Lawson, L. Rhys, Ph.D.Lawson, L. Rhys, Ph.D.

rhys.lawson@cojk.com

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Lawson, L. Rhys, Ph.D.

Dr. Rhys Lawson is an associate in the Life Sciences Practice Group, and a member of the firm’s Mechanical Engineering Group.  Rhys joined the Firm in 2006 and has focused his practice on creating patent portfolios to obtain integrated worldwide protection for his clients’ inventions.  Rhys works with a variety of clients, ranging in size from independent inventors and early-stage entrepreneurs to multinational corporations, universities and non-governmental organizations.

Rhys’ areas of particular technical expertise include chemical, nanotechnology, materials science, immunodiagnostics, medical and mechanical devices, and related software inventions.  Representative client technologies include general micro/nano technologies, MEMS/NEMS, applied chemistry, flexible electronics, photonics, optoelectronics, organic functional materials and devices, automotive catalytic systems, fuel cells, medical devices/coatings, semiconductor processing and tools, and alternative energy technologies including solar, wind, and biomass. In addition, Rhys has expertise in small molecule therapeutics, high throughput screening systems, biocompatible materials, and drug delivery vesicles.

Prior to joining COJK, Rhys developed the first generation of hybrid silicon/organic electro-optic devices as part of a research program funded by the United States Department of Defense.  He worked as a contracted research engineer at Boeing Phantom Works in the area of electro-optic devices.  His research in the areas of organic functional materials and related devices, such as light-emitting diodes, transistors, electro-optic modulators, and photovoltaics, has been published in several peer-reviewed journals.

Rhys speaks frequently on patent law issues and cost-effective patent portfolio strategies at Nanotechnology and Chemical conferences.

Education

  • J.D., with honors, University of Washington School of Law, 2007
  • Ph.D., Chemistry/Nanotechnology, University of Washington, 2006
  • M.S., Chemistry, Western Washington University, 2001
  • B.S., Chemistry/Mathematics, University of Puget Sound, 1999

Professional Experience

  • Christensen O'Connor Johnson KindnessPLLC, Seattle, WA, 2007 to present
  • University of Washington Office of Technology Transfer, Seattle, WA
    Legal Extern, Summer 2005

Technical Experience

  • University Contracted Research Engineer, Boeing Phantom Works, 2003 to 2006
  • WRF/Gates Fellow, University of Washington Business School Center for Technology Entrepreneurship, Summer 2003
  • Research Scientist, Washington, Western Washington and Puget Sound, 1998 to 2006

Bar & Court Admissions

  • United States Patent and Trademark Office
  • Washington State Bar

Professional Affiliations

  • Licensing Executive Society, Nanotechnology Committee
  • International Society for Optical Engineering
  • American Chemical Society, Chemistry and the Law Division
  • Sand Point Child Development Center, Vice President, Board of Directors

Publications

  • "Engineered Growth of Organic Crystalline Films Using Liquid Crystal Solvents," J. Am. Chem. Soc., 128 (51), 16468 -16469, 2006, F. Wilkinson, R. Norwood, J. McLellan, L. Lawson, and D. Patrick.
  • "Recent Advances in Organic Electro-Optic Materials for Ring Micro-resonators and Optical Modulation," Proceedings of the SPIE, Vol. 6101, 2006, pp. 61010S1-6, A. Akelaitis, P. Sullivan, J. Sinness, S. Hammond, Y. Liao, R. Lawson, J. Takayesu, B. Eichinger, H. Rommel, B. Robinson, and L. R. Dalton.
  • "All Optical Modulator in Silicon with Terahertz Bandwidth," Nature Materials, Vol 5, 2006, pp. 703-709, M. Hochberg, T. Baehr-Jones, G. Wang, J. Parker, K. Harvard, J. Liu, B. Chen, Z. Shi, R. Lawson, P. Sullivan, A. K. Y. Jen, L. Dalton, and A. Scherer.
  • "Organic electro-optic glasses for WDM applications," Proceedings of the SPIE, Volume 6014, pp. 210-224 (2005), L. Dalton, A. Scherer, A. Chen, A. Jen, P. Reid, B. Robinson, B. Eichinger, M. Hochberg, T. Baehr-Jones, A. Pyajt, J. Takayesu, P. Sullivan, A. Akelaitis, R. Lawson, D. Bale, M. Haller, J. Luo, S. Liu, Y. Liao, K. Firestone, S, Bhattacharjee, J. Sinness, S. Hammond, A. Sgro, N. Buker, R. Snoeberger, M. Lingwood, and W. Steier.
  • "Self-assembled monolayer modifications of organic thin film transistors," Proceedings of the SPIE, Vol. 5592, 2005, 437-442, I. Shuvalov, R. Lawson, H. Ma, A. K. Jen, and L. R. Dalton.
  • "Optical Modulation and Detection in Slotted Silicon Waveguides," Optics Express, Vol. 13, 2005, pp. 5216-5226, T. Baehr-Jones, M. Hochberg, G. Wang, R. Lawson, Y. Liao, P. A. Sullivan, L. R. Dalton, A. K. Y. Jen, and A. Scherer.
  • "Synthesis and Design of Organic Light-Emitting Devices Containing Lanthanide Cored Complexes," Proceedings of the SPIE, Vol. 5214, 2004, pp. 337-347, G. D. Phelan, B. Carlson, R. Lawson, D. Rowe, K. Allen, L. R. Dalton, X. Jiang, J. H. Kim, and A. K. Y. Jen.
  • "Advances in Organic Electro-Optic Materials and Processing," Inorganica Chimica Acta, Vol. 357, 2004, pp. 3957-3966, K. A. Firestone, P. Reid, R. Lawson, S. H. Jang, and L. R. Dalton.
  • "Systematic Studies of Organic Thin Film Transistor Improvements," Proceedings of the SPIE, Vol. 5351, 2004, pp. 291-297, I. Shuvalov, R. Lawson, and L. R. Dalton.
  • "Simple Reflection Measurement of Nonlinear Optical Activity Using Silicon as an Electrode," Proceedings of the SPIE, Vol. 5212, 2003, pp. 326-331, M. A. Haller, R. Lawson, O. Clot, T. Sherwood, L. Dalton, and A. K. Jen.
  • "Electrically Tunable Ring Resonators Incorporating Nematic Liquid Crystals as Cladding Layers," Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 83, 2003, pp. 4689-4691, B. Maune, R. Lawson, C. Gunn, A. Scherer, and L. Dalton.

Presentations

  • University of Washington Graduate School Career Symposium, Seattle, WA, October 2010
  • American Chemical Society Northwest Regional Meeting, Pullman, WA, June 2010, Chemical Patent Law 101: Creating and Protecting Intellectual Property
  • Western Washington University Chemistry Department Seminar, Bellingham, WA, May 2010, Chemical Patent Law 101: Creating and Protecting Intellectual Property
  • American Chemical Society National Meeting - San Francisco, CA, March 2010, Nanotechnology Patent Law: Introduction, Information, and Strategy
  • Micro Nano 2009 Breakthrough Conference, Portland, OR, September 2009, Nanotechnology Patent Law: Introduction, Information, and Strategy
  • Micro Nano Breakthrough Conference, Vancouver, WA, September 2008, Nanotechnology Patent Strategies: The Path to Successful Filings in the United States

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