A member of the firm’s Intellectual Property practice, Melissa Patterson focuses her practice on the preparation and prosecution of patent applications, open source, licensing, and litigation matters, particularly in the areas of software, artificial intelligence including deep and machine learning, robotics, computer and mechanical devices, mobile communications, automotive technologies, AR and VR headsets, blockchain, insurance, hospital and health networks with records management, geophysical management, and financial networks.
Melissa often collaborates with C-level executives and in-house counsel in various industries, including AI, enterprise devices, robotics, and IoT consumer devices, to draft competitive patenting strategies. She also helps identify new patent filings based on these strategies, working directly with the inventors and engineers to complete the coverage.
Melissa has prosecuted more than 1,000 U.S. and international patent matters, including acting as foreign counsel and working with foreign counterparts in other jurisdictions for over 15 years. Prior to moving to her role as a patent attorney, Melissa worked for over eight years in various technical roles, including as a computer programmer (SQL, Java, C/C++, various scripting languages), database administrator, project manager, and IT professional.
To maintain her technical training, Melissa continues to earn technical certifications in software development courses related to artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. She also frequently participates in software programming courses with lab assignments in Python and Ruby software languages.
In her IP licensing practice, Melissa analyzes open-source licensing terms and provides insightful patent and licensing opinions, drawing on her background in computer programming. She has managed over 200 trademark matters, conducted numerous non-infringement and invalidity analyses, and offered technical insights into pre-litigation and computer code-related issues. Her comprehensive experience includes drafting and analyzing patent licenses and addressing technical aspects in patent litigation cases.
Education & Credentials
Education
Loyola Law School
J.D.University of California, Irvine
B.S., Information and Computer ScienceCoursera
Certificate- IT Fundamentals for Cybersecurity, 2020
- Neural Networks and Deep Learning, 2019
- Machine Learning, 2018
Bar Admission
Acknowledgements
- Best Lawyers
- Ones to Watch, Intellectual Property Law, 2023-2025
- Intellectual Property Law Section, San Diego County Bar Association (SDCBA)
- Variety of New Lawyer Content, 2021
- Commitment to New Lawyers, 2019
Prominent Assignments
- Representing a startup company that produces a statistical modeling and visualization app, including handling their intellectual property portfolio.
- Representing a Fortune 500 company that produces innovative video games with novel intellectual property features.
- Representing a Fortune 200 company that leads AI-based cloud computing and enterprise device design, including working with several in-house counsel to strategically cover several innovation areas.
- Prosecuted over 1,000 U.S. and international patent matters for clients ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies.
- Drafted more than 500 original patent applications, including conducting thorough invention disclosures and preparing detailed claims, figures, and specifications.
- Handled patent prosecution across various technical and business art units within the USPTO.
- Reviewed open-source licensing terms to develop clear, actionable strategies for clients to discuss with their internal programming departments.
- Developed strategies to navigate data use restrictions in light of open-source licensing limitations for various commercial applications.
Professional Involvement
- Executive Committee Member and Former Chair, Intellectual Property Law Section, San Diego County Bar Association (SDCBA)
- UC Irvine Alumni Association; Board Member-at-Large
- UC Irvine Alumni Association; Anteaters in Law Chapter, Member-at-Large
- UC Irving Alumni Association; Information and Computer Science (ICS) Chapter, Member-at-Large
- Girl Scouts of the USA, Girl Scout Troop Leader
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
- United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Publications/Presentations
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Co-Author, "Part 3: Key Takeaways from Claim Examples in the 2024 AI Patent Eligibility Guidance,” IP Blog, January 2025
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Co-Author, "Part 2: Key Takeaways from Claim Examples in the 2024 AI Patent Eligibility Guidance,” Dickinson Wright IP Blog, November 2024
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Co-Author, "Key Takeaways from Claim Examples in the 2024 AI Patent Eligibility Guidance: A 3-Part Series,” Dickinson Wright IP Blog, October 2024
- “Key Rules and Cases for Patent Practitioners Working on AI Patent Applications,” October 11, 2022
- “Takeaways From the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies Partnership Series,” October 4, 2022
- “Takeaways From the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies Partnership Series,” September 29, 2022
- ‘3D-Printed Masks, Disinfecting Devices, and Simplified Ventilators – a Sampling of Tech Advances in the Age of COVID-19 from California Universities,” May 27, 2020
- “COVID-19 Web-Based IP Platform to Facilitate Connections,” May 19, 2020
Presentations
- Panelist, "6th Annual Roundtable: How to Get Into Intellectual Property Practice with Any Background," San Diego County Bar Association, Webinar, December 17, 2024
- Panelist, “5th Annual Roundtable: How to Get Into Intellectual Property Practice with Any Background,” San Diego County Bar Association, Webinar, September 25, 2023
- Panelist, “10-Year Review of ICS,” University of California, Irvine, April 20, 2023
- Panelist, “5 Things Every Engineer/Programmer Needs to Know About Patents,” University of California, Irvine, April 12, 2023
- Moderator, “Patent Practice Foreign Filing and Prosecution Tips,” San Diego County Bar Association, December 15, 2022
- Moderator, “AI/ML: Myth or Reality?” Los Angeles Intellectual Property Law Association’s Washington in the West Conference, June 23, 2022
- Panelist, “UC Irvine ICS Alumni Lunch & Learn: Intellectual Property Strategy for Software,” ICS Alumni Chapter’s Lunch & Learn, April 9, 2021
- Panelist, “3rd Annual Roundtable: How to Get Into Intellectual Property Practice with Any Background,” San Diego County Bar Association, Webinar, March 4, 2021
- Moderator, “Innovation in the Age of COVID-19,” San Diego County Bar Association Virtual Roundtable, May 19, 2020
- Fireside Chat with San Diego In-House Counsel, October 24, 2023