Tom is a trial lawyer and registered patent attorney with over 15 years of experience in patent litigation. He has successfully defended companies in patent infringement cases related to mechanical, electrical and medical devices, as well as computer related technologies. He is experienced in defending large corporations against patent trolls. Tom also knows his way around the U.S. Patent Office and incorporates post grant review proceedings, including inter partes reviews, which play an important part in efficiently defending against patent infringement claims.
Tom specializes in all aspects of intellectual property litigation, including patent, trademark, trade secret, and copyright litigation. His extensive experience with U.S. Patent & Trademark Office post-grant proceedings, such as IPRs and reexaminations, allows him to take the fight to court or the patent office, whichever is best for his client. Tom has successfully litigated high-stakes patent cases from sophisticated turf-care equipment, software patents, and medical devices to adjustable dumbbells, construction tools, and retractable screen doors and window hardware. He has also successfully litigated trade secret, trademark, and copyright cases for a variety of clients, and has experience with complex ITC cases dealing with chemical technologies. Tom is also experienced in defending clients sued by patent trolls where he uses his knowledge of the trolls and their pressure points to resolve those matters efficiently.
As a trial lawyer and registered patent attorney with nearly twenty years’ experience litigating IP matters, Tom knows that cases are won on the facts and the story they tell. He assembles a focused team to unearth not-readily-available facts and then weaves those facts into a winning legal strategy for his clients. His practical approach to problems and his ability to focus quickly on the best strategy avoids wasting time and money chasing distractions. His goal is to help his clients succeed in their businesses by protecting and defending their market space or by counseling them so they can avoid litigation altogether.
Tom’s extensive experience handling patent, trademark, trade secret, and copyright matters provides him with the unique ability to counsel clients on strategies to avoid IP litigation. He provides clients with freedom to operate opinions, helps clients design around competitor’s patent portfolios and performs due-diligence reviews for companies entering new markets or buying and selling businesses or technology to make sure they get what they pay for and avoid future litigation, or worse yet, an injunction.
At Merchant & Gould, Tom led the litigation-training program for almost a decade. He has done pro bono housing work on behalf of the Volunteer Lawyers Network. In his free time, Tom likes to spend time with his family, travel, hike, hunt, fish, ride motorcycles, ATVs and snowmobiles, play hockey, and go downhill and water skiing.