Tracy U. Palovich joined Howson & Howson in 1999 as a Technical Specialist and began her practice as a Patent Agent in 2001.  Since then, she has gained expertise in patent application drafting and prosecution, portfolio review, prior art review (including review of validity and freedom-to-operate searches), inventorship determinations and patent opinion drafting. Dr. Palovich is also knowledgeable in the patent laws in regions/countries throughout the world, such as Japan, China, Republic of China, Europe, Canada, and Mexico among others. Tracy has worked with inventors, scientists, licensing specialists, and intellectual property department personnel of large and small corporations, universities, and non-profit organizations.

Tracy has a strong scientific background having obtained her first chemistry set as a child from her Ph.D. chemist father. Her interest in Chemistry continued through the years, resulting in obtaining her Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1997.   Dr. Palovich continues her scientific education by staying up-to-date with recent advances in science.

Admitted

Dr. Palovich is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Education and Associations

Dr. Palovich earned a B.S. in chemistry in 1992 from The Pennsylvania State University where she conducted undergraduate research in organometallic chemistry with a focus on lanthanide complexes. This was followed in 1997 with a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh where she conducted graduate research in organometallic chemistry with a focus on transition metal complexes. Tracy was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship from North Carolina State University in 1997 where she conducted research in polymer chemistry with a focus on polyacrylamide and polyacetylene compounds. She is a member in the American Chemical Society, American Intellectual Property Law Association, and Philadelphia Intellectual Property Law Association.

Practice/Focus Areas

Through her research, Tracy is well-versed in many areas, including the fields of chemistry (organometallic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, and polymer chemistry), pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology.  She also has specific expertise with:

• Industrial chemical compositions and processes, including metal working compositions, microbial chemical processes, and barrier coating compositions.
• Small molecules, including solid state chemistry, for use as pharmaceuticals.
• Pharmaceutical processes, including processes on kilogram scale.

Publications

Intellectual Property Publications

Palovich and Duminiak, “Pitfalls Associated with Post-Patent Issuance Supplementation or Replacement of a Biological Deposit – 37 CFR §1.805″, Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society, 91(7/8/9):517-522 (July/August/September 2009).

Scientific Publications

• Christopher B. Gorman, Ryan W. Vest, Tracy U. Palovich, and Scafford Serron, Macromolecules, 32(13):4157 (June 2, 1999).
• Gorman, CB, Vest, RW, Palovich, TU, and Serron, S, Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering (USA), 80:451-452 (Spring, 1999).
• CB Gorman, RW Vest, JL Snover, TL Utz, and SA Serron, Micro- and Nanopatterning Polymers, ACS Symposium Series, vol. 706, Chapter 3, pages 26-39, (September 1, 1998).
• Tracy L. Utz, Patricia A. Leach, Steven J. Geib and N. John Cooper, Chemical Communications:847 (1997).
• Tracy L. Utz, Patricia A. Leach, Steven J. Geib, and N. John Cooper, Organometallics, 16(19):4109-4114 (1997).
• Tracy L. Utz, 1997, Doctoral Thesis, University of Pittsburgh.
• Tracy L. Utz, Steven J. Geib, and N. John Cooper, Acta Crystallographica Section c, 2292 (1996).
• Angela R. Strzelecki, Claire L. Likar, Bradley A. Helsel, Tracy Utz, Mona C. Lin, and Patricia A. Bianconi, Inorganic Chemistry, 33:5188-5194 (1994).