BURRIS LAW

Please join us in celebrating the addition of Lou Houston to our team of patent attorneys at Burris Law! Lou is so enthusiastic to join our family and return to her native Detroit.  After living in Denver for over a decade, Lou has decided to return to her roots in the Motor City and to join us on our continued trajectory of being the go-to source for all of Detroit’s IP needs.

Lou has a background in electrical engineering and brings plenty of experience, having worked in IP at multiple national firms as well as working directly for the USPTO as a Patent Examiner. We love our Patent Examiners here at Burris Law, obviously working very closely with the talented team upstairs at the Midwest Regional USPTO Office.

Lou also brings with her practical skills as a Project Engineer with General Motors, having worked at the world renowned GM Tech Center for just shy of five years. This will prove to be valuable expertise and knowledge that she will leverage to help her clients at Burris Law.

This is a special congratulatory post for the blog and one we have been very excited to share with everyone. Please join us in sending a huge congratulations to our very own Julie Zamler for passing the patent bar exam last week!!!!

Hello World!  Thanks for checking out our latest post on Diversity in IP Law.  This is a topic of discussion that comes up frequently in our firm.  We are constantly looking at ways to increase the diversity of our team and the vendors we use. 

I recently came across an article from ABA Landslide magazine that touched on the lack of diversity, especially gender diversity, in Patent Law.  Not only were some of the numbers discouraging, the lack of diversity in STEM fields has carried over to IP law.  Check out some of these numbers:

Women make up only 21.8 percent of USPTO registered attorneys and agents.  The single most alarming stat from the study is as follows:  There are more patent attorneys and agents with the first name “Michael” than there are racially diverse women.  In fact, the first racially diverse woman did not register with the USPTO until the late 1980’s.  Less than 40 years ago!  For such a diverse field of work, it is surprising to see these kind of figures.

Variety is the spice of life!  Diversity in a workforce is key to limiting turnover and keeping employees happy.  It has also been proven to have a direct correlation with higher revenues and increased market share!  While many companies continue to neglect or under-value this data, the ones who give priority to a diverse workplace will be rewarded in the end.  

While much of the data has shown the lack of growth in diversity among IP firms, there are a few figures that do point to an increase in diversity in the coming years.  2.2 percent of registrants with the USPTO since 2000 have been racially diverse women.  While that number seems small, it is obviously a massive improvement over where things were 40 years ago when the first racially diverse woman registered with the USPTO.

The team members at Burris Law are proud to have a diverse workforce in a Woman Owned Firm.  Constantly looking at the diversity in our office and figuring out ways we can increase it both within our firm and the suppliers we use.  Becoming a member of NAMWOLF has given us access to a plethora of resources from which we draw upon regularly.  In addition to NAMWOLF, we are also members of the Women Owned organization, bringing together business owners from across various industries.  Using these organizations as tools to help us increase diversity has been a tremendous resource.

Huge shout out to the firm of Harrity & Harrity, specifically Elaine Spector and LaTia Brand, for all their hard work in bringing this information to light.  Great job, the article is filled with solid data and makes many good points on different topics as they relate to diversity.  

Burris Law’s recent suite renovation in Stroh River Place was featured on the architectural website, Archello.  We had a lot of fun designing the space with our pals over at ISCG, and we are particularly proud of our 747 nacelle reception desk, custom designed and built by the wizards at MotoArt.

As of July 2, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) initiated the Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program to advance applications out of turn in ex parte appeals before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).  Below is a link to the official documentation:

Federal Register-Fast Track Appeals Pilot Program

The USPTO sets a target of issuing a decision on ex parte appeals within six months from the date that an appeal is entered into the Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program.  

How Long The Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program Will Last

The Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program began on July 2, 2020 and will be offered until July 2, 2021.  The Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program may end earlier in case a total of 500 petitions to request the Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program are filed before July 2, 2021.  The USPTO will evaluate usage of the Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program and decide to extend or discontinue.

How Soon The Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program Can Expedite Decisions

Currently, the average ex parte appeal pendency is about 15 months. (Source: USPTO).

The Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program expedite ex parte appeals by providing fast-track status, with a goal of issuing ex parte appeal decisions within six months from the date that an appeal for a particular application is entered into the Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program.  

How Much The Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program Cost

The Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program requires a petition for advancing an appeal out of turn at a petition fee of $400.  This fee is not refundable.  The petition must identify application and appeal numbers.  

What Are The Requirements Of The Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program

The Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program is available for an original utility, design, or plant nonprovisional application.  In other words, reissue, reexamination, appeals made special due to the age or health of an applicant, or any other appeal made special, are excluded from the Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program.  

How The Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program Works

·      Inclusion into the Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program should be requested via a petition.  

·      Once a petition is filed, a decision on the petition will be made no later than one month from the filing date of the petition.

·      The number of granted petitions may be limited to 125 granted petitions per quarter.  

·      Fast-track status may be removed due to any request by an appellant causing a delay in the conductor of the appeal, or an appellant’s withdrawal from the Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program or the PTAB’s decision.

Take-aways  

Welcome to a new feature on our blog!  Going forward we will be doing a quarterly spotlight on one of our clients and what they are currently up to.  For this month, the obvious choice is Ford Motor Company.  Growing up in Detroit, you see the Ford name everywhere.  On cars, factories, office buildings and even stadiums.  One thing people do not realize is how much philanthropy the Ford family does for our area.  From the Ford Foundation to Ford Warriors in Pink, they are constantly working to improve our quality of life here in Metro Detroit and all around the world.  

During this trying time with the Coronavirus, Ford has stepped up in a major way to help out Americans in this time of need.

First off, they have started producing ventilators for distribution to hospitals nationwide. This is incredibly important as currently there is a worldwide shortage of ventilators.  Together with GE they plan to produce 75k ventilators a month by July 31st.

In addition, they have also started manufacturing protective shield face masks for the medical workers who are being exposed to the virus on a daily basis.  They were able to accomplish the incredible feat of producing 1 million face shields in 13 days!

Lastly, they have even got some of their top engineers together (digitally of course) and have created intricate coloring books to keep the kids entertained while stuck at home.

This is the type of behavior that helps Ford stand out from the competition, and nails the essence of what it means to be family business.  We salute you Ford!

Exciting times continue here at Burris Law, as we have added another seasoned attorney to the team in Detroit!

Please join us in welcoming Miyoung Shin to Burris Law.  As a partner at a boutique IP firm for more than five years, and a partner in a general practice for over two years, she brings plenty of experience to the stable of attorneys at Burris Law.  With a background in Electrical Engineering, Miyoung uses her expertise in fields such as cellular communication systems, Android OS, display devices, home appliances and medical devices. Some of the work Miyoung is most proud of is building global design filing systems, (including the Hague system) as well as national filings into remote countries including several Middle Eastern countries and Africa.  Miyoung has a passion for helping others and enjoying the outdoors when she isn’t working on intellectual property.  She particularly enjoys walking or running the Lakefront Trail on the beautiful coast of Lake Michigan during the summers!  

We are extremely proud to announce that Burris Law is the Title Sponsor for this event!

The annual International Patent Drafting Competition, which is held at the Elijah J. McCoy Midwest Regional USPTO, takes place at the beginning of each year and offers student teams the opportunity to present their patent applications in front of a panel of judges comprised of patent examiners, practitioners, and several high profile guest judges. 

Four of our attorneys at Burris Law will be judging the competition in 2020.  We are delighted to have Abha Fadipe, George Patsarikas, Mark Harper and our fearless leader Kelly Burris all judging this year’s submissions.

The competition is growing in popularity as it started with just 4 teams in 2016 and has now grown to over 15 teams from across the United States and Canada.  Truly an International event!  Being this is our third consecutive year being involved, we have seen firsthand the growth taking place.  Each event brings an increase in teams and we hope to see up to 20 teams competing next year!

Last month, one of our most prestigious attorneys made time to be an honorary judge at the local Future City competition. In partnership with the Engineering Society of Detroit, our very own Mark Harper, PhD was in attendance for his second consecutive Future Cities event. Future City is a project-based learning program where students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades imagine, research, design, and build cities of the future. It is a wonderful educational experience and we are so proud to have Mark there mentoring students while representing Burris Law!

We are pleased to announce the addition of two seasoned attorneys to the Burris Law team.  In addition to two new staff members, our continued growth is a great way to kick off a new decade. We are proud to welcome the new members to our family!

Mike is a veteran Intellectual Property attorney who brings over twenty years of experience to Burris Law.  A former principal shareholder of a large, nationally known IP firm, Mike has serviced clients ranging from Fortune 200 companies to small family owned business.   Mike is grateful to his clients, all of whom followed him to Burris Law. In the limited time that we’ve known him, it’s clear that Mike has a passion for his profession, appreciates the opportunity to mentor younger attorneys and is dedicated to his clients.  

Mike is a devoted husband and father, and has a wide range of interests including photography, art, music, cooking, wine, flyfishing and the great outdoors.

George has extensive experience in various electrical and computer arts, such as automotive control systems, software, semiconductors, communication systems, and climate control systems.  His understanding of various technologies combined with his upbringing in a family business enables him to provide his clients with a wide variety of quality and economical intellectual property services.

Burris Law is proud to be ranked in the Harrity Analytics “TOP PATENT FIRMS” for 2019. As our practice grows, our efficiency in prosecuting patent applications speaks for itself, with only 1.1 office actions and 0.1 RCEs (Requests for Continued Examination) per patent.  Find out more about Burris Law and our amazing team HERE.