William C. Geary III is co-managing partner and a member of the Intellectual Property Department and Life Sciences and Emerging Companies practice groups. He is also a member of the firm's Executive Committee. His practice concentrates in all aspects of patent and trademark law.
Bill counsels clients in strategies for the development, protection, and exploitation of patent and trademark rights in the United States and abroad. He has extensive experience in preparing and prosecuting patent applications in a variety of technologies, with emphasis in the fields of medical devices, polymers and advanced materials, and chemicals. He represents start-up as well as established companies, including Johnson & Johnson, various medical device manufacturers, and medical and research institutions, including Massachusetts General Hospital.
Bill frequently advises clients regarding the patent rights of others, and provides pre-market clearance opinions before new products are introduced to the marketplace. He has represented clients in patent litigation and breach of contract/patent license agreement litigation in federal district courts, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, and before the International Trade Commission in such diverse technologies as oil drilling equipment, floppy disk liners, jewelry clasps, and bioimplantable polymers.
Bill is lead counsel in patent interferences, and has advised clients in connection with foreign patent oppositions. In the trademark area, he has represented clients before state courts in Massachusetts, in federal district courts and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
Active in the patent bar, Bill is a member of the Boston Patent Law Association and the American Intellectual Property Law Association. He is one of the firm's representatives to the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council (MassMEDIC), and serves as MassMEDIC's legal counsel on a pro bono basis. He is also a member of the American, Massachusetts, and Boston Bar Associations.
In his community, Bill is actively involved with the Merrimack Valley Venture Forum, serving on its Board of Directors, and he is on the Advisory Board of The Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2).