Lynne H. Browne

Lynne H. Browne joined the firm after retiring as an Administrative Patent Judge (APJ) on the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).  As an APJ, she authored decisions on appeal from the examiner and presided over trials under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) in both the mechanical and electrical arts.

Prior to her appointment to the Board, Judge Browne served as an examiner, primary examiner, and supervisory primary examiner (SPE) in Technology Centers, 3700, 3600, and 2100, as well as, in the Central Reexam Unit.  As a primary examiner, and while attending night law school, Judge Browne served on a detail to the Office of Petitions at the USPTO and as a law clerk at the International Trade Commission.  During her time as a SPE, she also clerked for then Chief Judge Bruce H. Stoner of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences. 

Judge Browne has extensive experience with all facets of patent prosecution and AIA proceedings and has had the opportunity to share her expertise with members of the public and the patent bar as, for example, a speaker for the Office of the Independent Inventor (now the Innovation Outreach Division), as a presenter for the PTAB Inventor Hour, and a participant in Stadium Tours for the USPTO.

Notable

• Bronze Medal from the U.S. Department of Commerce in 1995
• Served as a law clerk for the International Trade Commission Office of Unfair Import Investigations in 1996
• Took part in an intellectual property law exchange in China led by the Hon. Q. Todd Dickinson under the auspices of the People to People Ambassador Program in 2004
• Exceptional Career Award from the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2007
• Served as APJ 3 for live trial during PTAB Stadium Tour at Arizona State University in 2023