Patent Attorney Profile

Engineer and Patent Agent at IBM

James was an engineer in IBM's Microelectronics Division, where he developed processes, characterized problems, and was a prolific inventor for more than 10 years. In January, 1993 he transferred from engineering to IBM's Intellectual Property Law Department, where he wrote and prosecuted patent applications for almost 9 years. He opened his own outside patent law practice in November 2000 while continuing to work for IBM in-house part-time. On September 1, 2001 he left IBM to pursue his own practice as a patent attorney full time.

James wrote or prosecuted well over one hundred patent applications for IBM. He also wrote the claims for many hundreds of others that were sent to outside counsel. James served on IBM boards with technical experts to review invention disclosures with inventors and decide which to patent. He developed skill at picking inventions with substantial commercial value. He also developed excellent skills at writing broad claims for a patent search and then for patent applications. Working with seven in-house IBM patent attorneys at the Burlington IBM site--one of the largest semiconductor fabrication plants in the world--James honed patent law skills and developed good working relationships with IBM inventors.

Engineer at Solarex Corp.

James was also an engineer with photovoltaic cell and panel manufacturer, Solarex Corporation for four years.

Education

James graduated from MIT with a B.S. in biology. He earned an M.S. in physics and completed all requirements toward the PhD in physics except the dissertation from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. James was admitted to the patent bar as a patent agent in 1990. He read for the Vermont bar while working in IBM's Intellectual Property Law Department and was admitted as a Vermont attorney and as a patent attorney in 1998.

Publications and Patents

James has many publications on technical and non-technical topics. James holds 43 patents for his own inventions (click here to view the list). 36 of these patents are for work he did while an engineer at IBM. He received eleven invention achievement awards from IBM. Topics of his inventions include transistor design, including a vertical dual gate field effect transistor design, memory cell design, semiconductor processing, chip packaging, test and burn-in, lasers, silicon-germanium, and opto-electronic devices.

James' broad technological skills and excellent writing skills permit him to draft high quality patent applications including commercially valuable claims.