DOUGLAS P. MUELLER
Founding Partner
612-455-3804
dmueller@hsml.com

Education
Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI
   B.S., Chemistry, magna cum laude, 1979
George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
   J.D., with honors, 1983

 
Bar Admissions
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 1981
Virginia, 1983 (currently associate status)
District of Columbia, 1985
Minnesota, 1995

Practice Areas
U.S. and international patent and trademark prosecution including reexaminations and interferences, infringement and validity opinions, and counseling clients with respect to IP acquisition, portfolio management and business strategies. Practice areas include a wide range of chemical, mechanical and light electrical fields such as semiconductor devices and processing, pharmaceutical agents and delivery systems, coating compositions and methods, medical equipment, display systems and components, etc. Mr. Mueller represents U.S. and overseas clients in proceedings at the USPTO, and has had significant relationships with law firms and companies in Japan throughout his career. At a former firm, Mr. Mueller prepared the successful reexamination requests of the "turmeric" and "basmati" U.S. patents on behalf of the Indian government.

• Enablement – Paper and lecture presented at the American Intellectual Property Law Association Advanced Chemical Prosecution Workshop
• Selected Issues in U.S. Patent Practice – Paper and lecture presented in Japan
• Proving Invention Dates – Paper and lecture presented in Japan
• Current Issues in U.S. Patent Practice – Paper and lecture presented in Japan
• Inter Partes Reexamination – Paper and lecture presented at the Minnesota Intellectual Property Law Association program on the American Inventor Protection Act
• Ownership of Inventions – Paper and lecture presented in Japan
• Patent Prosecution after Festo – Paper and lecture presented in Japan
• U.S. Claim Drafting – Paper and lecture presented in Japan
• Doctrine of Equivalence Under Post-Festo Federal Circuit Cases – Paper and lecture presented in Japan

Professional Affiliations
American Bar Association
American Intellectual Property Law Association
District of Columbia Bar Association
Minnesota Intellectual Property Law Association
Minnesota State Bar Association
Virginia State Bar
Japan Intellectual Property Association
Member of Central Michigan University College of Science and Technology Alumni Advisory
   Committee