UW Law welcomes new supervising patent attorneys
UW Law is pleased to announce two new instructors for the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic. Dr. Andrew Serafini and Patrick Njeim, both partners at Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton, will be supervising attorneys for patents as part of the clinic's participation in the United States Patent and Trademark Office Law School Clinic Certification Program.
The Entrepreneurial Law Clinic is just one of the many offerings that UW Law has in intellectual property law. Other offerings include a JD concentration track and the Center for Advanced Study and Research on Innovation Policy (CASRIP), which brings together intellectual property law experts, nationally and internationally, to expand the scholarly dialogue on the innovation ecosystem both in the U.S. and abroad.
Serafini has worked with UW Law for more than a decade. For the last two years, Serafini and Njeim have co-instructed the Patent Practicum: Building Valuable Patent Assets course. They will teach the course again in Spring 2023.
As patent supervising attorneys for the USPTO Law School Clinic Certification Program in patents, Serafini and Njeim are responsible for overseeing students in drafting patent applications, corresponding with the USPTO and supervising students during patent examiner interviews.
“UW Law is extremely fortunate to be able to work with two attorneys that have such depth of patent prosecution experience,” said Jennifer Fan, director of the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic and associate dean for research and faculty development. “Our students will greatly benefit from Dr. Serafini and Mr. Njeim's expertise.”
Serafini has been an active participant in CASRIP. He is a registered patent lawyer who focuses his practice on strategic and comprehensive intellectual property counseling and management for biotechnology, biopharmaceutical, medical and surgical device and other diverse life sciences clients.
Serafini’s practice includes preparing and prosecuting U.S. and international patent applications; performing due diligence and freedom to operate analyses associated with mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and other private and public financings; drafting opinions on patentability, non-infringement and patent validity; product development counseling; supporting patent infringement litigation, post-grant proceedings and International Trade Commission investigations.
“I am excited to continue growing our relationship with the University of Washington and the UW School of Law community,” Serafini said. “I am passionate about teaching and helping future lawyers not only learn the law, but how to put the law into practice.”
“Working with students is inspiring,” he said. “They have open minds and are willing to take in as much knowledge as they can. If we could hopefully plant some seeds based on our own experiences as practicing lawyers in the state of Washington, those seeds will propagate in others they work with, whether colleagues or future clients or anyone they work with.”
Learn more about Serafini’s background and practice.
Njeim focuses his practice on patent preparation and prosecution, due diligence matters, infringement and validity opinions, portfolio analysis, patent litigation and post-grant proceedings. He represents clients in a wide range of technology areas, including Artificial Intelligence, Wireless Communications, Standard Essential Patents in the telecommunications space, Signal Processing, Computer Networks, Virtualization and Cloud Computing, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Medical Devices, Robotics, Autonomous Vehicles and Intellectual Property Export Controls.
"I grew up in a family of teachers and academia,” Njeim said. “Teaching is a passion and I love giving back to the next generation, as well as to give back to the community and support new inventors that need help. You have individuals with a great background and you get to help guide them and set them up for success. My favorite part is looking back at the classes we have taught and seeing how much the students learned – you realize, oh my goodness, they got it!”
“The students teach me, too,” he said. “There are always asking nuanced questions that make me pause and think about a topic a bit deeper. I become a better lawyer over time because of my work with students.”