Tom specializes in building large intellectual property portfolios that advance his clients’ business strategies, protect their investments in research and development, and enhance their competitive position in the marketplace. A trusted advisor to his clients, he is highly responsive and valued for his thoughtful, practical, and business-savvy insight.

Tom represents companies in heavy equipment manufacturing, financial services, and the software-as-a-service (SaaS) sector, with a particular focus on the protection of machine-control systems and software. He has a reputation for successfully handling subject-matter and prior-art rejections of software-related applications issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and is currently involved in developing strategies for overcoming such rejections following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Alice Corporation ruling.

He also manages intellectual property due diligence for major corporate acquisitions and sales. He has a wealth of experience evaluating intellectual property assets included in transactions to assess their strategic value, their ability to be integrated into existing product lines, and their potential for opening new areas of business for his clients.

Tom routinely assists his clients by identifying and analyzing intellectual property threats from competitors and taking action to defend against them. He offers counsel and renders opinions on infringement and validity issues and provides advice on the design of products to maximize their intellectual property value and avoid infringing on competitors’ patent portfolios.

A former engineer with Hewlett-Packard Company, Tom has a technical background and experience that includes electrical, mechanical, computer, software, and biomedical technologies.

Prior to being elected to the firm’s Management Committee, Tom served as the Chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group, managing a group of over 100 attorneys and agents across all of the offices of the firm.