George A. “Tripp” Willinghan, III is a Registered U.S. Patent Attorney (Reg. No. 41, 377) licensed in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. He has over 15 years of patent prosecution, licensing and litigation experience and has prepared and participated in the prosecution of hundreds of patent applications. Mr. Willinghan provides corporate and individual clients with legal services in all aspects of intellectual property law including U.S. and international patent prosecution, counseling, licensing, intellectual property audits, patent litigation, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets.
Mr. Willinghan has extensive experience analyzing the intellectual property of clients and developing strategies to protect this intellectual property through the use of patents, trademarks, trade secrets and copyrights. This assistance includes evaluating clients' products to determine subject matter suitable for protection, including both functional and aesthetic protection. He also conducts extensive searches of third party products, literature and patents and authors opinions regarding the patentability of his clients' intellectual property. Relying on his extensive experience, Mr. Willinghan prepares applications before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and obtains valuable U.S. patents for his clients. He also pursues and obtains international patents for his clients. His technical experience includes computer software and engineering, electronic systems and components, chemical arts including polymers and water treatment chemicals, environmental technologies, environmental microbiology, water and wastewater treatment, hazardous waste, membrane systems, physics including optics, laser and plasma technology, mechanical art, engine technologies, consumer products including office products, telephone systems and telephony, biotechnology related subject matter including alternative fuel production technologies and business methods.
Mr. Willinghan also protects and defends his clients against claims of infringement of third party patent rights by evaluating his clients' products and processes for possible infringement issues and authoring legal clearance opinions covering these products and processes. He is experienced in filing and prosecution Trademark applications as well as responding to issues related to trademark opposition and cancellation proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.