STAAS & HALSEY - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Attorney
- Senior Counsel With the Washington, D.C. Law Firm
David M. Pitcher, senior counsel with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Staas & Halsey LLP and has been practicing law for over 35 years. For the past 30 years, he has been in private law firm practice specializing exclusively in intellectual property matters, with particular interest in counseling clients on overall intellectual property strategy related to patent and trademark protection, procurement, validity and enforcement issues, and licensing. He has assisted clients in many different technology areas for manufacturing companies, computer software and hardware companies, and service and financial institutions.
Mr. Pitcher has an engineering degree (BSE) from the University of Michigan, a law degree (JD) from Syracuse University, and also attended the George Washington University Graduate School of Business in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Pitcher is admitted to the bars of the State of New York and the District of Columbia and holds memberships in the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), the International Trademark Association (INTA), the Licensing Executive Society (LES), the International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property (AIPPI), the New York Bar Association, the D.C. Bar Association, and the Federal Bar Association.
Over the past 25 years, Mr. Pitcher has published various articles and has made numerous presentations on U.S. intellectual property issues to various organizations. His publications have included: "Intellectual Property Infringement Indemnification", Drafting License Agreements 4th Edition 2007 (Aspen Publishing), "U.S. Design Patent Protection for a Company's Product Configurations", and "Basic Considerations in a U.S. Patent Infringement Analysis."
In his professional career before private law firm practice, Mr. Pitcher was an attorney with the U.S. government involved in litigation and economic pricing controls for the Executive Branch and a military aide to the President of the United States, and also worked as an intellectual property attorney and an engineer with one of the larger U.S. manufacturing corporations. In the past, he was a member of the Board of Directors of a publicly-stock traded military/defense systems and semiconductor manufacturing company.
Gene M. Garner II is a partner with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Staas & Halsey LLP. He is experienced in virtually all aspects of patent preparation and prosecution in the electrical arts, computer arts, and mechanical arts.
More particularly, Mr. Garner has prepared and/or prosecuted patent applications in computer hardware and software, electronic commerce, networking and telecommunications, computer graphics, medical equipment, data storage, semiconductors and testing equipment, image forming apparatuses, and home appliances. In addition, he has prepared and presented patentability, validity, and infringement studies in the electrical and mechanical arts.
Mr. Garner has prepared and presented seminars and lectures on various intellectual property topics to corporate groups, professional organizations, and university-sponsored conferences in the U.S, Asia and Europe.
Prior to practicing law, Mr. Garner was an engineer designing and developing semiconductors, telecommunications equipment, computer software, and computer systems.
In addition to his law degree from the University of Maryland, Mr. Garner holds Master's degree in electrical engineering from Cornell University, and a Master's degree in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University. He also holds a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland where he was President of Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society.
Mr. Garner is admitted to the Bars of Maryland and the District of Columbia, as well as to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and holds memberships in various professional organizations. Mr. Garner's hobbies include travel and sports.
Job Titles:
- Founder
- Founder, 1938 - 2019
Harry John Staas ("Jack"), was a founding partner of the Washington, D.C. intellectual property law firm Staas & Halsey LLP, and passed late last year in November, 2019. Almost 50 years ago in 1971, Jack Staas and Jim Halsey teamed up to establish the Staas & Halsey LLP law firm.
For over thirty-eight years, Jack helped co-lead the firm to serve many international and U.S. clients with their varied patent needs. The firm maintains the same personal and quality commitment to our clients now and into the future as was Jack Staas's founding partner legacy.
James D. Halsey, Jr. ("Jim"), was a founding partner of the Washington, D.C. intellectual property law firm Staas & Halsey LLP, and passed this year in April, 2020. Almost 50 years ago in 1971, Jim Halsey and Jack Staas teamed up to establish the Staas & Halsey LLP law firm.
For over thirty-five years, Jim helped lead and build the firm to serve many international and U.S. clients with their varied intellectual property needs. Jim then acted as Senior Counsel of Staas & Halsey LLP for a further ten years. The firm maintains the same personal and quality commitment to our clients now and into the future as was Jim Halsey's founding partner legacy.
Job Titles:
- Attorney
- Senior Counsel With the Washington
John C. Garvey is a Senior Counsel with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Staas & Halsey LLP. Mr. Garvey has worked extensively in the area of intellectual property client counseling. He has conducted infringement and validity studies in a wide variety of technologies, including voice messaging equipment, cellular telephone technology, facsimile equipment, modems, fiber optic devices, semiconductors, and photographic equipment. Mr. Garvey has experience in negotiating patent, trademark and copyright licensing, settlement agreements, and product distribution agreements. He also has experience in proceedings before the International Trade Commission and the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences and in litigation in the U.S. Federal Courts with respect to a variety of technologies, including cellular telephones, voice messaging equipment, fiber optics devices, printers, and mail opening equipment. Mr. Garvey has acquired broad experience in preparing and prosecuting patent applications in a wide variety of technical areas, including communication systems, computers, high definition television, electronic circuits, semiconductors, numerically controlled machines, mechanical systems, photographic equipment, and optical devices.
Mr. Garvey has been a speaker at the District of Columbia Bar Association and at a seminar for members of Japanese companies stationed in Washington on the issue of patent infringement in the United States. He has also presented a seminar in Japan on the topic of multimedia. In addition, Mr. Garvey has given presentations at a number of companies in Japan on a variety of U.S. patent issues, such as infringement, and has also been a guest speaker before the Canadian Bar Association on the topic of U.S. Patent Litigation. Mr. Garvey is the author of "Overview of an Infringement Analysis," Intellectual Property Management, Vol. 46, No. 8, August 1996 and "Recent Trends in the Patentability of Computer Related Inventions: Is a Method of Doing Business Patentable?" International Legal Strategy, Vol. V-11, November 1996.
Mr. Garvey has an electrical engineering degree (B.S.) from Duke University and a law degree (J.D.) from George Washington University. He is admitted to the bar of the District of Columbia. He is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the federal district and appellate courts of the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In addition to being a member of the American Bar Association, Mr. Garvey also holds memberships in a number of other groups, including the District of Columbia Bar Association, the Federal Circuit Bar Association, and the American Intellectual Property Law Association.
Mark J. Henry is a former partner and current senior counsel with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Staas & Halsey LLP. He is now splitting his time between Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, serving clients on both coasts and abroad. He is actively involved in protecting clients' intellectual property rights through patents, trademarks, trade secrets and copyrights. His work in patent procurement has been in a wide range of technical arts, including semiconductor device electronics, organic and inorganic chemistry, wireless communication, polymer processing, optical communication, and telecommunication. Mr. Henry counsels clients on overall intellectual property strategy related to patent and trademark protection, procurement, validity and enforcement issues, and licensing. He has conducted complex infringement and validity studies and used these studies in licensing and settlement negotiations and to counsel clients during litigation.
In Los Angeles, Mr. Henry is active in the Bet Tzedek non-profit organization and the entertainment law and intellectual property section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He believes in a results-oriented methodology to contract negotiation. Mr. Henry is the author of numerous published articles and a frequent lecturer on intellectual property law, in the US and abroad.
Prior to joining Staas & Halsey LLP, Mr. Henry worked in private industry writing patent disclosures on nuclear and other energy technology applications. He also had an internship with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office examining patent applications in the field of adhesive materials and various chemical manufacture.
Mr. Henry enjoys scuba diving and light beer, but not at the same time.
Mehdi Sheikerz is a partner with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Staas & Halsey LLP. Mr. Sheikerz focuses on and has extensive experience in preparing and prosecuting patent applications relating to computer software in the U.S. and internationally.
Mr. Sheikerz also advises clients on design patent, trademark and copyright related matters, including preparation and prosecution of design patent, trademark and copyright applications.
Mr. Sheikerz conducts presentations on intellectual property solutions, including patents, trademarks, and copyrights for clients.
Mr. Sheikerz also advises small to mid-sized businesses on establishing in-house intellectual property programs.
Mr. Lines has experience preparing and prosecuting patent applications in a number of different technology areas, including heat exchanger design, heat exchanger components and control, refrigeration, heating and cooling system design and controls, ventilation and air quality control systems, commercial field support system, polymer manufacturing systems, design, and controls, application of polymers in automotive and commercial products, polymer composite manufacturing methods, 3D printing, metal alloy compositions and manufacturing methods, material systems, and sterilization systems. Mr. Lines also has significant experience conducting and preparing patentability, freedom to operate, and invalidity searches and analysis.
Upon receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Florida State University, Mr. Lines worked for a Fortune 50 company researching, designing, manufacturing, and testing fuel cell systems including proton exchange membrane, phosphoric acid electrolyte, and solid oxide electrolyte fuel cell technologies. During this time, he led a cross functional engineering team in the design and development of a first of its kind 400 kW capable natural gas fuel processing module designed to deliver high quality, hydrogen rich, reformate to an advanced phosphoric acid fuel cell. He has also led system modeling, testing, and on-site customer support activities in support of residential, commercial, and automotive fuel cell applications.
Following his fuel cell work, Mr. Lines worked as a patent agent at a top tier IP firm in Hartford, Connecticut (CT) preparing and prosecuting US and foreign patent applications before working as a senior patent agent in-house at Otis Elevator Company and Carrier Corporation. In-house Mr. Lines managed the invention review process for both Otis and Carrier, managed the preparation and prosecution of patent applications, and provided IP support to both businesses.
Mr. Lines has a Master of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Connecticut, a law degree (J.D.) and Intellectual Property Law Certificate from the University of New Hampshire, Franklin Pierce School of Law. He is admitted to practice in the state of Connecticut and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Mr. Lines is a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA).
Mr. Lines is also an avid snowboarder, mountain biker, guitarist, and singer.
Mr. Kravetz has experience in preparing and prosecuting patent applications in many areas of technology, including computer hardware related inventions, software-related inventions, artificial intelligence, Internet technologies, e-commerce, mobile devices, optical communication systems, wireless communication systems, and analog and digital circuitry. Mr. Kravetz also has significant experience preparing patent opinions regarding infringement and validity matters.
Upon receiving his electrical engineering degree, Mr. Kravetz worked for a company that designed and manufactured computer systems. He was responsible for negotiating complex purchase and service agreements for large-scale computer systems. After graduation from law school, Mr. Kravetz worked as a patent attorney for the United States Department of the Navy, where he was primarily responsible for performing patent searches, preparing patent applications, and patent prosecution.
Mr. Kravetz has an electrical engineering degree (B.S.) from the University of Iowa and a law degree (J.D.) from De Paul University in Chicago. He is admitted to the Bar of Illinois, the Bar of the District of Columbia, and to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Mr. Kravetz is a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association.
Job Titles:
- Attorney
- Senior Counsel With the Washington
Richard A. Gollhofer is a Senior Counsel with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Staas & Halsey LLP. He has obtained intellectual property protection by preparing and prosecuting patent applications and evaluating patents for motor vehicles, computer systems, process control systems, optical imaging systems, and communication systems, as well as their use in e-commerce. He is the author or co-author of articles on copyright and patent protection of computer software and was a member of an ABA subcommittee that prepared responses to the USPTO on Examination Guidelines for Computer-Related Inventions in the 1990s and co-chair of an AIPLA subcommittee that prepared a response to the USPTO on the Interim Patent Eligibility Guidance in 2015.
Mr. Gollhofer has a computer science degree (B.S.) from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and a law degree (J.D.) from the Illinois Institute of Technology/Chicago-Kent College of Law. He is admitted to the Illinois Bar and the District of Columbia Bar where he has a membership in the Intellectual Property Law Community. He has been a member of ACM (founded as the Association for Computing Machinery) and the engineering and mathematics honor societies Tau Beta Pi and Pi Mu Epsilon since joining as an undergraduate.
Sonny S. Choi is a partner with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Staas & Halsey LLP. He gained valuable patent prosecution experience while working as an extern at another Washington, D.C. intellectual property firm, preparing and prosecuting patent applications before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Mr. Choi handled various technologies, including computer hardware and software, electrical, mechanical engineering, and physics.
Before earning his law degree, Mr. Choi worked as a Software Engineer and Application Systems Analyst at the North American Headquarter of Toyota/Lexus Corporation in Torrance, California. He participated in designing and implementing the company's national business applications, and he also played a role in analyzing and performing optimization for new and existing software applications.
Mr. Choi has a law degree (J.D.) and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from the University of New Hampshire School of Law (Franklin Pierce Law Center) with a concentration on Intellectual Property Law, including Patent, Trademark, and Copyright. He also has an I.S. degree (B.S.) from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York and is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Mr. Choi is admitted to practice in New York and to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He holds memberships in the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the New York State Bar Association, and the American Bar Association.
Mr. Choi is fluent in Korean and enjoys playing volleyball and golf. He was a member of RPI men's volleyball team and USA Volleyball Association, and he participated in the U.S. Open Volleyball Championship.
Temnit Afework is a partner with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Staas & Halsey LLP. Her patent prosecution experience emphasizes electrical equipments, computer hardware and software, Internet applications, and business methods. Ms. Afework has worked under contract with the Social Security Administration as part of a technical team responsible for upgrading the government's networks. Prior to law school, she worked for the Department of Justice - Bureau of Prisons in nationwide computer network training for government computer system engineers and assisted in the implementation of firewalls for secure access to government networks. She also worked as a law clerk for the District of Columbia Courts.
Ms. Afework has an information systems science and computer science degree (B.S.) and an administration of justice: judicial administration degree (B.A.) from Salve Regina University, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. She has a law degree (J.D.) from the George Washington University law school. Ms. Afework is admitted to practice before the District of Columbia Bar and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. She holds memberships in numerous professional organizations, including the American Bar Association, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the District of Columbia Bar Association, and is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.
Ms. Afework enjoys taking photography classes and participating in charity races. She also enjoys riding her bike to work when possible.
Thomas L. Jones is an intellectual property attorney at the Washington, D.C. firm of Staas & Halsey LLP. Mr. Jones has more than twenty years experience in patent and trademark prosecution and litigation, and has represented clients ranging from international corporations to domestic garage inventors. Mr. Jones has prosecuted patents and provided legal opinions in various fields such as thin-film transistors, display panels, electronic circuits, computer hardware and software, data security, data storage, wireless applications, telecommunications, optics, electro-mechanical devices, home appliances, and e-commerce business methods, and has successfully argued appeals before the Patent and Trademark Appeal Board on numerous occasions.
Mr. Jones received a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering from Auburn University, and a Juris Doctorate from the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College. Mr. Jones is currently admitted to practice before the Tennessee State Bar, Oregon State Bar, and the