2020 speakers

Scott Boalick

CHIEF JUDGE AT PATENTTRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD

The Honorable Scott R. Boalick is the Chief Judge for the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). In this role, he leads the PTAB as it conducts post-grant trials, including inter partes reviews, post-grant reviews, covered business method patent reviews and derivation proceedings, and as it hears appeals from adverse examiner decisions in patent applications and reexamination proceedings. Chief Judge Boalick was appointed to the Board in 2007. Prior to becoming the Chief Judge, he served as an Administrative  Patent Judge, Lead Judge, Vice Chief Judge, and Deputy Chief Judge. Before joining the USPTO, Judge  Boalick served as a patent attorney with the Department of the Navy at the Naval Surface Warfare Center  Carderock Division and the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Laboratory. In these roles, he advised clients concerning a wide range of intellectual property issues, including patent, trademark, copyright,  technology transfer, administrative claims, and rights in technical data and computer software. He prepared and prosecuted patent applications and assisted the Invention Evaluation Board to select and prioritize inventions for patenting. Before that, he practiced with Fish & Richardson in Washington, D.C.,  where he counseled clients on all aspects of protecting intellectual property, including patent acquisition,  portfolio management, and litigation. He litigated claims of patent infringement in the International Trade  Commission, district court, and the Federal Circuit, and also prepared and prosecuted numerous patent applications in a variety of technology areas. Prior to his time at Fish & Richardson, Judge Boalick served as a law clerk to the Hon. Alvin A. Schall of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal  Circuit. Judge Boalick began his career as an officer in the U.S. Navy, serving as a division officer on the  USS Mobile Bay (CG-53) and as an instructor at the Surface Warfare Officer School. After his active duty service, he worked as a radar systems engineer at Technology Service Corporation. Judge Boalick earned a J.D., magna cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center where he was a Notes and Comments  Editor of The Georgetown Law Journal and received the Leon Robbin Patent Award. He earned both an  M.S.E. in Systems Engineering and a B.S.E. in Electrical Engineering, magna cum laude, from the  University of Pennsylvania. 

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