Patents and Trademarks
for
Small Businesses

WARREN M. PATE
Registered Patent Attorney

My employment in the area of intellectual property protection began more than sixteen years ago. Early on, I worked as a technical consultant, and later as a patent agent, for a patent boutique. After admission to the Utah State Bar, I spent the next four years with the same patent boutique, working as a registered patent attorney. In 2008, I started my own firm where I apply my training and experience to provide high quality output and personalized service at a reasonable cost.

My training and experience as a lawyer and as a mechanical engineer have enabled me to prosecute patents in the mechanical, electro-mechanical, and software arts. I have assisted clients in protecting their mechanical inventions directed to things such as automobile towing equipment, fuel nozzles, turbochargers, and others. I have assisted clients in protecting their software inventions directed to such things as network topology tracking, seismic analysis, and Internet advertising.

Before working in intellectual property law, I was employed at Utah State University's Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) where I generated computer models to predict thermal performance. I performed thermal conductivity analysis used to design conductive heat sinks for cooling the circuit boards of the Advanced Reconnaissance Compression Hardware (ARCH) project. I also assisted in fabricating and installing radiation shielding for the SABER instrument (an earth orbiting infrared instrument launched in December 2001). While at SDL, I was involved in the machining, assembly, flexibility testing, thermal testing, and precision cleaning of the flexible thermal links made according to SDL's proprietary and innovative design.

While pursuing my undergraduate studies, I was employed as a machinist, working with computer numerically controlled (CNC) equipment to produce custom plastic injection molds. Through this work I gained experience in metal working, mold making, and injection molding using ABS, polystyrene, and polyethylene.

J.D., University of Utah, 2004

• Award for Excellent Achievement in Mediation and Advanced Negotiation

B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Utah State University, 2000

• Cum Laude
• Outstanding Pre-Professional Student Award, 1998

Utah State Bar, 2004

Utah State Supreme Court, 2004

U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, 2004

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 2003

Intellectual Property Section of the Utah State Bar

BRETT H. PETERSON
Registered Patent Attorney

My practice focuses primarily on patent procurement and patent analysis such as validity, infringement, and freedom to operate analysis. I have extensive experience with both U.S. and foreign patents. I have drafted and prosecuted patent applications for a wide range of technologies including chemicals and chemical processes, biological agents and treatment methodologies, medical devices, prosthetic joints, ballistic devices, bullet containment systems, and tools and machinery. I have experience with patent appeals, patent re-examination and reissue proceedings, patent infringement analysis, and freedom to operate analysis, as well as experience with trademark prosecution and enforcement, copyright filings, and litigation.

I attended the University of Utah where I graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering. During this time, I worked for two years at the Engineering department's Petroleum Research Center, a state center of excellence, where I designed experiments, designed and built equipment for these experiments, and conducted experiments in high pressure fluid dynamics and oil reservoir simulation.

My hobbies include automobile construction and restoration, amateur rocketry, radio control model airplanes, ceramics, and gardening. These hobbies have given me experience in CNC machining of steel, aluminum and plastics, designing and constructing electrical control circuitry, designing, building, and flying model airplanes, construction of refractory kilns for ceramics, making ceramic sculpture and vases and formulating ceramic glazes. I am currently constructing a 1965 A/C Cobra replica.

J.D., University of Utah, 2004

B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Utah, 2001

• Magna Cum Laude

Utah State Bar, 2004

Utah State Supreme Court, 2004

U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, 2004

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 2006

Utah Legal Elite, 2009

Intellectual Property Section of the Utah State Bar

Cyberlaw Section of the Utah State Bar

We formed PATE PETERSON, PLLC to be the kind of patent and trademark law firm that we would want to hire. For us, this means a law firm that provides quality patent and trademark services and at a reasonable cost.

In patent and trademark law, quality is the result of skill and experience. There are no shortcuts. The attorneys of PATE PETERSON, PLLC have each dedicated more than a decade to patent and trademark law. We are good at what we do and have a track record at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and elsewhere to prove it.

We work hard to make sure our clients are given a better work product than they could find anywhere else for the same cost. Also, we know that all clients hate billing surprises. Accordingly, whenever possible, we give our clients firm, upfront quotes so they can make an informed decision before we start on their matter.

If your small business needs quality patent and trademark services and at a reasonable cost, please call us.

We Are Focused on Small Business

We are a small law firm built to meet the patent and trademark needs of small businesses. Small businesses are different from other businesses. We have tailored the way we work and bill to meet the specific needs of small businesses.

We Are Not A Big Law Firm

Many small businesses hire a big law firm simply because they don't know where else to go to get the quality work they need. However, small businesses that go that route are often disappointed when their matter does not get the attention they feel it deserves. Some rightly become upset when the senior attorney they thought they were hiring moves on to bigger fish and hands their matter off to a much less experienced attorney.

We are not a big law firm. When small businesses hire us, they know who will actually be doing their work. They don't have to worry about their matter becoming "a learning experience" for a junior attorney.

We Are Engineers

As engineers, we love to learn about our clients' technology. We believe our technical education and experience are valuable assets that benefit our clients. They help us dig into the technical details to find the sometimes obscured underlying novelty upon which the issue of patentability may depend.

We Are Attorneys

As attorneys, we help our clients navigate the complex legal system administered by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (and similar government offices in countries around the world) to obtain the patents and trademarks they need to protect their businesses.

We Are Specialists

As registered patent attorneys, we are different from other attorneys. That difference benefits our clients via the unique combination of technical education, legal qualifications, experience, and skill we provide. We don't spend time in multiple, unrelated areas of law. Our focus is on assisting small businesses in their patent, trademark, and other intellectual property needs.