Thomas A. Franklin

Overview

Tommy Franklin co-chairs the firm's Electrical & Computer Technologies Practice. He oversees and coordinates all aspects of the group’s operation, including recruiting, business development, and professional development. Previously, he led the group’s recruiting efforts, during which time the group hired nearly half of its current members. He also led the creation of the group’s innovative recruiting program. Prior to that, Tommy led the group’s professional development efforts, including a significant expansion of the kind and volume of training provided, with a particular focus on practical, result-oriented skills. He is still actively engaged in such efforts. Additionally, Tommy is a mentor to multiple group members as part of the firm’s formal mentoring program.  

Aside from his group responsibilities, Tommy is a sought-after strategist within the firm. He recently co-chaired the firm’s long-term strategic planning initiative. In that role, he coordinated the efforts of shareholders across several groups at the firm, culminating in a plan addressing firm management structure, recruiting strategy, business development strategy, and geographic growth.

Tommy brings the same strategic mindset and goal-oriented approach to the firm’s clients. He makes it a priority to understand each client’s goals and then to provide advice tailored to achieving those goals.  He proposes creative approaches to IP protection and management that add value and often result in outcomes others would not think possible. 

Tommy is experienced in a wide range of intellectual property issues. He advises clients ranging from start-ups to large companies, on topics including strategic patent portfolio development, conducting and defending due diligence, development of licensing agreements, patent validity and infringement opinions, trade secret development and protection, and litigation-related counseling for both plaintiffs and defendants.

Tommy’s technical experience spans a range of industries. He has worked with medical devices, electromagnetic sensors, optics, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), semiconductors, robotics, artificial intelligence, and fluidic systems, among others. 

Well versed in the multitude of issues and pressures faced by different organizations, Tommy is particularly experienced at working with start-ups at many stages of the business, and at developing winning IP strategies that address the various interests brought to the table by the company’s inventors, executives, and board members.

During graduate school, Tommy served as a Research Assistant at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems. His research included investigating magnetic-colloid flow in rotating and oscillating magnetic fields, with a focus on applications to nano-scale devices. He also trained in a microfabrication facility.

Experience

• Spearheaded development and management of a medical device patent portfolio including thousands of assets.
• Managed a team of over 15 attorneys in prosecuting a patent portfolio of hundreds of assets in the electronics space.
• Counseled an early stage start-up on development of joint research agreements and consulting agreements.
• Led a team of several attorneys in developing non-infringement and invalidity positions for seven patents on behalf of a large consumer electronics company.
• Conducted offensive due diligence on behalf of an investor considering a multi-million dollar investment in a target start-up company.
• Successfully defended diligence by multiple investors on behalf of an early stage start-up company as part of a multi-million dollar investment round.
• Successfully obtained reversal of Patent Office rejections of patent applications on several occasions.
• Developed a trade secret protection plan for an early stage start-up company in the wearables space.
• Developed new onboarding program for integrating and training new hires to firm.

Recognition

Tommy is repeatedly recognized in the IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Professionals. He is also ranked among the top 5% of most active high-tech patent prosecutors—out of 28,843 patent attorneys and agents—in Patexia’s Patent Prosecution Intelligence Report. 

Tommy is a recipient of the Boston College Alumni Scholarship. He is a member of the Order of the Coif and Phi Beta Kappa. For a number of years, he was named to the list of Massachusetts Rising Stars by Super Lawyers. He was also named a BTI client service all star.

Interests

Tommy has a particular interest in leadership development and strategic planning within various types of organizations. He also has an interest in the start-up community, having served as both a judge and mentor for business plan competitions. He is an avid sports fan, particularly interested in new technologies for improving performance in various sports.