Jonathan W. Richards works closely with clients in the management and development of their IP portfolios by helping them identify and protect key innovations and technologies through careful selection of U.S. and foreign IP protection strategies. He holds extensive experience working with patent, trademark and copyright matters and conducts due diligence investigations focused on funding transactions, negotiating and documenting asset acquisition and licensing transactions. He also frequently manages the preparation of formal legal opinions on a variety of issues including patent validity, infringement, and non-infringement and design around strategies. Mr. Richards regularly works with clients in the presentation of in-house seminars designed to assist them with educational presentations to engineers and managers on intellectual property issues. His technical experience includes electronics and electrical engineering, computer systems, e-commerce, IT, mechanics, software, and mechanical engineering.
Mr. Richards also has extensive experience and expertise in trademarks and brand protection. For many years, Mr. Richards actively served in various capacities with the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), a national association of more than 16,000 intellectual property professionals, serving as the Secretary of the Association from 2008 to 2011, serving as Chair of the AIPLA Trademark Law Committee from 2007-2008, and serving as Co-Chair, Chair and Vice Chair of the AIPLA Trademark Treaties and International Law Committee from 2013 to 2015, 2005 to 2007 and 2003 to 2005, respectively. In these various capacities, Mr. Richards regularly traveled to Geneva, Switzerland as an AIPLA representative at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) (an organization of the United Nations) in proceedings of the Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications (SCT) and the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Legal Development of the Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks (Madrid Working Group). Through these committees, Mr. Richards provided input from the perspective of U.S. trademark owners and practitioners during committee meetings concerned with developing treaties and multi-national agreements directed to trademark law and related matters. In March 2006, Mr. Richards participated as AIPLA’s representative in the Diplomatic Conference for the Revised Trademark Law Treaty (RTLT), held in Singapore, which culminated in its adoption as the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks.
