Jim Vaughan is an intellectual property strategist. He draws upon nearly 35 years of patent litigation experience to counsel corporations in both offensive patent enforcement and defensive patent strategies, including assessing risk and developing business solutions to IP issues. He strategically evaluates the IP positions of clients and competitors, and advises in-house counsel and corporate executives on their legal options. Jim serves as Chair of Womble’s Intellectual Property Department.
Utilizing his experience as lead trial counsel in patent litigation, Jim devotes his practice to pretrial analysis, providing strategic advice to clients and managing patent trial teams. Jim prepares appeal briefs and presents oral arguments to the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit and to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. He also concentrates on specialty patent application proceedings, including post-issuance matters such as Inter Partes Reviews presented in the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Prior to his legal career, Jim worked as a mining engineer, including as a Certified Mine Foreman with the Pittston Coal Group in Virginia. His engineering experience and IP litigation work help him position clients to achieve their business goals through effective IP strategies.
Professional Activities
- Georgia Bar Association
- Member, American Intellectual Property Law Association
- Member, International Trademark Association
Honors and Awards
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America (BL Rankings) in the fields of Litigation – Intellectual Property, Litigation – Patent, Patent Law, Trademark Law, 2010 – Present
- Super Lawyers Honoree, Intellectual Property, Georgia Super Lawyers magazine (Thomson Reuters), 2009 – 2015
- Named to Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine's "IAM Patent 1000" – The World's Leading Patent Practitioners, 2013 – Present
