Leonard counsels clients in intellectual property with an emphasis on procurement of domestic and foreign patent, trademark and copyright protection. In this effort, Leonard represents national and international clients across a broad technology spectrum.
Patents, Trademarks and Licensing Experience
Patents - Focused on patent prosecution, infringement and validity analyses including re-examinations, and intellectual property portfolio analyses. Leonard counsels clients with respect to patent procurement strategies, analyses of patents including offensive and defensive strategies, and analyses of potential patent acquisition targets. Leonard has drafted and prosecuted numerous patent applications. He routinely manages patent procurement activities and supervises attorneys in their drafting and prosecuting efforts. Leonard also manages patent project activities according to clients’ expectations which may lead to litigation or cross-licensing.
Leonard has significant knowledge in procuring patents commensurate with clients’ budgetary requirements. In addition, Leonard has aided clients in developing and implementing their in-house patent procurement strategies. His efforts have included facilitating the identification of technologies for patenting, educating inventors/employees on the patent procurement process; and developing short-term and long-term patent strategies for increasing patent portfolios.
Trademarks - Focused on trademark preparation, filing and prosecution. Leonard counsels clients with respect to trademark procurement and protection, including developing registration strategies such as following the Madrid protocol. He has drafted and prosecuted numerous trademark applications. Leonard also works to provide clients with trademark protection on the Internet such as domain name issues (UDRP) and cyber-piracy (fraud and phishing).
Licensing - Leonard has worked on a variety of licenses that involve protecting clients’ intellectual property. Leonard has negotiated technology agreements and worked on cross-licensing arrangements.
Engineering and International Experience
Prior to joining Shook, Leonard worked for Bell Laboratories and later Lucent Technologies. Leonard has over 19 years of engineering experience in the domestic and international markets in wireline and wireless telecommunications systems design, development, test and delivery; software design, integration, and systems testing; technical product marketing; and contract development, negotiation and execution. Leonard has worked extensively in the international market in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America.