Jonathan A. Thomas

• Prepared and prosecuted patents in a wide variety of technological fields, including automotive, communications, software, navigation, printing, surgical devices, safety equipment, manufacturing processes, and security systems.
• Developed interactive client portfolio patent maps and patent landscape patent maps.
• Conducted patentability, noninfringement, and invalidity searches and analyses for numerous inventions in the mechanical, electromechanical, and software arts.
• Developed diagnostic software and calibrations for automatic transmissions across several vehicle lines amounting to more than three million vehicles worldwide.
• Developed manufacturing methods for products in the aerospace and heavy equipment industries, improving quality and efficiency.
• Designed tooling for use in aerospace manufacturing.

Jonathan Thomas is a senior patent agent in Alston & Bird’s IP – Mechanical Patents Group, where he prepares and prosecutes utility and design patent applications, along with conducting searches and preparing opinions for freedom to operate studies, patentability studies, invalidity analyses, and noninfringement analyses Jonathan also assists clients in the development and management of their intellectual property portfolios.

As a registered patent agent and experienced patent prosecutor, Jonathan has more than 15 years of experience drafting and prosecuting hundreds of patents in a wide variety of fields, including autonomous vehicle control, biomedical devices, software for the health care industry, electronics, and aircraft. Jonathan has experience in all aspects of patent prosecution, including application preparation, office action responses, examiner interviews, third party submissions, inter-partes review, and portfolio strategy and management. Jonathan’s extensive patent prosecution experience in diversified fields provides important insight in advising clients and protecting their ideas.

Jonathan also leads the firm’s Patent Agent Internship Program, designed to introduce technically savvy students to the field of patent law and develop future patent agents.

Jonathan received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech, where he worked on both the Hybrid-Electric Vehicle team and the Formula SAE team. Before entering his patent career, he worked for almost 10 years in product development and manufacturing in the aerospace, automotive, and heavy equipment industries.

Bar Admissions

• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Education

• Virginia Polytechnic Institute (B.S.M.E., 1998)