For more than 30 years, a wide range of global companies have relied on Jack to craft legal strategies that protect their intellectual property rights and advance their standing in the international marketplace. His practice includes managing complex IP matters, from Federal and State litigation to international patent and trademark filing strategies. No matter the particular matter, Jack’s constant focus is ensuring that the client’s business needs are served by legal strategy.
Jack is a leader of Womble Bond Dickinson’s Manufacturing Industry Sector. In this role, he represents a diverse group of manufacturing and services providers, with a focus on the furniture, outdoor recreation, apparel, food and beverage, nanotechnology and aerospace industry sectors. Jack brings a client’s perspective in particular to patent matters. Prior to becoming an attorney, Jack was a design engineer on airborne radar and optics applications of a major aerospace company.
Jack regularly represents clients based outside the US, including Europe and Asia, as well as US companies doing business overseas. At both the European Patent Office in Germany and the European Union Designs Department in Spain, he contributed eLearning materials intended to help US companies pursue targeted and cost-effective intellectual property protection throughout Europe. As an Adjunct Law Professor at Elon University, Jack frequently leads Law and MBA student trips throughout Asia and Europe.
Finally, Jack is driving the firm’s next-generation process development as a leader of Womble Bond Dickinson’s Innovation Board. The Board strives to find new and better ways to serve clients—just as Jack has throughout his legal career.
Presentations and Publications
- Panel Moderator, Denim Innovations, White Oak Legacy Foundation & Launch Greensboro, Greensboro, N.C. (Mar. 2023)
- Co-Presenter, Design Patent Year in Review, (part of the Berkeley IP Tech and Law Month program), Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, Berkeley, Calif. (Aug. 2022)
- Presenter, Design Protection - Trade Dress v Patents v Copyright, American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) Spring Meeting, New Orleans, La. (May 2022)
- Co-author (paper only), IP Practices When Going to Market, Advanced Textiles Association, Smart Fabrics Summit, North Carolina State University (Apr. 2023)
- Coco & Dash Owner Goes on the Offensive with Swedish Maker’s Lawsuit, quoted in Furniture Today (Mar. 2022)
- Seminal Invention in Blue Denim Manufacturing, interviewed in White Oak Legacy Foundation video (Mar. 2022)
- Non-Remote Manufacturing in a Remote World (co-presenter with Michael Sullivan and Mark Henriques), Womble Bond Dickinson's Everything from Everywhere Virtual Summit (Jan. 29, 2021)
- Guest Lecturer - Cultural Underpinnings to Intellectual Property Law, Presentation to Engineering, Ethics & the Law combined undergraduate class of engineering students from University of Virginia and Zhejiang University in China (April 2020)
- Innovation Hot Topics – Patent Traps for the Unwary, Nano Manufacturing 2016, Greensboro, N.C. (Sept. 2016)
- Key IP Questions for Emerging Businesses, Elon Business Law Journal (co-author with Stephen Shaw) (May 2016)
- Intellectual Property Issues for the Small Business, Elon Law Entrepreneur Speaker Series, Greensboro, N.C. (Nov. 2015)
- American Home Furnishings Alliance Annual Meeting, San Antonio (Nov. 2015)
- American Intellectual Property Law Association 2015 Partnering in Patents, Alexandria, Va. (Oct. 2015)
- Avoiding Pitfalls in Innovation: Will Collaboration Feed or Starve Your Innovation? Womble Carlyle Innovation and IP Series, Greensboro, N.C. (Apr. 2015)
- U.S. Law Changes Will Lead to Streamlined Design Protection for Global Products (Co-author with Jake Wharton), Womble Carlyle Client Alert (Feb. 2015)
- Innovation, Inspiration or Infringement? 2014 Furniture Today Leadership Conference, Naples, FL (Dec. 2014)
- Covering Your IP Assets in China, Furniture Executive (Sept. 2014)
- Finding the Line between Trend Participation and Knockoff in Furniture Design, High Point University (Feb. 2013)
- Minimizing Legal Exposure: Are you Ready for a Lawsuit by a Patent Troll or Tort Attorney?, Nanomanufacturing Summit 2012 & 11th Annual NanoBusiness Conference, Boston (Sept. 2012)
- Patents and Nanotechnology: Is There Still Room at the Bottom?, Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK (Aug. 2010)
- The ‘Business’ Side of Nanotechnology, Carolina Nanotechnology Commercialization Conference, Greensboro, N.C. (Apr. 2010)
- Patenting Nanotechnology: Is There Really Plenty of Room at the Bottom? IP Links, NCBA Intellectual Property Law Section Newsletter, Section Vol. 21, No. 1 (May 2010), (co-author with Gregory Grissett, and Bernard A. Brown, II)
- Nanoscience Patents Needs Assessment: Where Are We and Where Do We Go From Here?, Society for the Study of Nanoscience and Emerging Technologies Conference, University of Washington (Sept. 2009)
- Nanotech 2008, Nano Science and Technology Institute, Boston (May–June, 2008)
- Knock-Offs and Patents: Are You Walking the Innovation Talk? (co-presenter with David Crowe), Industrial Fabrics Association International, Charlotte, N.C. (Oct. 2016)
- Innovation, Inspiration or Infringement? 2014 Furniture Today Leadership Conference, Naples, FL (Dec. 2014)
- Covering Your IP Assets in China, Furniture Executive (Sept. 2014)
- Finding the Line between Trend Participation and Knockoff in Furniture Design, High Point University (Feb. 2013)
- Suppliers Division Representative—Board of Directors, American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA) Annual Meeting, Coral Gables, Fla. (Nov. 2012)
- Strategies for Pursing Design Protection in Europe, American Intellectual Property Lawyers Association (AIPLA), Industrial Designs Committee Meeting, Washington, D.C. (Oct. 2010)
- Design Protection through US Copyrights: Industrial Design or Applied Art?, USPTO Global Intellectual Property Academy Patent Industrial Design Program, Alexandria, Va. (Mar. 2010)
- Will Design Piracy Prohibition Act Send Designer Copycats Out of Style? An Analysis of the Current and Future State of Intellectual Property Protection for Fashion Design, IP Links, NCBA Intellectual Property Law Section Newsletter (Nov. 2009) (co-author with Tiffani Otey)
- Are You Selling a Design Knockoff? Get Ready to be Sued!, Las Vegas Furniture Market, Las Vegas (Feb. 2009)
- Development on International Design Registration – Geneva Act Implementation,” American Intellectual Property Law Association AIPLA Spring Meeting, Houston (May 2008)
- Panel Moderator: Is it Time for the U.S. to Adopt a Registration System for the Protection of the Appearance of Useful Articles?, AIPLA Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C. (Oct. 2007)
- U.S. Design Protection Are Existing Options Adequate?, Fordham Annual Conference on International Intellectual Property Law & Policy, New York (Apr. 2007)
- Patent Strategies in Home Furnishings Industry, a Day of Design Dynamics, Patent Examiner’s Forum, United States Patent and Trademark Office, Washington, D.C. (Aug. 2006)
- Clinton vs. Trump: How the U.S. Presidential Election Could Impact IP Law, Law360.com (Sept. 2016)
- Successful EPO Prosecution from U.S. Perspective, North Carolina Bar Association Intellectual Property Annual Meeting, Concord, N.C. (Mar. 2011)
- Oxford Nanotechnology Summer School, University of Oxford, UK (July 2010)
- Speaker, Duke University Law Intellectual Property & Cyberlaw Society’s Hot Topics in Intellectual Property Law Symposium (Feb. 2007)
- A Dialogue on Selected Ethics Topics, Carolina Patent Trademark Copyright Law Association Spring Meeting, Charlotte, N.C. (Apr. 2004)
- Grand Changes for European Patent Law? And You Thought the AIA Was a Big Deal, IP Links, NCBA Intellectual Property Law Section Newsletter (Spring 2013)
- Successful EPO Prosecution from U.S. Perspective, North Carolina Bar Association Intellectual Property Annual Meeting, Concord, N.C. (March 2011)
- Patents and Nanotechnology: Is There Room at the Bottom?, Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Tips for US Patent Attorneys Pursuing Protection within the European Patent Office, eLearning Module for European Patent Academy of European Patent Office
- Tips for US Design Practitioners Seeking Design Protection in Europe, eLearning Module for Designs Department of European Union Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market
- Strategies for Pursing Design Protection in Europe, Industrial Designs Committee Meeting, American Intellectual Property Lawyers Association (Oct. 2010)
- Design Protection through US Copyrights: Industrial Design or Applied Art?, USPTO Global Intellectual Property Academy Patent Industrial Design Program, Alexandria, Va. (Mar. 2010)
- Aircraft Interiors Expo 2010, Hamburg, Germany (May 2010)
- Farnborough International Airshow (FIA), Farnborough, UK (July 2010)
Professional Activities
- Board Member of the American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA) Suppliers Division (2004-Present)
- Member, US-EPO Council (2011-present; Vice-Chair 2013-15)
- Chair, International Intellectual Property Committee, North Carolina Bar Association Intellectual Property Section (2011)
- Chair, Intellectual Property Law Professors Sub-Committee, Education Committee, American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) (2010-2011)
- Vice Chair of the Industrial Design Committee of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (2006-2008)
- North Carolina Bar Association
- Carolina Patent, Trademark and Copyright Lawyers Association, Board of Managers (1995-1998)
- International Trademark Association; Licensing Executive Society
- American Society of Mechanical Engineers
- National Conference for Community and Justice of the Piedmont Triad, Inc. (NCCJ), Board Member (2008-2012)
Honors and Awards
- Named the Best Lawyers® "Lawyer of the Year" in Copyright Law - Greensboro (2016) and Litigation: Patent - Greensboro/Triad (2018, 2020, 2023)
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America (BL Rankings), Copyright Law, Litigation: Intellectual Property, Litigation: Patent, Patent Law, Trademark Law (2011 - Present)
- Super Lawyers Honoree, North Carolina Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters) (2006 - 2016)
- Recognized in Business North Carolina magazine's Legal Elite (2015)
Experience
Any result the lawyer or law firm may have achieved on behalf of clients in other matters does not necessarily indicate similar results can be obtained for other clients.
- Crafted combination of patent, trade dress, copyright and trademark protection to surgically cover signature elements of major (110-piece) furniture collection by an international designer. Manages global patent and trademark portfolio for a leading kayak and paddleboard manufacturer.
- Successfully enforced color and product configuration trademarks for a bedroom furniture client in Federal Court litigation.
- Facilitated multiple Design Thinking innovation sessions in the US, UK and Netherlands focusing upon steps of empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test innovations.
- Attends and speaks at multiple industry trade shows each year to expand knowledge of client industries.
- Prepared and filed multiple US and international patent applications for a leading aerospace manufacturer on use of carbon nanotubes in complex composite structures.
