The law firm of Olive & Olive, P.A. limits its practice to the general area of intellectual property law. This includes traditional services in the patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret fields, as well as related areas of practice. The firm works both with conventional and with highly advanced technologies. To give only a limited number of examples, Olive & Olive provides services relating to textile products and apparatus, agricultural machines and equipment, automotive components, computer hardware and software, lasers, solid state electronics, and biomedical developments including pharmaceuticals, medical instruments, health care consumer products, cell and virus culturing systems, DNA probes and monoclonal antibody-based diagnostic kits, biological pesticides, plant growth regulations, bioassay techniques, blood treatment and monitoring systems.

The history of the firm dates back to 1957, when B. B. Olive became the first patent attorney to establish a private practice in what is now referred to as the Research Triangle area of North Carolina. Since that time, the firm's practice has expanded both in numbers of clients served and in the geographical location of its clients. Currently, approximately half of Olive & Olive's clients have some substantial connection (such as home office or major manufacturing facility) with the State of North Carolina; and the remaining half are based throughout the United States or in foreign countries, including clients in Australia, Japan, the Republic of Ireland, Sweden, and other nations. While the firm has expanded and intends to continue to expand to serve both new and existing clients, it places a high value on continued service to existing clients, both small and large. The firm's philosophy emphasizes the importance of client satisfaction with the quality of services rendered and the manner in which work is performed. Olive & Olive takes pride in the many clients who have used the firm's services on an ongoing basis for many years.

The principals in the firm are B. B. Olive and Susan Freya Olive. B. B. Olive is a graduate of the Duke University School of Engineering (B.S.E.E., 1948) and of St. John's University School of Law (J.D., 1953). Susan Freya Olive is a graduate of Brown University (A.B., Medical-Legal Interface--a major combining biotechnology including physiology, chemistry and bioengineering, with policy aspects of law and medicine, 1970) and of the Duke University School of Law (J.D., with honors, 1977).

Professor Charles E. Smith is of counsel to, and practices with, the firm. Professor Smith is a graduate of California Polytechnic University (B.S., 1965), Georgetown University Law School (J.D., 1972) and Duke University School of Law (LL.M., 1983), and is a former patent examiner for the United States Patent Office. He has worked as a patent attorney for Xerox Corporation and intellectual property counsel for Bechtel Corporation. He presently serves as Associate Dean and Professor of Law at the North Carolina Central University School of Law, and teaches intellectual property law and business law courses at the School.

Olive & Olive is fortunate to have the services of four associate attorneys, each with backgrounds particularly relevant to the firm's intellectual property practice.

Michael R. Philips became associated with the firm in 1990. He is a graduate of the Tufts University College of Engineering (B.S.M.E. 1959) and of the Franklin Pierce School of Law (J.D., 1990). Prior to becoming a patent attorney, Mr. Philips was a mechanical engineer working in the textile and plastics industries.

Tara Jean Gray became an associate of the firm in 1990, after working as a law clerk for the firm during law school. From 1992-1993, she served as patent counsel for Hercules Incorporated, rejoining Olive & Olive in 1993. She is a graduate of Auburn University (B.S. with Honors in Chemistry, 1983) and of the University of North Carolina School of Law (J.D., 1990).

Bruce Vrana worked with the firm as a patent law clerk, and became an associate patent attorney in 1993. Mr. Vrana is a graduate of Cornell University (B.S. in Biology, 1977) and of the Campbell University School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1993), where he was Notes and Comments editor of the Campbell Law Review. Prior to law school, Mr. Vrana was employed for many years as a Research Analyst in the Microbiology and Immunology Department of Duke University, and also served as Artistic Director and Choreographer of New Performing Dance Company.

Katherine M. Bush became an associate with the firm in August of 1996. She is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati (B.S. in Biology, 1991) and the Campbell University School of Law (J.D. 1996). Prior to becoming an attorney, Ms. Bush was a Research Assistant at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, where she performed research in limnology (fresh-water ecology), pollen identification and analysis of tropical forests, and she is an author of several papers in these fields.

Michael A. Springs is a patent agent with the firm. He is a graduate of South Carolina State University (B.S. Electrical Engineering Technology, 1989) and the University of South Carolina (M.B.A., 1994). Prior to becoming a patent agent, he was employed with Hughes Aircraft Company, as an electrical engineer and ultimately as team leader/project manager. Mr. Springs graduated from the North Carolina Central University School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1997). During law school, he was employed as a law clerk for North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Henry Frye, and then as a patent law clerk for Hughes Aircraft and for Olive & Olive. He will become an associate attorney with the firm upon his admission to practice as an attorney in North Carolina.

Primary paralegal assistance is provided by Joseph T. Blackley, Jr., who has been with the firm for over thirty years and is also an experienced patent draftsman; and by Ann Duke, Shelia L. Alexander, and Theresa W. Boyce, each of whom has also been employed for many years with the firm. Other paralegal and secretarial support staff are also employed. The firm's Administrator is Bill Wiggins, Jr. In addition to its extensive print and CD-ROM library of legal and scientific publications, the firm makes considerable use of on-line computer databases for research purposes; and maintains a CD-ROM database of information concerning issued U.S. patents as well as printed abstracts of U.S. patents and trademark registrations issued since 1964.

The firm provides a fairly broad range of services within its area of concentration. These include patent searches; preparation of United States and foreign patent applications; patent litigation; trademark searches (including screening corporate names prior to their adoption); preparation of federal, state and foreign trademark applications; trademark litigation; preparation of copyright applications; copyright litigation; trade dress (product appearance) matters; preparation and review of assignments, licenses and similar contracts involving intellectual property; advice and preparation of agreements concerning confidentiality and trade secret matters, including employment agreements and invention disclosure agreements; preparation of franchise agreements and related disclosure documents; and general advice and assistance concerning matters touching on or affecting intellectual property rights.

Olive & Olive can assist in product liability suits, personal injury cases, and other matters where it is important to know the state of the art in particular technologies as of a particular date. The firm can search patent and other database records to develop a record of the state of the art in product design, manufacturing methods, and the like; and may also be able to develop a record through admissions made by a manufacturer during patent prosecution that a particular manufacturing technique or product has specific flaws.

While the firm does not provide tax or securities advice, Olive and Olive does work with clients and their counsel in matters relating to investments and secured transactions. The firm can prepare patentability opinions to assist clients in making investment decisions, as well as in assessing tax consequences where tax treatment of an investment will be affected by considerations of patentability or infringement. Olive & Olive can and does also provide opinions relating to the existence, scope, validity, and infringement of patents, trademarks and copyrights in connection with secured transactions, buy-outs, and other investment transactions.

Each of the firm's attorneys and staff is encouraged to give of their time and means to worthy causes and to engage in public service and pro bono activities. The firm has an outstanding record in these areas.

Olive & Olive is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 1997. Both the size of the firm and the number of its clients have increased since 1957. Clients who have been with the firm since the early days have expanded their operations substantially, and newer clients include both individual inventors and large corporations, from within the United States and around the world. The firm's goal, however, has not changed since 1957: To render the highest level of intellectual property law services to those who seek help within its field of expertise. The firm strives to ensure that each and every client of Olive & Olive will have both the knowledge and feeling that they have been treated fairly, reasonably, and capably. For forty years, the firm has measured its success by the success and satisfaction of its clients; and it looks forward to doing so for many decades to come.