
biography
Clif is a registered patent attorney and litigator with over 35 years of experience. He helps clients obtain, enforce, and leverage patent and trademark rights and defend against infringement challenges. He also represents clients on trade secret, trade dress, and copyright matters, and provides opinions on intellectual property availability, validity, freedom to operate, and infringement. He litigates patent and trademark disputes before the federal courts, the International Trade Commission, the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and USPTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
Clif’s accomplishments and qualifications include:
- Lead trial and appellate counsel for patent owner Ecolochem, Inc., against Southern California Edison, resulting in precedent-setting Federal Circuit decision on nonobviousness.
- Represented Fortune 500 life sciences company in one of the first Post-Grant Review (PGR) proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
- Manager of a National Institutes of Health patent portfolio of over 500 chemistry and biotech applications.
- Prosecuted patents in chemical engineering that withstood competitors’ chal...
Washington, D.C.
Credentials
Admissions
District of Columbia
Virginia
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
Education
George Washington University, LL.M., Intellectual Property, 1985
Catholic University Law School, JD, 1977
Northern Illinois University, B.A., 1972
Prior Law Firm Experience
Venable LLP
Thompson Hine LLP