Kris Doyle joined the firm in 1998 and has spent her entire career studying and practicing patent law. She regularly assists clients with drafting and prosecuting patent applications for a variety of technical industries, including the lighting, medical device, animal processing, floorcovering, heat transfer tubing, industrial process and textile industries. Ms. Doyle has developed both industry and technology-specific experience which have enabled her to counsel her clients in order to maximize their efforts to develop and strategically leverage their intellectual property. A good deal of her practice is devoted to drafting opinion letters, including clearance and right to use opinion letters, invalidity opinion letters and non-infringement opinion letters. By undertaking comprehensive yet cost-effective searching, she helps clients navigate the relevant technology landscape so as to avoid infringement while still developing commercially viable products suitable for patent protection themselves. Ms. Doyle enjoys engaging in the high level patent strategy involved in litigating patent cases. She has experience with all aspects of patent litigation but particularly enjoys working with experts, claim construction and summary judgment briefing, and appellate practice. Drafting patent license and consulting agreements and conducting IP due diligence round out her practice. Ms. Doyle has been recognized as a Georgia "Rising Star" in Intellectual Property by SuperLawyers magazine in 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2011. Industries Manufacturing; Fashion & Luxury Goods Experience Intellectual property counseling for Smith & Nephew, Provides patent procurement and counseling services to Smith & Nephew, an industry leader in the development of advanced medical devices and implants. The company offers technically innovative products in areas such as orthopedic reconstruction and trauma, endoscopy, advanced wound management and biologics. Provide counsel and advice in all aspects of the company's business, including helping shape its overall patent strategy. As part of this, the firm takes an active role in identifying and protecting innovations, as well as evaluating third-party intellectual property rights. Further, the firm provides counseling in connection with the company's patent licensing and acquisition activities and has represented the company in several patent infringement matters. Patent counseling for one of the world's leading providers of lighting fixtures, Represents one of the world's leading providers of lighting fixtures and related products and services by reviewing and assessing the strength of patents owned by target companies that our client considers investing in or purchasing. Our client's primary motivation is ensuring its ability to market products it considers vital to pursuit of its business plans. Because we understand both the products and the plans, instead of an exhaustive review of all patents owned by a target company, we are able quickly to identify the key patents that can potentially impact our client's core business and devote the majority of our time on a diligence project analyzing those patents. This more cost-effective, streamlined approach, provides our client with the information it needs to make business decisions. Grandparent adoption, Represents caregivers seeking to adopt children. One of the firm's signature pro bono programs is the Grandparent Adoption Program. Dozens of lawyers have been trained to represent grandparents and other relative caregivers who step up to raise young children in their extended family when the children's parents are unable or unwilling to do so. Working in partnership with local legal aid programs, lawyers accept referrals of eligible families, and prepare and file the required documents to effect the adoption. Hundreds of children's lives have been stabilized as a result of the firm's involvement. Milliken & Company v. Interface, Inc., et al., Lead counsel on behalf of Interface Inc., a leading manufacturer of carpet tile, in patent litigation filed by one of its largest competitors alleging hundreds of millions of dollars in damages as a result of infringement of two patents. After a three-week jury trial, the jury took less than one hour to find that the competitor's patents were invalid and that Interface did not infringe them. During the hearing on inequitable conduct issues, Interface reached a confidential settlement with the competitor resolving these issues as well as resolving Interface's counterclaims for infringement of two of its own patents. Patent procurement for a thermal engineering company, Advises a thermal engineering company that manufactures tubes for use in a variety of industries, including HVAC, refrigeration and appliance, and electronics cooling in patent procurement. The company strives to develop metal surface technology enhancements that improve performance of the tubes in their relevant applications, and the firm assists in procuring patents to protect such developments. Patent prosecution and counseling for Interface, Inc., Developed a patent portfolio for Interface Inc., a leading manufacturer of carpet tile, through the use of both design and utility patent protection. Interface's inventions often include both ornamental and utilitarian aspects. By understanding the carpet tile design process and how designs impact the functionality of carpet tiles, we have been able to secure groundbreaking utility patents directed to design features on the tiles by establishing the utilitarian functions and benefits of such features. Patent prosecution and counseling for one of the world's leading providers of lighting fixtures, Represents one of the world's leading providers of lighting fixtures in providing comprehensive and aggressive patent protection. The firm works intimately with in-house patent counsel and the inventors to understand the inventions and their importance in the company's overall business strategy. We endeavor to secure multiple layers of patent protection for key products and consider both utility and design patents when deciding how best to protect a product. We routinely conduct patentability and clearance searching so that we have a clear understanding of the state of the art. Such searching assists the client in avoiding potential patent infringement and helps us identify the truly novel features of our clients' inventions and focus prosecution on those features. By streamlining the patenting process, we control costs and obtain patents as quickly as possible for our client so that they may be put to good use. Lee Valley Tools Ltd., et al. v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., et al., Successfully represented Lee Valley Tools Ltd. in obtaining a U.S. patent and patent re-issuance for a power tool accessory, and successfully represented Lee Valley Tools Ltd. in a patent infringement suit against a large, multinational industrial equipment manufacturer and its customer, a large retailer, involving this same power tool accessory.
Lee Valley Tools Ltd., et al. v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., et al., No. 06-380 (N.D. Ga. filed Feb. 21, 2006). *Experience gained by attorney prior to joining Kilpatrick Townsend Publications 01 January 2010, Patent Demand Letters: Avoiding Declaratory Judgment Jurisdiction
Source: Intellectual Property Today, Articles News 02 March 2011, Kilpatrick Townsend Once Again Achieves Top Recognition in 2011 Georgia Super Lawyers, News Releases 04 March 2010, Kilpatrick Stockton Ranked Number One in Five 2010 Georgia Super Lawyer Categories, News Releases 02 March 2009, Kilpatrick Stockton Attorneys Named 2009 Georgia "Rising Stars" by Georgia Super Lawyers, News Releases Events 09 December 2010, IP Innovations Class: Pitfalls for Patent Practitioners, Events 08 January 2009, Keys to Drafting Legal Opinion Letters: What You Need to Know, Events |