James R. Sweeney II is a partner in the Intellectual Property Department of the firm's Indianapolis, Indiana office. The focus of his practice is commercial law, including the litigation and prosecution of patents, trademarks, and copyrights. Mr. Sweeney also is a member of the Global Services Practice Group and co-director of the firm's Business and Technology Group, advising clients on a broad range of defense trade controls, domestic and international technology transfers, trade regulation, technology, Internet, and e-commerce related matters.
Mr. Sweeney holds a current security clearance. He represents clients in military forums and federal grand jury proceedings, and has been recognized in the 2007-2012 editions of The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Intellectual Property Law. He was listed as the Indianapolis Intellectual Property Lawyer of the Year in Best Lawyers' inaugural issue of "Lawyers of the Year" in 2010 and as Litigation - Patent Lawyer of the Year in 2011. He has also been selected for inclusion in Indiana Super Lawyers® since 2010.
Mr. Sweeney is a member of several bar associations and has served as the president of the Intellectual Property Section of the Indianapolis Bar Association. He has presented lectures on various intellectual property laws to legal, business, and government professionals. Mr. Sweeney is admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the state and federal courts of Indiana, Illinois, and the District of Columbia, and before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Sixth and Seventh Circuits.
He received a B.S. degree with merit from the United States Naval Academy and accepted a commission in the United States Marine Corps. Mr. Sweeney graduated magna cum laude in 1996 from the University of Notre Dame Law School, where he served as the editor in chief of the Notre Dame Law Review. A Desert Storm veteran, he is currently a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserves. Mr. Sweeney provided legal counsel and technical expertise for the Marine Corps during a high-profile wrongful death case stemming from the collision of a Marine EA-6B jet aircraft with gondola cables in Cavalese, Italy.
Prior to joining Barnes & Thornburg LLP, Mr. Sweeney served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable John Daniel Tinder of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, subsequently appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and for the Honorable James L. Ryan of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Events
· Maximizing Your Patentable Inventions and Steering Clear of Landmines in a Problematic Economy
· How to Keep Your Intellectual Property From Walking Out the Door
· Top Ten Things Attorneys Need to Know Before Their Clients Go On-Line