foreign/PCT patent applications and responses to office actions. He also assists in research and evaluation matters related to patent infringement litigation.
About Cozen O’Connor
Established in 1970, Cozen O’Connor has over 925 attorneys who help clients manage risk and make better business decisions. The firm counsels clients on their most sophisticated legal matters in all areas of the law, including litigation, corporate, and regulatory law. Representing a broad array of leading global corporations and middle-market companies, Cozen O’Connor serves its clients’ needs through 33 offices across two continents.
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