BPAI - World Class Team

Teddy Gron brings 35 years of USPTO experience to the firm.  He most recently served as an APJ at the Board for 14 years.  He was responsible for hearing and deciding ex parte appeals and inter partes reexamination proceedings in chemical/biotechnology/pharmaceutical cases, including appeals involving reissue and reexamination applications.  Prior to working at the Board, Teddy worked in the Office of the Solicitor as an Associate Solicitor for 6 years and argued more than 50 cases before the Federal Circuit.  Teddy has years of proven experience in assessing the relevant facts and evidence and then framing the patentability argument in a way that APJs find most persuasive. 

Lee E. Barrett brings 32 years of USPTO experience to the firm, the last 16 of which were as an APJ .  He was responsible for hearing and deciding appeals for applications in the electrical and computer fields, including for reissue of patents, and in ex parte and inter parte reexamination proceedings.  Prior to working at the Board, Lee spent 8 years at the Office of the Solicitor as an Associate Solicitor arguing 60 cases before the Federal Circuit.  Lee’s involvement at the Board was not merely routine electrical cases.  He was the principal author of the Board’s decisions in Bilski (35 USC § 101, Business Methods) and Nuijten (Signal claims), and handled the Warmerdam case (Data Structure claims) and Lowry case (Data structure in a memory claims) while in the Solicitor’s Office.

Harris Pitlick came to Oblon Spivak from the USPTO’s Office of the Solicitor.  As an Associate Solicitor, he argued some 100 appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and other appellate tribunals.  Harris finds several parallels between practice before an appellate level court and practice before an examiner or the PTO’s Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences.  Thus, his experience enables him to focus on the important issues, make the proper arguments, and not get distracted by matters that ultimately are insignificant.

Rick Treanor and Dan Pereira, along with other professionals in the chemical/biotechnology practice group, have years of industry experience and patent prosecution experience, having prosecuted numerous cases through the appeals process in complex chemical/biotechnology/pharmaceutical areas.  Rick and Dan’s technical, business and prosecution experience with Teddy and Harris’ USPTO experience makes for a powerful chemical appeals team that prides itself in offering practical advice in addition to providing excellent results.

Surinder “Sach” Sachar, along with other professionals in the Electrical and Mechanical prosecution groups, has significant industry and USPTO experience and have prosecuted numerous cases through the Appeal’s process for complex technologies including semiconductors/communication systems/image processing apparatuses/medical devices, etc.  Consistent with our goal of providing excellent results, Sach works closely with Lee and the client to understand the relevant technical and business objectives and then develop an appeal strategy that achieves the desired effect.

Craig Feinberg brings over 34 years of USPTO experience to the firm, including over 18 years as the Administrator at the Board of Appeals reviewing Appeals for compliance, serving as a law clerk, and overseeing Oral Hearings.  Craig also lectured at the USPTO Patent Academy on Appeal Procedures before the Board.