Paul J. Pearah

Dr. Paul J. Pearah is a member of the California Bar and has been licensed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office since 2004.

Dr. Pearah‘s experience includes invention disclosure harvesting and patentability evaluations; patent application drafting and prosecution for clients ranging from individual inventors to large corporations; patent portfolio management; patent litigation and interference matters; performing competitive technology, IP landscape, and freedom to operate analysis; due diligence for mergers and acquisitions; alternative dispute resolution (ADR); and face-to-face infringement lawsuit settlement negotiations with multi-billion dollar competitors.

TECHNICAL EXPERTISE

Keen business and technical insights into clients’ issues and concerns derive from a previous career as a Silicon Valley engineer and technical manager working on modern technologies in the semiconductor, nanotechnology, thin film materials, laser/light-emitting diode (LED), optoelectronics and telecommunications industries, as well as an in-house position at a San Diego medical device company.

Dr. Pearah’s extensive corporate experience provides him with exceptional depth of empathy and understanding to better serve clients’ needs. Business acumen, technical depth and intellectual property skills have been sharpened by 5 years at Hewlett-Packard Optoelectronics as a Development Engineer and Project manager; 5 years as Sr. Scientist at a supplier of advanced compound semiconductor materials for microwave and optoelectronic device applications; performing Sr. Patent Agent work at medical device company Dexcom; and 3 years as Director of Technology & Intellectual Property of a small Silicon Valley semiconductor company; as well as 6 years in the Qualcomm Patent Department.

Dr. Pearah is passionate about the thrill of discovery and invention. Prior to entering the patent practice, he conducted groundbreaking research and engineering work in lasers, transistors and other electronic devices; the growth and properties of new crystalline “compound semiconductor” materials; optoelectronics; and nanotechnology; and published approximately fifty research articles in various scientific journals such as IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, Physical Review, Journal of Crystal Growth, Journal of Applied Physics and Applied Physics Letters. Dr. Pearah’s firsthand understanding of the dedication, focus, and years of persistence that are generally required to produce a significant invention ensure that your intellectual property will be properly captured and ardently protected.

EDUCATION

Dr. Pearah is well prepared to assimilate a broad range of technologies including those with which he has limited previous familiarity. In addition to the wealth of technical expertise gained while working in industry, Dr. Pearah’s technical foundation was provided through the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he earned Ph.D and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering and a B.S. degree in Engineering Physics.

Dr. Pearah is a graduate of University of San Diego School of Law, from which he was awarded a J.D. specialized in Intellectual Property. There he received the CALI Excellence Award for the top grade in Corporate Innovation & Legal Policy for his analysis of emergent legal issues pertaining to self-driving cars (a.k.a. “autonomous vehicles” – see Publications tab for a link to the law journal article that grew out of this work). In addition, Dr. Pearah pursued for-credit graduate level Electrical Engineering and Physics coursework at MIT, and for-credit courses at Harvard University.

PERSONAL INTERESTS

In his free time, Dr. Pearah enjoys tinkering with new and vintage audio electronics, amateur musicianship, bass fishing and SCUBA diving.