Kevin M. McKinley

Kevin M. McKinley, a patent prosecution lawyer in the firm's Electrical and Mechanical Patent Prosecution groups, focuses his practice on patent preparation and prosecution, opinions, and client counseling. As a former Patent Examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Mr. McKinley has an insider’s perspective on the patent approval process. He is able to accelerate consideration of his clients’ patents by drawing upon his USPTO experience and by regularly conducting personal interviews with patent examiners.

With an engineering science and mechanics background, Mr. McKinley has a deep understanding of the underlying sciences and technologies involved in his clients’ innovations. This enables him to fine-tune patent applications to obtain the broadest claims and enhance his clients’ patent holdings. Mr. McKinley is experienced with a wide array of technologies including organ transplant devices, automotive innovations such as vehicle airbags and hybrid vehicles, semiconductor fabrication, video processing and display, image reproduction, electro-optics, consumer electronics, electrical connectors, electrical wiring, and mechanical connections.

In addition to prosecuting patents, Mr. McKinley advises his clients on a broad range of issues including the interplay of foreign and U.S. patent protections, innovation utilization, information disclosure requirements, and designing around prior art. Taking an overall business approach, he strategizes with his clients, devising the best ways to structure, optimize and protect their inventions, grow their businesses, and outstrip their competition.

Mr. McKinley speaks frequently on effective patent prosecution strategies, including drafting patent applications from the Examiner’s perspective, USPTO requirements and restrictions, and notices of allowances and timeframes. Before joining the firm, he was an associate with another Alexandria, Virginia intellectual property firm.

Bar Membership Other Than Virginia

Education

• Widener University School of Law (J.D.)
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (B.S.)
  • Engineering Science and Mechanics, concentration in Biomedical Engineering

Admissions

• New Jersey
• Registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• Supreme Court of New Jersey

Professional Affiliations

• American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA)

Technologies

• Electronics & Software
• Consumer Products