Skip to Main Content
Overview

Heather helps clients secure patents for their innovations.

Heather prepares comprehensive patent and trademark applications to secure intellectual property rights as well as analysis of patent clearance risks to avoid patent infringement. Heather also provides strategic counsel to clients on intellectual property decisions to enhance their portfolios, including guidance for minimizing patent infringement risks. She manages and oversees the entire intellectual property process, ensuring robust protection and compliance. Heather also assists clients in preparing licensing agreements and other contracts involving the exchange of intellectual property.

Heather has assisted clients in a wide array of industries, including heavy equipment manufacturing, software as a service (SAAS), textile manufacturing, Internet of Things (IoT), battery and electronically powered ground penetrating radar, battery powered systems and devices, and antennas.

Prior to joining Husch Blackwell, Heather worked in patent ligation, offering strategy and guidance to clients in patent infringement lawsuits involving technology areas such as electro-mechanical products and software as a service, drafting technical reports and briefs, and working with directly with expert witnesses. Earlier in her career, she served as an electrical engineer for an HVAC manufacturer, providing perspective to develop practical, real-world legal solutions.

Services

Education

  • J.D., University of Illinois Chicago School of Law
  • B.S., Marquette University
    • Electrical and Computer Engineering

Admissions

  • Wisconsin
  • Illinois

Professional Memberships and Certifications

  • Chicago Bar Association
  • Chicago Women in Intellectual Property (ChiWIP)
  • Milwaukee Bar Association
  • American Bar Association
Experience
  • Drafted technical reports, including briefs and expert witness reports, for ongoing patent litigation.
  • Advised in case management and trial strategy of ongoing patent litigation cases.
  • Conducted legal research for patent litigation and prepared memoranda with case analysis.
  • Drafted responses to USPTO Office Actions for patent applications and trademark applications for registration.
  • Prepared technical analysis for patent litigation.
  • Assists with IP portfolios related to IOT connected devices, as well as battery and electronically powered ground penetrating radar.
  • Drafted patent application for battery-powered radar detection device.
  • Assisted with transactional work related to the patent prosecution of IoT connected devices, including both battery-powered and those powered by traditional plugs.
  • Drafted freedom to operate opinion for hydro-electric water management solutions.
  • Assisted with transactional work related to the patent prosecution of jumbo mining machines.
  • Performed patent landscape search and analysis for the use of artificial intelligence in manufacturing of textiles.
  • Drafted patent application related to doorknob technology.
  • Played lead role in technical analysis for patent litigation (defense team) related to defense of patent infringement of electronically-powered mobile device mount.
  • Played lead role patent litigation (plaintiff team) technical analysis and strategy related to patent infringement of software as a service.
Outside the Office

Heather spends most of her free time with her husband, their toddler son, and the family dog, a French Bulldog named Potato. They enjoy the outdoors, skiing, and going for family walks and longer hikes. Heather and her family often travel to visit relatives in Illinois, Kentucky, and Colorado and are also frequent visitors to racetracks: her husband is a “car guy” who enjoys amateur racing.

Heather has also been a reptile fan since college, when her search for an animal that didn’t require an apartment pet fee led her to adopt her first lizard. She began attending national reptile conventions, where she discovered her now-favorite species, the Rhacodactylus “Leachie” Leachianus gecko, and jumped head-first into the world of gecko breeding. Heather and her husband still breed geckos for the domestic pet market today.