Principals Karl Renner and Michael Shepherd and Associate Jessica Li have been recognized by the PTAB Bar Association as recipients of the 2024 PTAB Pro Bono Awards, which honor practitioners who provide financially under-resourced inventors with free legal representation for proceedings before the PTAB.
Karl Renner, chair of Fish’s Post-Grant Practice Group, has provided direction for well over 800 America Invents Act post-grant matters, both challenging and defending patents, most commonly in coordination with litigation counsel amidst co-pending disputes. He also serves on the firm’s management committee and previously served as president of the PTAB Bar Association.
Michael Shepherd’s practice emphasizes client counseling and patent prosecution in the areas of software and other computer-related technologies. He has significant experience counseling clients on patent portfolio building, including on how to initiate a patent program and on obtaining patent protection for important inventions, and he has years of experience obtaining patents on a variety of technically complex technologies.
Jessica Li focuses her practice on patent prosecution and counseling. With a technical background in computer science and engineering, she is well-versed in software, electronics, artificial intelligence/machine learning, user interface/user experience design, and computational chemistry.
Through its PTAB Pro Bono Program, launched in 2022, the PTAB Bar Association seeks to serve the public by matching inventors with volunteer practitioners who assist in ex parte appeals to the PTAB. Recipients of this year’s Pro Bono Awards were recognized on March 7, 2024, during the PTAB Bar Association Annual Conference.