HPTB ANNOUNCES PARTNER PROMOTIONS
Kirk D. Wong, Christian A. Nicholes Promoted - December 17, 2007 Hickman Palermo Truong & Becker LLP, a Silicon Valley law firm focused on patent preparation and prosecution, today announced the promotion of Kirk D. Wong to capital partner and Christian A. Nicholes to income partner.
Mr. Nicholes joined HPTB in 2002 as an associate and has spent nearly his entire legal career with the firm. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Brigham Young University and a J.D. from the University of Utah. Nicholes has had a significant role in patent work for Yahoo!, Apple, and Oracle.
"Kirk and Christian have made outstanding contributions to the firm and we are thrilled to have them advance and join us in helping manage Silicon Valley's best patent firm for computer inventions," said Edward A. Becker, HPTB's managing partner.
HPTB was founded in 2000 with 7 attorneys and has grown to 20 attorneys and agents including seven partners and 13 associates. The firm primarily handles patent preparation and prosecution for software, computer and electronics companies, but is also active in opinion work, trademark prosecution and licensing. The firm's clients range from startups to Fortune 500 market leaders and the firm has offices located near San Jose International Airport.
New student paper - Software Does Not Exist Without a Computer: A Case for Patentability in China and the United States, by Eric L. Sutton, 3L student, The John Marshall Law School. Mr. Sutton will join HPTB as an attorney in September, 2008.
HPTB continues expansion with three patent attorneys - September, 2007 - HPTB recently welcomed Howard Louie, Karl T. Rees, and Adam Stone as attorneys in its San Jose Office. HPTB now has 21 attorneys and agents including 6 partners and 15 associate attorneys or agents.
New publication - Strategies for Continuations and Claims, by Christopher J. Palermo and Brian D. Hickman. Provides a summary of the USPTO's final rules on continuations and claims of August 21, 2007, with suggestions on responsive strategies, immediate action, and new prosecution tasks. Presented by Christopher J. Palermo to the San Francisco Intellectual Property Law Association on September 13, 2007.
PATENT PROSECUTION FIRM HICKMAN PALERMO TRUONG & BECKER
ALIGNS ASSOCIATE SALARIES WITH NATIONAL FIRMS
Becomes First Silicon Valley Patent Prosecution Firm to Announce Increases
May 24, 2007 - Hickman Palermo Truong & Becker LLP, a Silicon Valley law firm focused on patent preparation and prosecution, today announced increases in associate compensation that make the firm competitive with national law firms that recently increased associate salaries.
Effective immediately, HPTB will pay first-year associates who work 1,900 billable hours an assured bonus that will result in total compensation of at least $140,000 per year, and first-year associates who work 2,000 billable hours a total compensation of at least $160,000. The firm has also set its first-year associate base salary level at $130,000 for associates who start work in fall 2007. The work standard for associate attorneys at HPTB continues to be 1,800 billable hours.
"Recently a number of large national firms, most with heavy litigation practices and unstated work expectations that are typically well above 2,000 billable hours, have moved to the $160,000 level for associate salaries," said Edward A. Becker, HPTB's managing partner. "Our firm doesn't require that level of hours, and our practice focuses on transactional patent preparation and prosecution, yet we want our compensation to be competitive for the best technology-savvy associates available," said Becker. "And attorneys who choose to achieve 2,000 billable hours will have the same earnings as at the national litigation-oriented firms."
Becker also noted that HPTB offers extensive training, a commitment to associate development, and marquee clients that send the firm their most complex cases. "Technically qualified attorneys who want to learn top-quality patent prosecution for software, electronics and computer inventions, with experts having years of experience in the field, can come to HPTB with the confidence of competitive compensation–they don't need to work in New York or San Francisco, or for a huge firm, or handle litigation," Becker said.
HPTB was founded in 2000 with 7 attorneys and has grown to 21 attorneys including six partners and 15 associates. The firm primarily handles patent preparation and prosecution for software, computer and electronics companies, but is also active in opinion work, trademark prosecution and licensing. The firm's clients range from startups to Fortune 500 market leaders and the firm has offices located near San Jose International Airport.
For a PDF version of this release, click here.
HPTB Expands Office Space - April, 2007 - HPTB is pleased to announce that it has leased additional office space of approximately 5,000 square feet at Gateway Place in San Jose, managed by Equity Office Properties. The new lease will enlarge HPTB's offices to about 18,000 square feet from 13,000 square feet and will allow the firm to add about 8 attorneys or agents and several staff members.
Workshop Covered Successful Patents in the US and Worldwide - In March, 2007, HPTB partner Christopher J. Palermo served as Program Co-Chair for Successful Multilateral Patents Workshop, a one-day conference by Law Seminars International. The workshop focused on drafting the same patent specification for successful prosecution in the US, Europe, Japan, Australia, and China, with speakers from those countries and was held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in San Francisco on June 26, 2007 for this essential session for patent practitioners. Click here for the official conference website. Download a copy of the conference brochure (PDF - 34 Kb).
USPTO Examination Reform: Current Proposals and Rational Alternatives, by Brian D. Hickman and Christopher J. Palermo (PDF- 44 Kb)
The Widening Pond: USPTO Decision Broadens Scope of Business Method Patents, by Christopher J. Palermo (PDF-19 Kb)
Invalid Like Oil And Water: US Decision Places Mixed Claims In Jeopardy (commenting on IPXL Holdings, LLC v. Amazon.com, Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2005)), by Christopher J. Palermo, pub. in CIPA Journal (UK), February 2006 (PDF - 22 Kb)
Eight is Enough? New USPTO Fee Regime Forces Re-Thinking Claim Strategies, by Christopher J. Palermo (PDF-17 Kb)
To read PDF documents, the Adobe Reader is required. Download it free here:
