About Us

A. JOHN (Jack) PATE

──

Since joining the legal profession Dr. Pate has assisted clients in procuring patent protection for high-technology materials, plastics manufacturing, electrical equipment, semiconductor processing, computer hardware design, artificial intelligence, heat/mass transport, mechanical systems, exercise and recreational equipment, deep earth drilling technology, environmental engineering equipment, chemical processing, and manufacturing processes and products. By relying on his extensive industrial experience and intellectual property experience Dr. Pate has provided strategic consultation to client companies, helping them develop intellectual property policies for building profit margins through intellectual property creation, management, and licensing.

Before entering the J. Reuben Clark Law School of Brigham Young University Dr. Pate served as a Senior scientist with Morton-Thiokol, and spent a decade as a systems engineer and manager at the General Electric Company. In addition to obtaining patents for his employer during his industrial years he authored technical papers and reports in a broad variety of technologies. His background includes engineering design, analysis, manufacturing, and advanced development across diverse areas of electronics manufacturing, control systems, dynamic mechanical structures, ultra-high pressure fluid systems, combustion, propulsion, explosives, and electrical power technologies.

During his years in industry Dr. Pate held government security clearances with which he contributed as a systems engineer and manager. He supervised or contributed to projects ranging through software development of engineering design and test applications; electronics manufacturing and packaging; strategic missile guidance and propulsion systems; cryogenic cooling; radar, sonar, and optical signature detection and creation; corrosion protection systems; precision aluminum casting design, manufacturing, and quality control; weapon systems engineering for mission areas including tactical ground, tactical and strategic air, and tactical and strategic sea systems; explosives; ordnance systems and delivery technologies; interior, exterior, and terminal ballistics; nuclear radiation protection; deep sea instrumentation delivery; high voltage power systems; lightning protection; plastics processing; flammability testing; high pressure (60kpsi) combustion; and forensic engineering consulting.

During his graduate studies, Dr. Pate pursued research and study in numerical methods, engineering modeling and computer programming, process engineering, structural analysis, and energy systems.

Dr. Pate speaks and writes Spanish.

Education
J.D., Brigham Young University, 1992
Ph.D., Engineering, Utah State University, 1978
M.S., Engineering, Utah State University, 1975
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Utah State University, 1974 Cum Laude
President of ASME
President of Sigma Tau engineering society
President Tau Beta Pi engineering society
Phi Kappa Phi
Sigma Xi research society

Admissions
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 1990
Utah State Bar, 1992

DANIEL P. NELSON

──

Dan is a registered patent attorney specializing in intellectual property. Dan’s current practice focuses on preparing and prosecuting both domestic and foreign patent applications, performing patent portfolio analysis and management, preparing non-infringement and invalidity opinions, and providing intellectual property strategic planning and counseling. Dan has extensive experience taking patent applications through the USPTO appeal and accelerated examination processes. Dan has personally drafted over 700 patent applications in a wide variety of technological areas, including artificial intelligence, cloud computing, computer hardware, software, communications systems, semiconductors, database technology, optical systems, down-hole drilling, networking, batteries and battery chemistries, electrical circuits, ceramics, business methods, medical devices, and mechanical devices.

Dan graduated from Arizona State University in 1998 with a B.S. in electrical engineering. After graduating from Arizona State University, Dan worked for several years as an electrical engineer for TOR Engineering of Phoenix, Arizona, working in the energy sector.

In 2000, Dan began his career in intellectual property as a technical consultant and patent agent with Pate Pierce & Baird (PPB), an IP law firm based in Salt Lake City. At PPB, Dan received significant training drafting patent applications, responding to patent and trademark office actions, managing client patent portfolios, handling international patent matters, and performing many other IP-related tasks.

After three years of full-time work with PPB, Dan began attending law school at the University of Utah College of Law in 2003. While in law school, Dan was a published member of the Utah Law Review and authored several IP-related papers. Dan also worked as an IP law clerk at Kirton McConkie.

After graduating from law school in 2005, Dan continued his relationship with PPB and other IP firms, while building his own clientele. Dan eventually founded Nelson IP, a law firm specializing in patents, trademarks, copyrights, and other IP-related matters. Dan currently performs or has performed significant IP-related work for a number of local, regional, and international clients. Representative clients include IBM, National Oilwell Varco, Grant Prideco, Intelliserv, Ceramatec, Novatek, TrackPIN, MySmartBlinds, myLIFTER, PayZoom, PINsimple, Urinos, VanderHall MotorWorks, RelChip, and LuMet

Admissions
Utah State Bar
Utah State Supreme Court
U.S. District Court for the District of Utah
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Reg. No. 52,063

Education

J.D., University of Utah, 2005
Editor, Utah Law Review, 2004-05

B.S. Electrical Engineering, Arizona State University, 1998

Membership
American Bar Association
American Intellectual Property Law Association

Languages
Fluent in Spanish

GORDON K. HILL

──

Mr. Hill has obtained favorable decisions and settlements in patent and trademark related litigation for clients engaged in a variety of businesses. For example, Mr. Hill has obtained patents for high-technology materials such as monoclonal anti-bodies, polymer compounds, and chemical reactor feeds, as well as medical processes, systems, and gas generators. He has also patented simpler devices such as mechanical tools, toys, gadgets, electronic football down markers, and disposable, anti-microbial slippers. Mr. Hill has successfully built and enforced trademark portfolios in numerous commercial markets.

Before graduating from law school, Mr. Hill worked as a research and methods chemist for a pharmaceutical laboratory and as an analytical chemist for an environmental laboratory. Mr. Hill has experience with numerous types of laboratory equipment and methods, including OSHA and NIOSH methods. He also has developed and performed methods for evaluating the stability and content of various pharmaceutical products.

Admissions
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 2001
Utah State Bar, 2002
Utah State Supreme Court, 2002
U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, 2002
California State Bar, 2002
California State Supreme Court, 2002
United Stated Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 2005

Education
J.D., Chapman University School of Law, 2001
B.S., Chemistry, Weber State University, 1992

Membership
American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA)

MICHAEL PATE

──

Michael is currently of counsel to Pate, Nelson, & Hill. Since 2005, Michael Pate has been engaged in the practice of intellectual property law, specializing in the preparation and prosecution of patents across diverse technical domains such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, complex software, electronics, semiconductors, optics, communications, internet, industrial products, medical devices, and transportation.

Having worked in legal firms situated in Washington, California, and Utah, Michael has honed his expertise in patenting automotive control systems, mechanical systems, optics, networking, and digital circuit technologies.

Demonstrating a commitment to continuous self-improvement, Michael pursued a master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Utah in 2011. During this period, he conducted funded research on metamaterials. His educational background, including a law degree, a master's degree in electrical engineering, and a bachelor's in mechanical engineering, enhances his capabilities as an intellectual property attorney. This educational foundation enables him to rapidly comprehend emerging technologies both from a holistic perspective and in terms of their individual mechanical and electrical components.

During the course of his career, Michael has guided start-ups through Fortune 10 companies with respect to identifying IP for protection, filing for patent protection, and prosecuting patent applications; provided assistance to foreign clients and associates with respect to patent filings in the United States; provided assistance to U.S. clients with respect to patent filings in foreign countries; and assisted clients with internal IP quality and value audits

Admissions
Utah State Bar
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Reg. No. 53,439

Education

J.D., Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School, 2005

M.S., Electrical Engineering, University of Utah, 2014
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Brigham Young University, 2002

HAL BAIRD

──

Mr. Baird is currently of counsel to Pate, Nelson, & Hill. Mr. Baird’s practice is focused on patent preparation and prosecution with an emphasis in the software and mechanical arts. Mr. Baird is also experienced with intellectual property litigation including patent infringement, trademark infringement, and unfair competition. Mr. Baird served for many years as a Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves where he used his broad legal experience to resolve personnel activation disputes and draft guidelines for resolving such disputes.

Mr. Baird began his legal career in the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps practicing in the areas of criminal prosecution, the law of land warfare, and human resources law. Before entering law school, Mr. Baird worked for the Department of the Army at Fort Huachuca, Arizona where he developed and programmed computer expert systems to perform battlefield intelligence analysis.

My Baird's interest in software development was ignited over 30 years ago when he worked for three years as a software engineer at the US Army Intelligence Center. After attending law school, and later becoming a registered patent attorney with a practice in Salt Lake City, Utah, Mr. Baird felt a need to build up his software engineering knowledge. In July 2019, Mr. Baird found Code Platoon, a non-profit coding boot camp for veterans staffed by people who have a real sense of purpose and commitment to excellence. In response, Mr, Baird immediately resolved to earn admission to Code Platoon. Mr. Baird finished the Code Platoon boot camp and uses his updated software engineering knowledge to better serve clients seeking his services as a patent attorney.

Not content to sit still, Mr. Baird returned to school at Syracuse University in the early 2020s to study computer engineering in order to better serve his clients. Mr. Baird is expected to graduate from Syracuse University with an M.S. in computer engineering in March of 2024.

Admissions
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 1998
Utah State Bar, 1992
Utah State Supreme Court, 1992
U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, 1992
Colorado State Bar, 1994
Colorado State Supreme Court, 1994
U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, 1994
United Stated Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 1998
United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, 1998
United States Supreme Court, 1998

Education

J.D., Brigham Young University, 1992
Associate Editor, Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law
M.S., Computer Engineering, Syracuse University, 2024

B.A., Computer Information Systems, Utah State University, 1986
Cum Laude

Membership
American Intellectual Property Law Association

Legal Publications
“Res Judicata Effect of United States International Trade Commission Patent Decisions,” BYU J. Pub. L., 1992

Reported Cases
United States v. Light, 48 M.J. 187 C.A.A.F.,1998

Languages
Mr. Baird Speaks and Writes Spanish

SMALLER BY DESIGN

because creative genius does not run in herds

Call Today