Rich Additon focuses on patent prosecution and intellectual property counseling.

Rich has years of experience advising clients about effective global intellectual property strategies that consider the costs and benefits of achieving patent protection both within the U.S. and abroad.  As an aspect of his portfolio counseling for international clients, he has recommended and implemented alternative filing strategies that provide strategic advantages over conventional priority and national-phase filings.

He prepares and prosecutes U.S. and international patent applications.  Besides practicing before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Rich prosecutes applications worldwide via both the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.

Rich also counsels clients (and performs cost-effective investigations) with respect to patent infringement and patent validity, assists clients in licensing intellectual property assets, and helps clients maintain ideas and inventions as trade secrets.

Rich is knowledgeable with respect to a wide range of engineering and manufacturing technologies and processes (e.g., optical fibers, fiber optic cabling and optical communications, polymer chemistry, materials science, semiconductor design, industrial equipment, medical devices, and consumer products).

Prior to practicing law, Rich worked for several years as a Chemical Engineer in the pulp and paper industry.