Senior USPTO Official Joins O’Melveny’s IP & Technology Team
May 18, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON, DC—May 18, 2021—O’Melveny announced today that William (“Tim”) Fink, a top legal advisor to the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), has joined the firm as a partner in the Intellectual Property & Technology practice, based in Washington, DC. A multifaceted IP litigator, Fink is also an electrical engineer, and he brings a rare combination of government, legal, and technical expertise to the firm.
While at the USPTO, Fink served as Vice Chief Judge, Lead Judge, Judge at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and, most recently, Senior Legal Advisor to the Director of the USPTO. As a Vice Chief Judge, he supervised more than 60 judges, and he was an integral part of the PTAB senior management team that designated precedential and informative decisions, implemented policy changes, and refined America Invents Act (AIA) trial procedures. As Senior Legal Advisor, he counseled the USPTO Director on a wide range of patent-related legal and policy issues, including AIA proceedings at the PTAB, litigation before the Federal Circuit and Supreme Court, and other PTAB and patent-related rulemaking and guidance.
Earlier in his career, Fink was an intellectual property litigator at another leading law firm. He represented top-tier technology, telecommunications, health care, and life sciences clients in patent cases in district courts, the Court of Federal Claims, and before the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC), and he litigated high-stakes cases through trial. Before becoming a lawyer, Fink was an engineer and manager at several major technology companies including GE, Micron, AT&T, and Lucent Technologies.
At O’Melveny, Fink will lead the firm’s USPTO practice, including PTAB post-grant proceedings, and work to expand the firm’s footprint in this growing area of law.
“Tim brings the top-notch legal and technical skillset that our IP clients are seeking,” said O’Melveny chair Bradley J. Butwin. “He shares our firm values of excellence, citizenship, and leadership. His impressive record of managing large teams and highly complex policy issues exemplifies his exceptional leadership qualities. We’re delighted to welcome him aboard.”
“It is a great pleasure to welcome Tim to the team,” added Ryan Yagura, chair of O’Melveny’s Intellectual Property and Technology Practice. “He will be an invaluable asset to our clients on USPTO matters and increasingly complex PTAB petitions. He will also help lead high-stakes patent litigation for major clients in district court and before the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC). He is a highly accomplished and versatile advisor.”
Fink earned his J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University; and received an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania; and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, summa cum laude, from Drexel University. He is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
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Contact:
Christopher Rieck
O’Melveny & Myers LLP
+1 212 326 2218
crieck@omm.com