2004~2007 Patent Attorney, Department of the Navy, Naval Surface Warfare Center.
2000~2004 Patent Attorney, Fish & Richardson, Washington D.C.
1999~2000 Law Clerk to the Honorable Alvin A. Schall of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
1992~1996 Radar Systems Engineer with Technology Service Corp
1987~1991 Officer, United States Navy
Name: Michael Tierney
Position: Vice Chief Administrative Patent Judge, Patent Trial and Appeal Board, United States Patent and Trademark Office
Vice Chief Administrative Patent Judge Michael P. Tierney was appointed to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) on July 31, 2000. Vice Chief Judge Tierney joined the PTAB as an administrative patent judge in the Chemical Section, where he handled ex parte appeals of chemical cases. Later, Vice Chief Judge Tierney worked as a member of the Interference Trial Section, where he worked on interferences, reexaminations, and supervised two patent attorneys working on ex parte appeals. As part of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) implementation of the America Invents Act (AIA), Vice Chief Judge Tierney led the PTAB’s comprehensive effort on trial rulemaking. He worked closely with USPTO executive officials, trial judges, the patent community, and other members of the public to develop the trial rules. Vice Chief Judge Tierney has given numerous presentations to educate the patent community on the statutory provisions, proposed rules, and final rules for the AIA administrative trials.
Prior to his appointment to the PTAB, Vice Chief Judge Tierney served as an associate at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP, where his practice concentrated on patent litigation, opinions, and prosecution. Additionally, earlier in his career, Vice Chief Judge Tierney worked at the USPTO as a patent examiner, where he primarily examined applications for chemical compositions.
Vice Chief Judge Tierney received both a Juris Doctor degree and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Washington.
Name: Ingo Beckedorf
Position: Chair of the Legal Board of Appeal, Boards of Appeal, European Patent Office
Deputy of the President of the Boards of Appeal; Chair of the Legal Board of Appeal and deputy Chair of the Enlarged Board of Appeal; Head of Legal Services.
German state diplomas in law, master of European laws, and doctorate in European law. Former German judge at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court (Court of Appeal), legal counsel to the Court’s President and to the Constitutional Court Hamburg. Former press officer and deputy head of the European Parliament Office in Germany. Author of numerous books and articles on EU law, competition law and patent law; co-editor of Benkard, Europäisches Patentübereinkommen (European Patent Convention), 4th edition, 2023, C.H. Beck München; lecturer and conference speaker on German and EU law, and in particular on patent law.
