Thomas R. FitzGerald | Counsel

Education

• B.E.(E.E.), Manhattan College, NY, NY; Member Eta Kappa Nu, electrical engineering honor fraternity.

• Juris Doctor, Fordham Law School; Member of Fordham Law Review.

Admissions

• Member of New York Bar (active), Texas Bar (inactive), and USPTO, Registration Number 26,730.

Societies

• Past President of Rochester Intellectual Property Law Association and past Chairman of Rochester Chapter, Licensing Executives Society.

Professional

Tom began his career in the New York firm of Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto, now known as Venable/Fitzpatrick where he prepared and prosecuted patent applications and participated in district court litigations, federal appeals, and patent interferences.

Tom then worked as inside patent counsel for U. S. corporations including General Electric, Pitney Bowes, General Signal, and Texas Instruments.  At TI he was patent counsel for the Semiconductor Group and later license counsel for TI efforts to enforce its patents against infringers.  That effort generated royalties of billions of dollars in the late 1980s.

Tom then returned to private practice. Tom represented Fairchild Semiconductor from 1997 when National Semiconductor spun Fairchild out until 2016 when On Semiconductor purchased Fairchild.  He also engaged in patent prosecution, litigation, and licensing for clients during this time.

Since 2016, Tom has worked for Ferdinand IP Law Group in litigation and prosecution of patents.