PARTNER
Paul is a European patent attorney and Irish patent agent. Paul is a partner in FRKelly with over 15 years’ experience in the IP profession. He provides a wide range of intellectual property services to local and international clients, including universities. Paul specialises in electrical, electronic, software, telecommunications, networks, and ICT related inventions, and has drafted and prosecuted hundreds of patent applications in these technical fields. Paul has developed a unique skill set combining his Patent attorney qualification with practical experience gained working as an Electronic Engineer in the Design Technology Evaluation Group where he was responsible for reverse engineering integrated electronic chips, infringement analysis and competitive analysis.
He also has considerable experience in managing global IP portfolios for international companies such as KLA, Pure Storage, Nanosys, Flex, Velodyne Lidar and Current Lighting Solutions, in addition to University spin-outs such as SensL.
Paul’s particular specialism is drafting patent applications in the ICT field for prosecution in the EPO and USPTO. He regularly gives presentations at a national and international level on the topic of how best to patent software-related inventions with a focus on the differences in examination practice between the USA and Europe.
Paul also has considerable skill and experience in other IP areas including IP assignments, licenses and contracts, patent searching, patent infringement and enforcement.
He has an honours BEng degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Limerick and a Higher Diploma in Microelectronics from University College Cork (UCC). He previously worked as an Electronic Engineer in the Design Technology Evaluation (DTE) Group at the Tyndall National Institute in UCC. Paul also gained valuable experience in telecommunications while working in Motorola as a test engineer prior to joining the patent profession.
