George Anthony (“Tony”) Smith, Jr. has been partner at Howson & Howson, LLP since 1979, having joined the firm in 1978. Tony counsels clients ranging from independent inventors to renowned scientists and engineers at leading companies and universities. Specifically, Tony has drafted and prosecuted approximately one thousand U.S. patents in a broad range of technologies including telecommunications systems, transducers, antennas, electronic circuits, chemical processes, automobile engines, surgical instruments and many others. He has prepared numerous legal opinions on patent infringement and related issues, and is frequently called upon to testify in patent cases.
Some of his noteworthy cases include Kappa v. Herbko, 308 F3d 1156 (Fed Cir. 2002), now frequently cited by the PTO on the issue of likelihood of confusion, and In re Princeton Tectonics, Inc., 98 USPQ2d 1509 (TTAB 2010) a decision on the use of third party trademark registrations to demonstrate relationships between goods.
Admitted
Mr. Smith is admitted to practice in the Supreme and Superior Courts of Pennsylvania. He served as an arbitrator for the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County for twelve years. He is also admitted to practice in the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the Eastern District of Wisconsin, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fourth, Seventh, Tenth, and Federal Circuits, and the Supreme Court of the United States. He is registered to practice not only in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, but also in the Canadian Patent Office.
Education and Associations
Tony graduated from the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania in 1964. He earned his Juris Doctor from the Temple University School of Law in 1970. He is a life member of the Institute of Electronic Engineers, and a member of the IEEE Communications Society, the Philadelphia Bar Association, and the Philadelphia Intellectual Property Law Association.
Practice/Focus Areas
Patent, Trademark, Appeals & Interferences, Trademark Trial Law, Intellectual Property Litigation.
