Tom provides strategic intellectual property counseling to some of the world’s largest consumer products companies and service providers, with a focus on IP portfolio management, licensing and enforcement. He is the co-chair of Thompson Coburn’s Intellectual Property Practice Group and a member of the Firm’s Management Committee.

Tom has spent his career helping companies protect their brands across the country and around the world. He excels at building strong, transparent relationships with in-house legal teams, and developing streamlined processes for IP management and enforcement that provide clear oversight of global IP portfolios and greater predictability for legal expenses.

As chair of Thompson Coburn’s IP group, Tom leads an experienced intellectual property team that focuses on strategic counseling, global IP portfolio management, licensing, enforcement, brand protection and dispute resolution for some of the world’s best-known consumer products companies and service providers. Their priority for each client is to design and implement long-term strategies for securing and maintaining the maximum protection and value of intellectual property assets.

Tom has extensive experience in the preparation and prosecution of patent and trademark applications both domestically and internationally, covering a broad range of technical disciplines, including electric motor technology, industrial valve technology, sheet metal processing technology, vehicle drive systems, ballistic armor systems and business methods. Before attending law school, Tom studied mechanical engineering and worked with an environmental engineering consulting firm.

In his extensive work on international trademarks, Tom has prosecuted trademark applications in nearly 200 countries, and led work on trademark opposition and cancellation proceedings globally. Tom regularly negotiates and drafts license agreements, settlement agreements and other agreements relating to the domestic and international intellectual property rights of his clients.

Recognitions

• Listed in the World Trademark Review 1000 (by Law Business Research) in Missouri, 2022
• Named Lawyer of the Year for Copyright Law in St. Louis by The Best Lawyers in America, (by BL Rankings) 2017, 2021
• Named Lawyer of the Year for Trademark Law in St. Louis by The Best Lawyers in America, (by BL Rankings) 2018
• Named a Best Patent Provider by St. Louis Small Business Monthly, 2018
• Lexology “Client Choice” Award for Intellectual Property – Trademarks – 2017
• Listed in Chambers USA (by Chambers & Partners) – Band 1 for Intellectual Property Law in Missouri, 2012-Present
• Listed in The Best Lawyers in America (by BL Rankings), 2009-2022
• Copyright Law, Patent Law, Trademark Law
• Named Lawyer of the Year for Patent Law in St. Louis by Best Lawyers, (by BL Rankings) 2016
• Listed in Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers, (by Thomson Reuters) 2011-2021
  Top 50 in St. Louis, 2013
• Preeminent Rating (by Martindale-Hubbell AV®)

Education

• Saint Louis University School of Law,
  J.D., 1995 St. Louis University Public Law Review
• Missouri University of Science and Technology,
  B.S., Mechanical Engineering, 1991

Admissions

• Illinois
• Missouri
• US Patent and Trademark Office

Affiliations

• Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis
• Chair, Patent, Trademark and Copyright Section, 2003-2004
• International Trademark Association Member, 2001-present

Thompson Coburn LLP

Thompson Coburn’s Intellectual Property practice group is focused on counseling businesses—including nonprofits such as universities—with respect to their intellectual property and information technology needs.

With our guidance, clients can establish, protect and enhance the value of their IP portfolios. Our client roster is diverse, ranging from start-up ventures to established industry leaders. We provide legal services relating to patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret protection, as well as Internet and new media, e-commerce, software licensing, unfair competition and false advertising. We also have experience in all aspects of the emerging technology spectrum. We litigate IP matters in courts throughout the country and before governmental agencies. Our mission is to give our intellectual property clients the highest quality, most responsive and most cost-effective legal counsel possible.

Many of our IP attorneys have advanced degrees, scientific research experience and practical business experience in advanced technology industries—backgrounds that enable them to understand and appreciate the significance of technical innovations quickly and to focus on satisfying the clients’ legal needs.