Richard C. Salfelder

Richard C. Salfelder is a patent attorney registered before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and licensed to practice law in California. Richard’s practice has focused on preparation and worldwide prosecution of patents, as well as draft opinion letters and support of patent litigation.  During his career, Richard has prosecuted hundreds of patent applications before the USPTO, managed and mentored attorneys and conducted workshops with client representatives as well as coordinating the work of foreign associate attorneys and has also conducted numerous interviews with USPTO Examiners.

Richard earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical Engineering from State University of New York, Stony Brook and a Juris Doctorate degree from Southwestern Law School.  After a long career as an electrical engineer for Grumman Aerospace Company in New York and then for Hughes Aircraft Company in Los Angeles, Richard was accepted into the SCALE Two-Year Accelerated Program at Southwestern Law School and had the pleasure of serving as an extern in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Los Angeles, California for Chief Judge Terry J. Hatter, Jr.  During his legal career, Richard has prosecuted patent applications while at Fulwider Patton Lee & Utecht, LLP, Lee, Hong, Degerman, Kang & Waimey where he was a partner and, most recently, remotely for ScienBiziP, P.C. and Quinn IP Law.

Richard has more than 15 years’ engineering experience related to automated test hardware and software for satellite telecommunications and command devices and flight components for aircraft systems followed by more than 20 years’ experience related to patent prosecution for a variety of inventions including intraluminal medical devices related cardiac procedures, cell phone technology governed by telecommunications standards and automobile remote control and electric vehicle battery technology as well as various non-technology-related inventions.  During his career, Richard has represented clients who were major cell phone producers and major automobile manufacturers as well as smaller inventors.  In recent years, Richard has worked primarily as a remote contractor and, in the process, has adapted top to the unique challenges presented by remote work.

Richard has prosecuted patent applications before the USPTO, specifically conducting disclosure meetings with inventors, drafting and revising patent applications filed abroad, responding to Office Actions and conducting USPTO Examiner interviews resulting in allowance.  Richard has also participated in licensing negotiations between clients and patent attorneys representing competitors related to issued patents and pending applications with regard to  telecommunications standards resulting in favorable outcomes as well as supporting defense of asserted infringement of client products.  Richard further acted as a mentor of junior attorneys with regard to patent prosecution.  Through this experience, Richard has become adept at dealing with various types of personalities as well as various levels of technical expertise.

Richard’s engineering experience as a liaison between the engineers that designed hardware-based test equipment and engineers that wrote the corresponding code to control the hardware-based test equipment in order to define the test requirements and parameters for the automated testing suits him well as a liaison between inventors of varying degrees of experience with regard to USPTO procedures for processing patent applications.

Technical Areas 

• Intraluminal medical devices
• Cellular telecommunications and devices
• Automotive, aerospace & transportation Devices