Anton Hopen graduated from the USF Honors Program in 1992 with a degree in Interdisciplinary Science.  Anton attended the University of Florida College of Law where he was elected Chancellor of the Student Body.  After law school, he served as a criminal prosecutor in Pinellas County for three years trying nearly fifty (50) criminal cases to a jury verdict.  He passed the U.S. Patent Bar examination in 1998 and has been managing partner of Smith & Hopen, P.A., the largest intellectual property law practice in the Tampa Bay area since 1999.     Anton is Board Certified by the Florida Bar in Intellectual Property Law, only one of 121 attorneys nationally to hold this distinction. His clients include the University of South Florida, Florida State University, Moffitt Cancer Center, Circle-K Stores, Jabil Circuit, University of Central Florida, Florida A&M, and Colorado State University.  In 2009 he founded the USF Young Innovator Program that encourages children to apply science and math creatively.  Anton holds a commercial Coast Guard Master’s License and his wife and four children sail regularly on the Gulf of Mexico.