Education

George Mason University School of Law, J.D. (1984)
University of Virginia, B.S. in Mechanical Engineering (1973)

Experience

William E. Lyddane joined the firm in 1997 following a career of over twenty-four years of service at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, including over eleven years on the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences. Judge Lyddane served as an Examiner from 1973 until 1983, as a Supervisory Patent Examiner until 1986, and as an Administrative Patent Judge from 1986 until 1997.

As an Examiner, Judge Lyddane was responsible for examining patent applications related to machine elements and mechanisms, locks and latches, chairs and seats, cabinets, supports, deposit and collection devices, and horizontally supported planar surfaces. As a Supervisory Patent Examiner, his responsibilities included hiring and training new Patent Examiners, reviewing office actions taken by non-primary Examiners, and preparing responses to petitions. As an Administrative Patent Judge on the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, he was responsible for reaching final agency decisions on ex parte appeals involving original and reissue patent applications and reexamination proceedings and preparing written opinions that reflected the decision and views of the majority of judges on a panel.

Practice Areas

Judge Lyddane supervises patent application preparation and prosecution in the mechanical and electrical arts as a reviewing attorney in the firm's patent procurement practice group. As a reviewing attorney, he is responsible for training and reviewing the work of junior associates and patent agents in the mechanical and electrical arts. Judge Lyddane is also responsible for training patent interns for clients and foreign law firms.

Judge Lyddane is also a member of the firm's patent appeals, petitions and special procedures practice group, in which he supervises complex matters including patent prosecution appeals.

Admissions

1984, Virginia
1998, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Courts

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit