Strategic advising relating to inventions, brands, product designs and artistic works

James Aquilina advises his clients on intellectual property (IP) procurement, strategic portfolio development and management, offensive and defensive dispute matters, licensing and anti-counterfeiting efforts. An internationally recognized IP strategist and leader in the field of U.S. design law, he counsels industry-leading and emerging clients in the areas of utility and design patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. His representative clients include global companies in the fields of:

• Personal apparel, including footwear and clothing
• Consumer packaged goods, including games and puzzles
• Medical devices
• Home furnishing
• Software

James takes the time to understand his clients’ businesses and ensure the legal solutions he and his team deliver align with business purposes. He is a true partner to the companies he represents and provides guidance that is clear, succinct and actionable.

James is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Quarles’ Protecting the Product blog, which focuses on design-related legal rights.

Bar Admissions

• District of Columbia
• New Jersey
• Pennsylvania

Education

• Rutgers University (B.S., cum laude, 2002)
  • Major: Biomedical Engineering

• University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (J.D., 2005)

• "Apple v. Samsung at the Supreme Court: A Roadmap to Understanding the Issues"
• "Advanced Design Patent Prosecution including Responding to Objections and Rejections"
• "Advanced Design Patent Prosecution"
• "Advanced Design Patent Prosecution"
• "Analysis of USPTO’s 2014 Interim Guidance on Patent Subject Matter Eligibility: Impact on Hightech Biotech Industries"
• "Best Practices for Protecting Your Trade Secrets in Emerging Markets"
• "Color Marks the Spot: A Comparative Look at Trade Dress Law for Product Configuration Marks in the U.S. and E.U."
• "Design Patent Portfolio Development and Management for In-House Practitioners"
• "Protecting Designs in the Virtual World"
• "Protecting Designs Without Design Patents"
• "Protecting Emerging Technologies with Design Patents"
• "Protecting Emerging Technologies: The IoT, Artificial Intelligence, Wearables, and GUIs"
• "Separating Wheat from Chaff: Comparing Functionality Doctrines in U.S. Design Patent, Trade Dress, and Copyright Law"
• "The Intersection of Law and Design: An Intro. To Design Patents"
• "Trademarks: Identifiers of Source"
• "Using a U.S. Design Patent Filing as a “Worldwide” Priority Document"
• "USPTO “Examiner Day” Annual Case Law Update"
• A Trademark Guide to the Metaverse for Averse Brand Owners
• AI & IP: A Not-so-Perfect Pairing
• Augusta National Blazes a Trail to Registration of its Iconic Green Jacket 
• Brexit’s Impact on European Design Registrations
• Design Patents are Heating Up at the Federal Circuit, Again
• Failure to Mark Patent Number on Products Results in Complete Loss of Pre-Suit Infringement Damages
• IP Attorneys Xheneta Ademi, Grace Stewart and James Aquilina Write About Trademark Protection in the Metaverse for Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal
• James Aquilina Writes About the Need to Include Patent Marking on Products for Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal
• Letter to USPTO regarding application of written description requirement to continuing and amended U.S. design patent applications
• New Revisions to Chinese Patent Law Increase Design Patent Harmonization 
• New U.S. Senate Bill Seeks to Grant Authority to Enforce Design Patents at Customs
• New USPTO Design Patent “Bar” to be Created in 2024
• Prince's Estate Makes it Rain Purple on the USPTO 
• Protecting the Product™: Software
• Protecting the Product™: Typefaces and Fonts
• Recent Trends in Article of Manufacture of Design Patent Claims: GUIs Remain King
• The Importance of Design Patents
• USPTO Announces COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program for Small and Micro Entities

Seminar

• Brand and Design Protection in Software and Virtual Worlds
• Design Patent Priority: 112 Support for Continuing and Amended Design Patent Claims
• Design Patents
• Design Rights Boot Camp
• Non-Functional Requirement for Trade Dress: Does Your Circuit Allow Evidence of Alternative Designs?
• The Ordinary Observer – Infringement Test Under U.S. Industrial Design Law
• The Power of Design: Incorporating Design Protection into your IP Portfolio
• World Intellectual Property Organization's 45th Meeting of the Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications
• “Winning Trademarks” – Trademarks in the Sporting Context