Jonathan Stroud
Mr. Jonathan Stroud is General Counsel with Unified Patents, managing their legal and corporate work. His work focuses on Patent Trial and Appeal Board, district court, and appellate litigation, as well as contracting, general corporate matters, and settlement negotiations. Mr. Stroud sits on Washington College of Law’s PIJIP Alumni Advisory Council and is an adjunct professor at WCL, teaching a class on post-grant strategies. Previously, Mr. Stroud was a patent attorney at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett and Dunner LLP, where he was involved in early post-grant review work. Before that, he examined patents on implantable medical devices at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Additionally, Mr. Stroud has been published in numerous law reviews. To name a few, the Columbia Science and Technology Law Review, the Administrative Law Review, the South Carolina Law Review, and the American University Law Review. Mr. Stroud Graduated with a J.D. from American University Washington College of Law in 2013 Cum Laude. He holds a MA in Journalism from the University of Southern California and a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Tulane University.
How did your educational background in engineering and journalism lead you to studying patent law at WCL?
My dad, brother, and uncles were journalists. As a way to rebel, and being good at science, I went to engineering school. While in school my dad passed away, leading me to reevaluate and decide to go back to get my master’s in journalism. Seeing some of the struggles of journalism through my brother, I moved to DC and used my engineering degree to get a job at the US Patent and Trademark Office. The job was stimulating for 6 months to a year, writing, and doing research. Working on the same technology became repetitive and I began to go to law school at night at American while working at the PTO. I then quit the PTO to work a summer at Finnegan as a summer associate. After that, I interned at the International Trade Commission before returning to Finnegan after I graduated. For me, law school was a way to do something that was interesting and played to all the strengths and weaknesses in my background. I love to talk, write, read, and I also love the technology. I was interested in everything and didn’t love to be closed off from anything. When you are in the lab, the technology and math would be so interesting, but you wouldn’t see people or have to write anything or present to anyone. Then you go to law school and take classes in other areas, and it would be all about advocacy and not about data or technology. Thus, patent litigation seemed like the best way to get the best of both worlds. And it has been, it has been an amazing experience.
How did your journalism background help you in law school and professional life?
95% of law is whether or not you can write. There was a class I took in journalism school where the very first assignment was “here are facts and interviews, now write a 600-word story.” The next assignment was to write the same story in 300 words, then 150, then the final week was to try to write it in 50 words. And you realize that you don’t need all these words. Being brief is something that many lawyers are not very good at, but good lawyers are. [Journalism] was an invaluable education and preparation for law school where you have all of this information you’re taking in and synthesizing.
What led you into patent litigation versus prosecution?
I was at the PTO prosecuting, which seemed too rote, too much like the lab, too regular for me. I have a little bit of the journalist’s need for something new in me and that’s what you get [with litigation], you get some excitement. I was more interested in it from the get-go. I did a little bit of prosecution when I was at the firm and a lot of [inter partes review] litigation and strategy. I also really like games: video games, board games, game theory, and football. People call litigation the sport of kings, but it felt in a lot of ways like a big game.
What was your favorite class in law school?
Civil Procedure was my favorite class by far because it was a bunch of non-substantive rules that set up the rules of engagement that nonetheless had major impacts on the outcome of litigation. And just by knowing the rules and how to play the game better, you can get a better outcome for your client, and I just really appreciated that.
At WCL as a research assistant and Dean’s fellow which classes did you work with and what was your experience?
I worked with Professor Popper on some of his research papers and that really helped me figure out how to do legal research and writing effectively at a high level. He was great, I really enjoyed working with him. I was a dean’s fellow for the IP Clinic which was tremendously helpful. I feel like the practical skills courses where you are doing trial or appellate advocacy are incredibly valuable and you never forget the mistakes you made in school. It helps you become a better advocate later. I really enjoyed [IP Clinic], it helped ignite a passion in me for legal writing, which I still do. I have written 30 or so legal publications over the past 10 years and really just like being a part of the conversation. To see how it was done, to figure out how the publication game was played was super invaluable to my education.
What is your role on the PIJIP Alumni Advisory Council and what made you continue to work with WCL?
The PIJIP Alumni Advisory Council is more of a formalization of what has been happening for the last 10 years. I always felt it was important to give back and there were a couple of people that I talked to who introduced me to partners or who helped me prepare for jobs and DC and patent law in particular is always a little bit more of who you know rather than what you know unfortunately. I wanted to make sure that deserving students who deserved an opportunity to go to a firm, get their first job, go to the solicitor’s office, or get a fellowship or something got the opportunity. For years, just casually, I had been helping students prep for Loyola and helping with their resumes and talking to people and seeing if I could connect partners at law firms and send resumes on and had a lot of students be very appreciative of that and honestly it was the most rewarding thing I did. Nothing is more valuable than making sure that someone who is deserving, works hard, and knows what they’re doing get a chance to prove themselves. Most of the students who I have interacted with at American have been highly deserving, and a lot of them have gone on to become extremely successful professionals.
What class do you teach as an adjunct professor at WCL?
I teach a summer class in IP. It’s about post grant strategies, something that I focus on. It’s highly specialized, there’s usually between 6-30 people over the summer.