Intellectual Property Symposium

Jerrah Edwards, current Acting Assistant Regional Director for the Western Regional Office, is a Supervisory Patent Examiner in TC 3700, managing a team of examiners in the area of medical prosthetics. After practicing as an attorney specializing in patent prosecution for several years, Jerrah joined the USPTO in 2010 as an examiner in the areas of computerized vehicle control, navigation, and robotics. Before becoming a supervisor, she served on several details, including GS-14 Trainer for TC 3600, GS-14 Patent Academy Trainer, and Assistant Outreach Coordinator for the West Coast Regional Office. Jerrah received her BS in Physics from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and her JD from the University of Michigan Law School.

As the Acting Regional Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Western Regional Office, Steve Koziol carries out the strategic direction of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO and is responsible for leading the USPTO's Western Regional Office in Silicon Valley. Focusing on the region and actively engaging with the community, Mr. Koziol ensures the USPTO’s initiatives and programs are tailored to the region's unique ecosystem of industries and stakeholders.

Mr. Koziol also serves as the Managing Assistant Regional Director for the Western Regional Office. In this role, he leads the coordination of stakeholder outreach efforts at the Western Regional Office, ensuring the equitable distribution of USPTO services and resources across the western region. 

Mr. Koziol has served the USPTO for nearly 15 years, starting as a patent examiner and working through various management roles as a supervisory patent examiner at headquarters, the Rocky Mountain Regional Office, and the Silicon Valley Regional Office. 

Mr. Koziol received his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Bradley University.

Patrick Njeim focuses his practice on patent preparation and prosecution, due diligence matters, infringement and validity opinions, portfolio analysis, patent litigation, and post-grant proceedings. He represents clients in a wide range of technology areas, including artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, computer software and hardware, virtualization and cloud computing, networking, wireless communications, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, medical devices, and various related technologies.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Njeim worked as an associate in the Seattle office of a national law firm. Previously, he worked for Boeing Commercial Airplanes for six years where he developed broad experience in systems engineering. In his most recent position with Boeing as Customer Engineer, Mr. Njeim managed airline accounts in Europe and Africa where he was responsible for negotiating, configuring, designing, and documenting airplane features, technologies, and systems specific to each airline.

As an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Washington (UW) School of Law, Mr. Njeim teaches advanced courses in intellectual property. He also advises and mentors law students participating in independent study programs and law clinics, including the UW School of Law Entrepreneurial Law Clinic.

Jeffrey joined the USPTO in 2007 after graduating from the University of Wisconsin – Madison with a BS in Natural Sciences – Biochemistry, and from Georgetown University with an MS in Biochemistry and Biotechnology.  He joined TC1600 (AU 1615) and examined a wide variety of chemically-based patent applications including cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, foods, implants, and wound care devices and dressings.  In January 2014, he and his wife moved to Colorado as full-time hoteling examiners, and later that year, he advanced to Primary Examiner. He has two detail assignments at the USPTO as an Outreach Advisor for the Rocky Mountain Regional Office and is currently serving on his third with the Western Regional Office.

Andrew T. Serafini is a registered patent lawyer who focuses his practice on strategic and comprehensive intellectual property counseling and management for biotechnology, biopharmaceutical, and other life sciences clients. Dr. Serafini is listed as a leading lawyer in the 2021 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in Intellectual Property. IP STARS recognized him in 2020 and 2021 as a “Patent Star” in Washington and nationally. He was also recognized as a top patent practitioner in 2021 and the six years immediately preceding by IAM Patent 1000 – The World's Leading Patent Practitioners.

As a scientist, Dr. Serafini enjoys the pursuit of innovation in his scientific research – as a lawyer, he uses his scientific background to strengthen his clients’ positions. He assists his clients in obtaining, protecting, and enforcing their intellectual property rights, especially in the areas of immunology, molecular biology, chemistry, antibody engineering and therapeutics, vaccines, stem cell technologies, molecular genetics, genomics, proteomics, and much more.

Dr. Serafini has focused on strategic and comprehensive intellectual property counseling and management for biotechnology, biopharmaceutical, and other diverse life sciences clients in over twenty years of practice. He fully engages with his clients, so he knows his clients’ wants and needs and how to best realize his clients’ goals given the pressures of business, the innovations of science, and the connections of the global community.