Samson Helfgott

Qualifications and Career Profile

Samson Helfgott has practiced for over 40 years in domestic and international patent, trademark and copyright matters, international patent strategy and patent and trademark administration, before U.S. and foreign patent tribunals. He is a prolific writer and lecturer, who is frequently published in the area of U.S. and international prosecution and litigation pertaining to patents and trademarks, among others.

Associations and Committees

Mr. Helfgott is a member of the American Bar Association (IPL Section) where he has been elected a member of Council. He is Chairman of the International Committee of the New York Patent, Trademark and Copyright Law Association (Board of Directors 1986-89). He is Chairman of the Foreign Practice Committee of the Intellectual Property Owners Association. He is on the Executive Committee of AIPPI. He has chaired many committees at the American Intellectual Law Association and has been elected a Fellow of that organization. He serves on the U.S. Bar EPO Liaison Council, having previously been its Chairman. He was the founder and first Chairman of the U.S. Bar/JPO Liaison Council. He has represented the American Bar Association, AIPLA and IPO at international meetings and at international diplomatic conferences on world patent harmonization. He also is Advisory Board Member and contributor to World Intellectual Property Report, BNA International, Inc., London, England.

Mr. Helfgott is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the Supreme Court of the State of New York, and the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Education

Mr. Helfgott earned an undergraduate degree cum laude (B.E.E., 1961) from the City College New York, and graduate degrees from Yeshiva University (M.H.L., 1962) and New York University (M.E.E., 1963). Mr. Helfgott earned his law degree cum laude (J.D., 1972) from Fordham Law School and a doctorate degree (D.H.L., 1974) from Yeshiva University. Mr. Helfgott speaks Hebrew and German.

Lectures and Articles

Mr. Helfgott is a widely acclaimed lecturer. For many years, he was the coordinator of an annual program on Global Intellectual Property for the Practicing Law Institute (PLI). He has lectured at all the major U.S. Bar Associations, including ABA, AIPLA and IPO. He also lectured for Law Seminars International, World Intellectual Property Organization, National Association for Patent Practitioners, American Conference Institute, Half Moon LLC and others. He has also lectured in Europe, Japan and the Middle East. Mr. Helfgott is a lecturer at the annual American Intellectual Property Association's Patent Cooperation Treaty Seminar and the annual Practice Prosecution Training Program. Mr. Helfgott was listed for a number of years in the Guide to the World's Leading Patent Law Practitioners published by Managing Intellectual Property.

Mr. Helfgott writes the quarterly news article on International Intellectual Property matters for the American Bar Association IPL Landslide magazine. He is also coordinator of the International IP List Serve for the ABA. The various articles Mr. Helfgott has authored are as follows:

"Statistical Study of the Japanese Patent Office’s Handling of Foreign Patent Applications," Patents & Licensing, published by Japan Engineering News, Inc., Tokyo, Japan, Vol. 13, No. 2, April, 1983; "Foreign Patent Litigation," Patents, Copyrights, Trademarks and Literary Property course Handbook Series, Number 171, Practicing Law Institute, New York, N.Y., 1983; "The Declining Use of Patent Oppositions," IIC-International Review of Industrial Property & Copyright Law, published by Max-Planck Institute for Foreign & International Patent, Copyright and Competition Law, Munich, Germany, Vol. 16, No.2, 1985; "National Patenting in Western Europe," Continuing Legal Education Institute on Worldwide Protection of Intellectual Property, AIPLA - American Intellectual Property Law Association, January, 1985; "Selecting Foreign Countries for Patent Coverage," Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society, Arlington, Virginia, Vol. 68, No. 2, February , 1986; "Genuine Unauthorized Goods," EIPR - European Intellectual Property Review, London, England, Vol. 8, Issue 3, March 1986; "National Filing vs. EPC Filing," Intellectual Property Law, Washington, D.C., Spring, 1986; "Novelty Effect of Prior Filed Applications," ABA-Section of Patent, Trademark and Copyright Law, 1986 Committee Reports, New York, N.Y., 1986; "Guide to Selecting Foreign Countries for Patent Coverage," Introduction to Patents Throughout the World, Third Edition, August, 1986, Trade Activities Division of Clark Boardman Co., New York, N.Y.; "Prior Art Effect of Previously Filed Subsequently Published Applications," AIPLA Selected Legal Papers, Vol. IV, No.2, P.193, December, 1986; "Willful Infringement & Right to Use Opinions of Counsel," ABA-PTC Section, Intellectual Property Law, 4th Spring Educational Program, March 1989; "Harmonization of Patent Laws & Procedures" Fifth Annual Joint Seminar-Patent Practice Update, New York, N.Y., April 1989; "Use and Interpretation of Dependent Claims Around the World," World Intellectual Property Report (BNA), Vol.3, No. 9, September 1989; "Cultural Differences Between the U.S. and Japanese Patent Systems," World Intellectual Property Report (BNA), Vol. 3, No. 12, December 1989; reprinted: Patents & Licensing, Tokyo, Japan, Vol.19, No.6, December 1989; reprinted: Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society, Arlington, VA, Vol.72, No.3, March 1990; "Claim Practice Around the World," Journal of the Japanese Group AIPPI, Tokyo, Japan, Vol.36, No.6, June, 1991 (Japanese language); Journal of Proprietary Rights (Prentice Hall), Vol.4, No.4, April, 1992; "A Global Patent Application," Global Intellectual Property Series, No.319, Practicing Law Institute, New York, NY, Oct., 1991; reprinted: Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society, Arlington, VA, Vol.74, No.1, Jan.1992; "Differences Between U.S. & Japanese Patent Applications," Journal of the Japanese Group AIPPI, Tokyo, Japan, Vol.37, No.7, Oct., 1992 (Japanese language); University of Baltimore Intellectual Property Law Journal, Vol.1, No.1, p.1, Fall, 1992; Global Intellectual Property Series, No.34, Practicing Law Institute, New York, NY, Oct., 1992; "Patent Filing Costs Around the World," Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society, Arlington, VA, Vol.75, No.7, July, 1993; Global Intellectual Property Series, No.366, Practicing Law Institute, New York, NY, Oct., 1993; "Effective Utilization of the Japanese Patent System," Intellectual Property Law Annual 1994, New York Intellectual Property Law Association, Inc. New York, NY, March, 1994; "Correcting Errors in European Patent Applications," Tenth Annual Joint Seminar of the Conn., N.J., N.Y. and P.A. Intellectual Property Law Associations, April, 1994; "Why Must Filing in Europe Be So Costly?" Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society, Arlington, VA, Vol.76, No.10, Oct.1994; "Eastern European Patent Activities," Journal of the Japanese Group AIPPI, Tokyo, Japan, Vol.40, No.5, May 1995 (Japanese Language); "Prior Art Date of PCT Applications," Patents and Licensing, published by Japan Engineering News, Inc. Tokyo, Japan, Vol.29, No.2, April 1999; "Changes Afoot on International Patents," New York Law Journal Silicon Alley Supplement, Dec. 3, 2001; Letter to the Editor, Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society, Jan. 2002; "Securing IP Rights Abroad," Moderator, ABA-IPL Section Spring CLE Program, Wash. D.C., April 11-12, 2002; "Foreign Companies With R&D Facilities in the United States," World Intellectual Property Report, April 2002; "A Harmonized Approach To Applying Secret Prior Act," World Intellectual Property Report, January 2004; “The ‘Endless Loop’ of Japanese Patent Prosecution,” World Intellectual Property Report, May 2006; “Fast Track Patenting”; “IP Litigator”, Nov/Dec 2008, Vol. 14, No. 6; “PCT and PPH”; Managing Intellectual Property, May 2008; "The Amazing Grace Period: An Analysis of the Proposed Grace Period Under the New Patent Reform Bill and Its Relationship to an International-Type Grace Period," BNA's Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal, April 2010.