PATTERSON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW - Key Persons
After earning his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern University in 2009, Andrew pursued a career in materials R&D, specializing in the development of high-performance specialty alloys and structural materials. He is a contributing inventor on 11 U.S. patents. After deciding that he wanted to focus full time on the patent process, he attended Washington University in St. Louis, where he earned his J.D. in 2020. Andrew focuses his practice on patent prosecution and litigation. His passion for metallurgy and materials science has never left him.
Andrew is currently admitted to practice in the State of Oregon.
Education
J.D., Washington University in St. Louis; Cum Laude
Caitlin Carter joined Patterson Intellectual Property Law as litigation paralegal in 2019. Prior to joining the Firm, Caitlin was a licensing and contracts coordinator with CareSpot / MedPost Urgent Care's corporate office.
Before moving to Nashville, Caitlin served in the United States Air Force for eight years. During that time she worked as a military justice paralegal, general/civil law paralegal, defense paralegal, and military justice section supervisor. She has an Associate Degree from Community College of the Air Force where she majored in Paralegal Studies.
Emily Shouse is an AV-rated attorney who focuses on the protection of patents and trademarks in the United States and foreign countries. She manages the international intellectual property portfolios of Patterson's clients to ensure their IP assets are protected according to the individual rules and regulations of countries around the world.
Emily represents Patterson's clients from large, multinational corporations to individual inventors, ensuring their IP assets are protected wherever their business may take them. Emily's IP experience includes prosecuting and defending disputes arising under state, federal, and international laws, including proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
Emily is very active with several professional and community services groups. She is especially active in the Nashville Bar Association's Historical Committee.
Education
J.D., University of Georgia School of Law
B.S., Engineering Science, Lipscomb University, cum laude
Inventors and manufacturers turn to Gary Montle knowing that he understands their products and how to protect their intellectual property. As a patent lawyer and former Field Service Engineer, Gary has more than twenty years of hands-on experience working with the technology he protects. He utilizes this experience to prepare and prosecute patents for a variety of electrical products, controls, and software applications.
Gary's career as an engineer before law school gave him international experience on multiple continents, which served him well as an intern at the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. He uses that experience now to advise clients on patent protection and prosecution strategies in Europe, Latin America, and Asia, in addition to the United States.
Gary is active in the legal community as a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, Nashville Bar Association, and in the Tennessee Intellectual Property Law Association where he served as President from 2018-2019.
Jerry Turner Sewell has over 37 years of experience practicing intellectual property law. Mr. Sewell focuses his practice on the preparation and prosecution of patent applications in the electrical, electronic, and computer fields. This practice includes software, internet, and data processing patent prosecution.
Previously, Mr. Sewell was a partner with the firm of Knobbe, Martens, Olson and Bear in Orange County, California, where he practiced for twenty-one years. While at Knobbe, he obtained patents in the electrical, electronic, and computer software fields as well as for fiber optic sensing systems for Stanford University.
Mr. Sewell worked for nine years as a Senior Design Engineer for Control Data Corporation in Bloomington, Minnesota, designing and testing processors, memories, peripheral devices, and systems for the aerospace industry. He also spent three years with Deutsch, Kerrigan & Stiles in New Orleans as a civil litigator. Mr. Sewell was in solo practice in Franklin, Tennessee, and Newport Beach, California, from 2005 until he joined the firm in February of 2015.
Education
J.D., University of Minnesota
M.S., Electrical Engineering, University of Minnesota
B.S., Electrical Engineering, University of Missouri at Rolla
John Willis enjoys spending time in the outdoors with his family and friends.
John Willis received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Alabama in 2019 and J.D. from Belmont University College of Law in 2022. He concentrates his practice in the areas of trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets.
Education
J.D., Belmont University College of Law
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, The University of Alabama
Mark A. Kilgore, Ph.D. focuses his practice on patent prosecution and intellectual property infringement litigation. He also counsels clients on IP procurement in both patents and trademarks.
Mark's scientific background provides high-quality patent prosecution services in the fields of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and the mechanical arts. In addition to procurement, he counsels clients on licensing agreements, non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements, and other IP-related transactions. Mark has also represented clients in procuring trademarks and copyrights and has conducted trademark opposition proceedings before the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
Mark also has litigation experience in traditional infringement cases in U.S. District Courts, appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and administrative reviews, including inter partes reviews, before the USPTO. He has been an integral litigation team member in representing international and domestic companies in a variety of matters including material science, industrial equipment, chemical formulations, and medical devices.
Mark is involved in several legal and life sciences professional groups including the American Intellectual Property Law Association and Society for Neuroscience. He has also written extensively on various neuroscience topics, design patent protection, and presents on Right of Publicity matters.
Affiliations
American Bar Association
American Intellectual Property Law Association
BIO Alabama
Nashville Bar Association
Intellectual Property Committee, Chair 2022
Society for Neuroscience
Tennessee Bar Association
Mark Patterson is a true Renaissance man, with his knowledge ranging from the most nutritious red wine to ham radio equipment and protocols.
Education
J.D., Florida State University College of Law, summa cum laude
Mark Patterson has over 40 years of experience counseling clients in the protection, management, and enforcement of intellectual property rights, including patent and trademark prosecution and licensing. As a former electronics design engineer, Mark works regularly with complex electronic, computer, and electro-mechanical technologies. He has managed patent and trademark portfolios for clients with significant domestic and global operations. Mark began his legal career as a litigator and for 30 years tried numerous cases and argued appeals in both state and federal courts. He was an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt Law School and has provided expert witness services in a variety of intellectual property disputes. He applies all of this experience in providing cost-effective, strategic IP advice to businesses throughout the U.S.
Affiliations
American Intellectual Property Law Association
International Trademark Association
Nashville Bar Association
Tennessee Bar Association
Tennessee Intellectual Property Law Association
Nathan concentrates his practice on intellectual property infringement litigation and patent prosecution. He has experience in a wide range of technologies and industries including AI, aerodynamics, 3-D printing, sporting goods, and manufacturing. Nathan's background provides further depth to our appellate practice and brings the technical skills our clients need for drafting patent applications.
Prior to joining Patterson, Nathan severed as a Law Clerk for the Honorable Raymond Chen of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. He is a 2017 graduate of Emory University School of Law, where he served as the Editor and Chief of the Emory Law Journal.
Education
J.D., Emory University School of Law, Order of the Coif.
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tennessee, magna cum laude
Job Titles:
- Director of Administration
Rob McKay, CLM, is the Director of Administration for Patterson Intellectual Property Law. Rob is responsible for the firm's operations and strategic development. In addition, Rob also manages the day-to-day functioning of the firm's facilities, finances, human resources and benefits operations, recruiting, and technology.
Rob was most recently the general manager of Coyote Analytics, a legal practice management software. Prior to joining Coyote Analytics Rob spent 25 years as the principal administrator of law firms in South Florida and Texas.
Growing up in Southern Africa, Rob completed all his schooling in Zimbabwe. He also qualified as a Certified Legal Administrator (CLM) through the Association of Legal Administrators.
Ryan D. Levy is the managing shareholder at Patterson Intellectual Property Law and co-chairs the firm's Litigation Practice Group. He is an accomplished litigation attorney focusing on complex patent disputes in a variety of technologies, including industrial and automotive machinery, chemical, medical devices, and software ranging from web-based protocols to automated detection systems.
Ryan has a wide range of litigation experience before federal district courts, the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the Court of International Trade, and various arbitration forums. He is a thoughtful team leader and is sought out for his good judgment and quick ability to determine the key issues of a case.
Leading litigation teams in representing both international and domestic companies, Ryan is not afraid to take creative approaches to resolve disputes. He understands the intricacies of litigation and can guide clients while clearly articulating their positions.
In addition to his litigation practice, Ryan also counsels clients on intellectual property procurement and licensing. He is regularly involved in developing and supervising patent prosecution strategies for maximizing the value of his clients' intellectual property portfolios. Ryan's litigation experience enables him to advise clients on complex prosecution strategies to avoid potential problems if a patent portfolio is later challenged. He continues to maintain a patent prosecution practice with particular emphasis on chemical compounds, medical devices, and the firearm industries.
Education
J.D., Duke University School of Law
B.S., Biochemistry, North Carolina State University
B.S., Chemical Engineering, North Carolina State University Park Scholar
Initially pursuing a career in life sciences, Chase received his B.S. in Biochemistry from Middle Tennessee State University. After realizing that he wanted to blend his scientific knowledge with the law, he received his J.D. from The University of Tennessee College of Law in 2023. Chase focuses his practice on the prosecution and litigation of matters involving patents, trademarks, and copyrights.
Education
J.D., University of Tennessee; Summa Cum Laude
Samuel (Sam) Raque is a Registered U.S. Patent Attorney. He concentrates his practice in the areas of intellectual property protection, including patent prosecution, counseling clients on their intellectual property portfolios, patent infringement, and the litigation of intellectual property law matters.
Dr. Seth Ogden focuses his practice on patent litigation and the protection of clients' trade secrets. He has extensive experience in the pharmaceutical, medical device, biotechnology, and chemical technology industries. His scientific background and years of experience in the laboratory give him a unique insight when working with clients in these industries.
Seth litigates intellectual property cases throughout the country, in inter partes review proceedings before the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and in Section 337 investigations before the International Trade Commission and has argued before the Federal Circuit. He is also experienced in pre-trial discovery work, claim analysis, and motions practice. Outside of litigation, Seth has proficiency in developing trade secret protection plans for clients ranging from industrial manufacturers to data analytics firms.
Seth also maintains a robust veterans' benefits pro bono practice assisting veterans with disability claims. He has pursued veterans' claims to the Board of Veterans Appeals and the Court of Veterans Claims. Seth has been honored with an Attorney for Justice Award for several years by the Tennessee Supreme Court, most recently in 2020, for his pro bono work with veterans.
Education
J.D., American University Washington College of Law, cum laude
Ph.D., Cancer Biology, Vanderbilt University
B.A., Biology, University of Virginia
Job Titles:
- a Docketing Paralegal
- Docketing Paralegal
Skylar Ashton joined Patterson Intellectual Property Law as a docketing paralegal in 2019. Prior to joining the firm, Skylar graduated from the University of Louisville where she received a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and an associate's degree in paralegal studies.
While in college, Skylar participated in an internship with the Commonwealth Attorney's Office in Louisville, Kentucky, where she learned she wanted to further her career as a paralegal. Skylar decided to move to Nashville, Tennessee, after college to pursue her career goals with Patterson.
Wayne has over 40 years of experience in the practice of intellectual property law. He served as General Counsel to Gibson Guitar Corporation from 1995 to 1997 and has filed and prosecuted over 1,000 patents in the mechanical arts. His current practice is heavily focused on the filing and prosecution of patents and on conducting complex patent freedom to operate and/or infringement reviews for many of Patterson's clients as they develop and introduce new products to the market, or as they conduct due diligence during the acquisition of new businesses.
Clients turn to Wayne to develop patent strategies leveraging the interplay between foreign and domestic patent application filings. His educational and professional backgrounds in engineering, law, and business enhance his ability to help clients achieve strategic business goals by developing robust intellectual property portfolios. Through his assistance, clients have amassed patent portfolios proving quite difficult for competitors to circumvent. Wayne is known as a leading mechanical patent prosecutor and additionally provides his experience for infringement analysis for high-stakes litigations. He also leads the development of new patent prosecutors at Patterson Intellectual Property Law with his established training program.
Affiliations
American Bar Association
Tennessee Bar Association
Nashville Bar Association
Intellectual Property Committee, Former Chairman
Tennessee Intellectual Property Association
Oklahoma Bar Association
Patent, Trademark and Copyright Section, Former President
Wesley concentrates his practice in the areas of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. A Registered Patent Attorney, Wesley's practice areas include patent prosecution, portfolio management, and intellectual property litigation. As a prior product development engineer, Wesley has experience in a wide range of technologies including fixed-wing aviation platforms and manufacturing.
Education
J.D., Belmont University College of Law, cum laude
William Sekyi is an Of Counsel patent attorney with Patterson Intellectual Property Law in Nashville. He began his practice in Washington, D.C. in 2002 and has been litigating patent disputes in district courts, appellate courts, and the International Trade Commission ever since. In addition to litigating, he counsels clients on IP matters, prosecutes patents, and more recently has been involved in a number of inter partes review proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. William earned a B.Sc. in mechanical engineering from Imperial College, London University, his M.S. in petroleum engineering from Louisiana State University, and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.
Education
J.D., Georgetown University Law Center
M.S., Petroleum Engineering, Louisiana State University
B.Sc., Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College, London University (United Kingdom), cum laude