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About Brown & Michaels, PC

Brown & Michaels' principal office is located in Ithaca, the "centrally isolated" home of Cornell University and Ithaca College in central New York State. We also have a branch office in Rochester, NY. We are a New York Professional Corporation.

It's no longer necessary to deal with impersonal law firms located in Washington DC or New York City, just because you are dealing with patent, trademark or copyright issues. While it might once have been important for patent attorneys to be physically close to the Patent Office, electronic filing systems, the fax machine, express mail, and e-mail have made it possible for a patent law firm far from the crowds of the major cities to serve a nation- and world-wide clientele as well as, or better than, the expensive big city firms. Inventors, companies, and institutions of all shapes and sizes are coming to realize the many advantages of working with a non-urban, intellectual property firm.

• High quality -- both process & results are important
• Experience in new technologies such as biotechnology, computer hardware/software and telecommunications.
• Low overhead means you don't help finance expensive office space.
• Emphasis on high quality and client satisfaction, not on billable hours or our prestige.
• Inventor involvement in every step of the process.
• Fast, convenient communications via email or fax.

Founded in 1980, our firm engages in an intellectual property practice which includes patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, licensing, and business start-ups. We have advised inventors, institutions and companies in obtaining and licensing technology in fields ranging from high-tech computer hardware and software, or the latest developments in biotechnology, communications, or sophisticated electronic systems, to improvements in household appliances. Our clients are located around the United States and around the world - we are perfectly comfortable working by phone, fax and e-mail with clients who will never physically be in our offices. We have represented many individual inventors and small companies, as well as large corporations such as BorgWarner Morse TEC, Smith Corona and Lucent Technologies, and educational institutions such as Cornell University and Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research. . 

Our inventors have received patents on chemical processing systems, test equipment, musical instruments, vaccines and medical diagnostics, energy systems, furniture, games, tools - you name it. We can do trademark/trade name searches quickly and accurately by computer, and have registered many marks for our clients. We have worked with many computer-related clients on software protection, licensing, distribution agreements, etc.

We can also offer Intellectual Property Litigation, as well as other corporate and business services, through our relationship with the prestigious 100-year-old law firm of Coughlin and Gerhart LLP. 

New York State court rules require the following disclaimer: "Prior results cannot and do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter, including yours, in which a lawyer or law firm may be retained."

Staff Biographies

Our partners* and professional staff are all registered patent attorneys or agents qualified to practice in the Patent and Trademark Office. To send an e-mail to one of the group, you can click on their name, below.

Would you like to add a "virtual business card" to your contacts list for our firm or for any of our staff? Most e-mail programs support the vCard standard. Just click on "vCard" after an entry on this page, select your e-mail program to open the vCard if necessary, and a business card entry will automatically be created. 

Partners*

Michael F. Brown is a 1974 graduate of Cornell University College of Engineering, with a degree in Industrial Engineering (Data Processing). After working as a computer systems analyst and programmer for a number of years, he attended Cornell University Law School, passing the Patent Bar to become a Patent Agent while still a student. With Ralph R. Barnard (now retired), he founded our firm in 1980 as "Barnard and Brown". Mr. Brown was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1981, and is also admitted to practice in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York. He has prosecuted many patent applications in a wide variety of fields, from animal vaccines to computer software, avionics and automotive products, household appliances to radio communications. An Extra Class amateur radio operator and a licensed pilot, he has a strong practical background in electronics, computers and communications technologies. Mr. Brown is a 35-year veteran Scouter, a recipient of the Silver Beaver award from the Baden-Powell Council, Boy Scouts of America, and wrote the 1985 and 2008 editions of the Radio Merit Badge book for the BSA. He has been a member of the Ithaca Rotary Club for many years, and has been a guest speaker on "Weird and Wonderful Patents" and "Intellectual Property on the Internet" at over 50 Rotary Clubs, libraries, BOCES and other organizations around New York State. vCard

Christopher A. Michaels is a graduate of Bucknell University, with a degree in Biochemistry. While working with our firm as a Patent Agent, he earned a degree in law from Syracuse University, and is admitted as an attorney in New York and New Jersey, and also to the Federal District Court for the Northern District of New York. Mr. Michaels has been working with our firm since 1989 and primarily practices in the areas of patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, computer law and business law, with a special concentration in the rapidly developing area of Biotechnology. He has published articles on "Obviousness-style Double Patenting Isn't So Obvious", in the the Patent Journal, "The Utility Requirement in Biotechnology Patenting" in the Journal of the Patent Office Society, and on "Grant Applications as Publications", in the Journal of the Association of University Technology Managers. He is presently editing several books on trademark and patent practice. vCard

*Note: Brown & Michaels, PC, is a New York Professional Corporation. Strictly speaking, our "Partners" are, in fact, the "Shareholders" of the corporation, but we use the term "Partner" here because law firms usually refer to their owners as "partners".  

Professional Staff

Kraig Haverstick is a Registered Patent Agent. He received a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota, and a BS degree with highest distinction in the same subject from the University of Rochester (NY). His PhD thesis was on "Fundamental Behavior of a Model Biomolecular Amphiphile System". Dr. Haverstick has worked as a Postdoctoral Associate and Research Associate at Lehigh University and Cornell University School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. He has worked in the fields of High-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), synthesis of novel amphiphiles, drug-polymer conjugation, liquid-phase peptide synthesis, Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and ultraviolet spectroscopy as well as Langmuir-Blodgett techniques and vesicle extrusion.  vCard

Gregory M. Hill is a registered Patent Attorney, admitted to practice in New York and Michigan. He shares his time between our Ithaca and Rochester offices Mr. Hill graduated from Wayne State University, Detroit, MI with a B.S. in Biology/Chemistry and the Detroit College of Law. He has worked as a chemist and business account manager in the automotive industry. He has worked as a patent attorney for Betz Laboratories, American Cyanamid Company and joined our firm from Rohm and Haas Company, Philadelphia, PA. vCard-Ithaca vCard-Rochester 

Meghan A. Van Leeuwen, is a Patent Attorney registered to practice before the Patent and Trademark Office, and is a graduate of Cornell University Law School. Ms. VanLeeuwen is a member of the New York Bar. She holds a B.S. in Molecular Genetics from the University of Rochester, and an M.S. in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology and Genetics from the University of Minnesota. Ms. Van Leeuwen specializes in biotechnology, although she is proficient in a wide range of disciplines, including mechanical apparatus, chemical and pharmaceutical applications, and semiconductor fabrication. vCard

Lynda Wood is a registered Patent Agent and a graduate of Cornell University with a degree in Biological Sciences. While with our firm, she has prepared and prosecuted applications in various fields including biotechnology and automotive technologies. vCard

"Of Counsel"

Eugene S. Stephens has specialized in Intellectual Property Law, including patent, trademark and copyright law. In private practice since 1964, he was the owner and senior partner of the Rochester, NY, firm Stephens & Associates until October, 2003, when he became "of counsel" to Brown & Michaels. Before entering private practice, Mr. Stephens was a patent attorney for Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester. He has a BA in mathematics from Hamilton College and a JD from Cornell University Law School. He is registered to practice in New York State and is a registered patent attorney in the US Patent & Trademark Office. Mr. Stephens is a past president of the Rochester Intellectual Property Law Association (RIPLA) and for 25 years was a Contract Editor for the Lawyers' Cooperative Publishing Company, where he noted patent, trademark and copyright cases for annotated Federal Status (USCA). Mr. Stephens specializes in photonics, structural and mechanical arts. vCard

Cynthia J. Hirschberg received her B.A. from Cornell University and her J.D. from Fordham University School of Law. For more than ten years she has been practicing intellectual property law with a focus on complex commercial transactions which include intellectual property licensing and development and various strategic partnerships. She also has significant experience in prosecuting trademark applications and counseling clients on trademark matters. Prior to working as an intellectual property attorney, Ms. Hirschberg practiced as a corporate and securities attorney. Before joining Brown & Michaels, PC, Ms. Hirschberg was associated for ten years with Bryan Cave LLP in New York City (formerly Robinson Silverman Pearce & Aronsohn LLP), and for three years was of counsel at Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP in Rochester, New York. vCard

Morton A. Polster has been practicing law in the Rochester, NY, area since 1956. He was patent counsel at Eastman Kodak Corporation for ten years. In 1989, he retired from Gleason Corporation, where he had been Secretary and General Counsel as well as chief patent counsel since 1968. Since retiring from Gleason he was a partner at Eugene Stephens & Associates in Rochester, and is now "of counsel" to Brown & Michaels.  vCard

We also have general virtual business cards (vCards) for our Ithaca and Rochester offices. 

A complete Staff Directory with e-mail addresses and phone extensions is available on this web site.

We look forward to being able to work with you for your intellectual property needs. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us by e-mail, phone, or at the postal address below.

Brown & Michaels, PC

General firm e-mail: use our Contact Form  

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