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Gregory Kirsch

Adjunct Professor

Gregory J. Kirsch is a Partner and the Head of the Intellectual Property Practice of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP. Mr. Kirsch serves as patent counsel to clients ranging from large multinational corporations to small start-ups, as well as universities. His practice encompasses the entire range of patent law, including patent procurement, strategic patent portfolio development, patent opinions (infringement, validity and patentability), post grant proceedings, licensing, as well as patent litigation. He has served as a patent expert in a patent litigation matter, and has participated in patent opposition hearings at the European Patent Office. He has prepared and obtained many hundreds of patents during his career for a diverse clientele, for inventions spanning the full range of technologies, including software, business methods, computer technology, electronics, communications technology, analog and digital circuitry, medical technology, mechanics, electromechanics, plus many others.

In addition to his US patent practice, Mr. Kirsch has extensive experience overseeing and pursuing on behalf of his clients patent protection in patent offices throughout the world, utilizing patent treaties (Paris Convention and the Patent Cooperation Treaty), in coordination with foreign patent counsel.

In addition to his full-time legal practice, Mr. Kirsch has served as an Adjunct Professor of patent law at Emory University School of Law since 1997, and as an Adjunct Professor of intellectual property law at Washington University School of Law (St. Louis) since 2011. He is a frequent speaker at national and regional conferences on various intellectual property topics, and has contributed chapters on patent law to two books.Mr. Kirsch serves on the Board and on the Executive Committee of the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce-Southeast, and is a past Chair of the State Bar of Georgia’s Intellectual Property Law Section. He’s also been active in the Intellectual Property Section of the American Bar Association, and is a past Chair of that section’s Patent Policy Committee.

Mr. Kirsch received his B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Iowa in 1987. He received his J.D. from Washington University School of Law in 1990, where he was Notes & Comments Editor of the Washington University Law Quarterly. Mr. Kirsch is admitted to practice in Washington, D.C., Georgia, Virginia and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

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  • Courses
    • IP Protection of Computer Software