As "the Tramp" in his classic film, Modern Times, Charlie Chaplin breaks free of his role as a small cog at a highly impersonal and mindless automated production facility at the turn of the industrial revolution. Set free, he establishes a new path of integrity (to himself, to his inamorata, and to his customers), reconnecting with others on a personal level and better serving society with talents increasingly lost in an automated world. Both humble and hungry, he seizes opportunities as they are presented and ultimately thrives by better adapting to economic and societal changes wrought by the industrial revolution.
With parallel changes in business and society presently driven, in part, by the information/computing revolution, the Tramp in many ways serves as a role model for Modern Times Legal. Avoiding the narrow, entrenched mindset of large, impersonal law firms beset with high turnover, Modern Times Legal eschews an excessive focus on maximizing near-term profits, emphasizing instead long-term trust and sustainable practices, including better leveraging modern computing technologies. For example, Modern Times Legal increases efficiency by conducting a nearly paper-free practice and by selectively outsourcing support and administrative functions to expert specialists and services. Additionally, Modern Times Legal is among the first subscribers to the United States Patent and Trademark Office's E-Office Action pilot program, providing instantaneous electronic notification of actions by the Patent Office, thereby enabling timelier and more-efficient reporting and response. Freed from the pressures of billable-hour demands and sky-high billing rates, Modern Times Legal also is able to place customer relations and satisfaction--along with an intimate knowledge and understanding of the ongoing evolution of patent law and policy--foremost in its practice. Located in the innovation hotbed of Kendall Square, Cambridge, Modern Times Legal thrives in an environment of new ideas and advanced progress.
About Robert J . Sayre, Registered Patent Attorney
All legal work at Modern Times Legal is governed by Robert J. Sayre. Before founding Modern Times Legal, Bob benefitted from eleven years of consistent immersion in patent law practice, both in a mid-size patent specialty firm and in a giant international general-practice firm. As a registered patent attorney, Bob provides legal counseling, patent drafting and international prosecution for a couple of the world's top universities and for innovative companies in a range of fields. Among the brilliant inventors on the patents prosecuted by Bob is an inductee into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and recipient of the Charles Stark Draper Prize, the highest honor awarded by the National Academy of Engineering.
Additionally, Bob has authored the following published articles: "Updated Summary and Analysis of the Patent Act of 2005," IP Frontline (August 20, 2005); "Invention Disclosures--What to Capture from the Spark of Invention," IP Litigator (May/June 2005); "Protection of Intellectual Property in China," SMT Magazine (June 2004); and "The On-Sale Bar to Patentability and the Specter of Reduction to Practice," Intellectual Property Today (October 1998).
Bob has also been active in pro bono legal efforts. In addition to his service as an instructor for the World Intellectual Property Organization in teaching patent drafting to attorneys and technical personnel from developing countries, Bob represented numerous victims in court and advocated for restraining orders via the Domestic Violence Project and the Rape Survivors' Law Project at his previous firm.
Bob received his B.S., magna cum laude, in ceramic (materials science) engineering from Clemson University in 1993 and earned his J.D. from Duke University School of Law in 1996. At Argonne National Laboratory, Bob fabricated high-temperature superconductors for a current lead device that set a world-record for current-carrying capacity; that effort earned him a Laboratory Director's Award at Argonne. More recently, Bob was cited among the "Massachusetts Super Lawyers: Rising Stars" in 2005, 2006 and 2007 ("consisting of the top 2.5 percent of the up-and-coming attorneys in Massachusetts") recognized by Boston Magazine and Law & Politics.
Photos chronicling Bob's experiences at the patent drafting program in Zimbabwe and other adventures are posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/bob.sayre.
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