Smith Hopen, Patent Attorneys - Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Florida

Smith & Hopen represents clients world-wide in a practice limited exclusively to intellectual property law including patents, trademarks and related litigation. The firm is one of the largest IP practices in the State of Florida and represents clients ranging from independent inventors to Fortune 100 institutions. All attorneys at Smith & Hopen are registered to practice before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Anton Hopen

Board Certified, AV-Rated

Nicholas Pfeifer and Andriy Lytvyn

Ahead of oral arguments at the U.S. Federal Circuit on an IPR appeal.

Andriy Lytvyn

Interviewed by NBC on trademark law

News & Updates

New Guidelines May Help Patent Software

Anton Hopen, Smith & Hopen, PA ( 5/8/2018) The pendulum may have swung back to patenting software again. Since 2014 when the Supreme Court handed down its inscrutable ruling in Alice v. CLS Bank International, 134 S. Ct. 2347 (2014), the patentability of software and computer systems became a gray area of law. Some also felt that former US... read full article

Two recent Supreme Court decisions shape the scope of post-grant patent proceedings

Paul Murty, Smith & Hopen, PA ( 5/8/2018) On April 24, 2018, the Supreme Court announced opinions in two cases involving patent rights—Oil States Energy Services, LLC v. Greene’s Energy Group, LLC, and SAS Institute, Inc. v. Iancu. The long-awaited Oil States opinion decided on the legality of inter partes reviews (IPRs); simila... read full article

New - USPTO Issues Guidance on Patent-Eligible Subject Matter (35 U.S.C. 101)

Paul Murty, Smith & Hopen, PA ( 4/20/2018) As many software-related inventors can attest, patent protection can be difficult to obtain for software applications. Most software-related patent applications are rejected by United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) examiners, particularly under 35 U.S.C. § 101 – the statute th... read full article

Six Questions for Building a Brand

Nicholas Pfeifer, Smith & Hopen, PA ( 3/27/2018) 1. Is your brand already in use by another? When creating a brand, it is important to verify that there are no other similar brand names used in connection with similar goods/services. The existence of multiple brand names could cause consumer confusion and pote... read full article

Supreme Court and Patent Death Squad

Anton Hopen, Smith & Hopen, PA ( 11/28/2017) Inter Partes Review (IPR) is an administrative proceeding before the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). IPRs are generally an 18-month process in which a petitioner seeks invalidation of a patent based on prior publication (e.g., “prior ar... read full article

Track One Prioritized Patent Examination—Cut to the Front of the Line

Paul Murty, Smith & Hopen, PA ( 9/26/2017) Under a typical examination by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the process of receiving an issued patent can take several years. For example, the average time before receiving a first office action (communication on the merits of application) is about 18 months. Moreov... read full article

More News

Inter Partes Review

February 22, 2017: Smith & Hopen as counsel for Petitioner filed its Reply in a Federal Circuit Appeal against Apple Computer on two decisions by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Petitioner argues that the PTAB found that prior art rendered Petitioner's patent invalid when even opposing counsel conceded a missing limitation was not met. Both sides are currently awaiting the schedule for oral arguments in Washington, D.C. to be set.
August 4, 2016: The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) denied institution of a trial (IPR2016-00539 ) against patent number 7,748,325 for all claims asserted. Smith & Hopen prosecuted the original patent before the USPTO and defended the patent before the PTAB. The same patent was also found valid and infringed by the U.S. Court of Claims which awarded a verdict amounting to approximately $70 million over the life of the patent. This is the largest known patent award in Court of Claims history. The non-institution decision is final and non-appealable.
October 6, 2015: The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) denied institution of a trial (IPR201500569 ) against patent number RE44748 for all claims asserted in a related litigation. Smith & Hopen wrote, prosecuted and defended the patent before the PTAB. The same patent was also found valid and infringed the same month by a jury in Tampa, Florida that awarded a multi-million dollar verdict.
March 4, 2015: The PTAB denied institution of a trial (IPR201401414 ) against patent number RE43904. Smith & Hopen both wrote the subject patent and represented the patent owner before the PTAB, opposing counsel: Kilpatrick Towsend & Stockton LLP.

First Ever CMB Denial

February 18, 2014: Defended US Patent RE43904 against a Covered Business Method Review before the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
Obtained the first ever non-institution decision in history (CBM2013-00047)

Largest Court of Claims Patent Award

December 19, 2014: the U.S. Court of Federal Claims found that the United States Army infringed on U.S. Pat. 7,748,325 (written by Smith & Hopen) for a Firearms Projectile that replaces lead-based ammunition.
The court initially awarded the patent owner $15,617,533.68 in damages as of April 30, 2013.
With interest, that judgment should be in the $25m range by the end of 2015 and approximately $70,000,000 over the life of the patent (Court's Order).

Representative Clients

Recently Awarded Patents

Patent	Client	Invention
10,039,785 8/7/2018	University of South Florida	HUCBC treatment of amyloid-associated disease
10,039,967 8/7/2018	Alex H. Dunser	a soccer training apparatus and method
10,034,642 7/31/2018	The Parking Space, LLC	a wheel alignment guide for medical equipment and method of use
10,032,349 7/24/2018	Vanguard Products Group, Inc.	an anti-theft device for monitoring a universal serial bus type C connector
10,032,256 7/24/2018	The Florida State University Research Foundation, Inc.	a system and method for image processing using automatically estimated tuning parameters
10,025,952 7/17/2018	The Florida State University Research Foundation, Inc.	an obfuscation of sensitive human-perceptual output
10021738 7/10/2018	Syniverse Technologies, LLC	a method of providing data, voice, and SMS services to LTE subscribers roaming in 2G/3G visited networks
10017933 7/10/2018	Goof Proof Products, LLC	a linear drain having adjustable length
10,013,797 7/3/2018	University of South Florida	analysis-suitable geometry from discrete point sets using a mesh-free method
10008669 6/26/2018	University of South Florida	an organic photovoltaic array and method of manufacture
10006196 6/26/2018	University of South Florida	a shape-morphing space frame apparatus using linear bistable elements
10,000,531 6/19/2018	H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Inc.	gamma-AA-peptide STAT3/DNA inhibitors and methods of use

View more patents.

Recently Issued Trademarks

Registration	Mark	Registrant
5,538,653 8/14/2018	BELLYFAT.COM for providing a website featuring information about nutrition	BellyFat.com LLC.
5,540,337 8/14/2018	MAGENTA STUFF for water treatment chemicals for use in swimming pools and spas	Jack's Magic Products, Inc..
5,534,304 8/7/2018	PREMIUMLIFE PLUS for insurance consulting in the field of life insurance; financial services, namely, wealth management services	Universal Financial Consultants, Inc..
5,536,514 8/7/2018	WILDHORSE CHALET for real estate services, namely, rental of vacation homes	Frank & Colleen Russo.
5,530,850 7/31/2018	GANDHI FOR PRESIDENT for clothing, namely, hats, caps, shirts and t-shirts	Gurus Inc..
5,526,166 7/24/2018	Design Logo for educational services, namely providing courses of instruction for others at the University level	Florida Polytechnic University.
5,526,509 7/24/2018	Swimming Snake for fishing lures	Limit Systems LLC.
5,517,983 7/17/2018	KRILLWELL for dietary and nutritional supplements for cats and dogs containing Omega essential fatty acids, in particular, krill meal and krill oil	Pet Healthbox, LLC.
5,520,424 7/17/2018	DEALMAKER for providing a website featuring non-downloadable software for use by automobile purchasers in calculating finance and lease payment estimates in the field of automobile sales	Intice, Inc..
5,515,125 7/10/2018	EAT PRAY GET WELL for chocolate dips, edible cookie dough not intended for baking and providing a website featuring information on health, wellness and nutrition	Eat Pray Get Well, LLC.
5,515,124 7/10/2018	EAT PRAY GET WELL for chocolate dips, edible cookie dough not intended for baking and providing a website featuring information on health, wellness and nutrition	Eat Pray Get Well, LLC.
5,507,739 7/3/2018	DERMWELL for dietary supplements for cats and dogs; dietary supplements for animals	Pet Healthbox, LLC.
5,508,993 7/3/2018	MyTotalWorld for online retail department stores services; online retail store services featuring a wide variety of consumer goods; online trading services, namely, operating online marketplaces for sellers and buyers of goods and services; online trading services in which sellers post products or services to be offered for sale, and purchasing or bidding is done via the Internet in order to facilitate the sale of goods and services by others via a computer network; providing a website featuring evaluative feedback and ratings of sellers' goods and services, the value and prices of sellers' goods and services, buyers' and sellers' performance, delivery, and overall trading experience in connection therewith posted by consumers for commercial purposes; providing a searchable online advertising guide featuring the goods and services of online vendors; providing a searchable online evaluation database for buyers and sellers featuring the value and prices of sellers' goods and services, buyers' and sellers' performance, delivery, and overall trading experience in connection therewith	Eastern Vision Limited.

More trademarks issued through Smith & Hopen