Michael B. Ray, J.D. ’90

Managing Director
Sterne Kessler Goldstein Fox
Washington, D.C.

Michael B. Ray is Managing Director of Sterne Kessler and practices in the firm's Electronics Group. He has been practicing patent law since 1990.

From a foundation that includes many years of preparation and prosecution of patent applications, much of his time is now spent providing clients with strategic intellectual property counseling and risk assessment. This includes pre-litigation analysis and negotiations, analyzing patents for infringement and validity, providing legal opinions, and handling post-grant proceedings (such as reexamination and inter partes review) before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Ray's practice also involves negotiating and drafting license, settlement and various other IP-related agreements, and performing IP due diligence analyses in conjunction with mergers, acquisitions and technology licensing.

His work continues to include patent application preparation and prosecution. He has also acted as the de facto IP counsel for several leading-edge technology companies, where he developed programs to protect IP assets, assure ownership, and assure freedom to operate. In addition, Ray has counseled numerous emerging companies and has lectured on IP best practices. He has also lectured on the topic of reducing legal costs.

Michael B. Ray currently serves as an adjunct professor at the University of New Hampshire School of Law where he teaches a Master Class on Patent Office Litigation (i.e., reexamination and post-grant proceedings under the America Invents Act). He has also been an adjunct professor at George Mason University Law School where he taught classes on patent law and practice.

He has done significant work in a variety of electrical and computer technologies and in medical devices.