Charles Edwin Runyan

We can help with all of your intellectual property needs; patents, trademarks, copyrights, infringement, trade secret, and more.

Charles 'Chuck' Runyan graduated from Arizona State University with a BS in Chemistry. He completed his Ph.D. in Chemistry at Texas A&M and then his JD law degree at James E. Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He is admitted in Arizona, California (inactive), Texas (inactive), and at the USPTO.

Chuck has worked with individual inventors and companies of all sizes for over 20 years. He has held law firm and in-house positions at Bard/Becton Dixon in Tempe, Arizona, ExxonMobil in Houston, Texas, Squire Sanders & Dempsey (now Squire Patton Boggs) in San Francisco, California and Guidant/Abbott Labs in Santa Clara, California.

Chuck has prosecuted and drafted patent applications and managed the prosecution and drafting of hundreds of cases in diverse areas such as natural product pharmaceuticals (including anti-cancer compositions), nutraceuticals, purified microbes, drugs, medical devices such as intravascular stents (and pharmaceutical and polymer coatings for those stents), robotic automation for constructing intravascular stents, intraocular lens materials, semiconductor processing methods and equipment, medical/surgical equipment, software, and industrial-scale polyolefin polymerization and polymerization catalysts.

He has prepared patent and trademark validity and infringement opinions, clearance opinions, and trademark oppositions. He is experienced with conducting domain name dispute arbitrations and negotiating cybersquatting dispute settlements.

• Internet
• Copyrights
• General Civil

• Credit Cards Accepted

Arizona

Since 1998

California

State Bar of California

ID Number: Inactive

Since 2004

Texas

State Bar of Texas

ID Number: Inactive

Since 2001

U.S. Patent Office

Since 1997

Owner

Runyan Law

2008 - Current

Managing Member

Integrity Patent Group, PLC

2018 - 2020

Division Staff Attorney, IP

Beckton Dickinson

2013 - 2018

Head, Patent Prosecution

Gallagher & Kennedy

2011 - 2012

Patent drafting and prosecution; trademark prosecution; trade secret litigation; trademark litigation.

Senior Counsel Patents

Abbott Vascular

2006 - 2008

Actively managed a patent portfolio containing more than 500 patent families, provided technology legal counseling to Drug Eluting Stent business and Biologics business, managed new patent filings for these businesses.

Patent Counsel

Guidant Corporation

2005 - 2006

Actively managed a patent portfolio containing more than 500 patent families, provided technology legal counseling to Drug Eluting Stent business and Biologics business, managed new patent filings for these businesses.

Senior Associate

Squire, Sanders & Dempsey

2003 - 2005

All facets of intellectual property law including patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret litigation and licensing. Actively manage patent portfolios for clients and advise clients with respect to patent strategies. Prepare invalidity and non-infringement opinions related to pharmaceutical compositions, surgical equipment, intravascular stents and implantable polymer compositions (intraocular lens). Prosecute and draft patent applications in many areas such as natural product pharmaceuticals (including anti-cancer compositions) and nutraceuticals, purified microbes, drugs, medical devices such as intravascular stents (and pharmaceutical and polymer coatings for those stents), intraocular lens materials, semiconductor processing methods and equipment, medical/surgical equipment, software, and industrial scale polyolefin polymerization and polymerization catalysts.

Attorney

ExxonMobil Chemical Company

2000 - 2003

Counseled technology groups regarding patent and trade secret issues and intellectual property asset management. Managed intellectual property agreement work including nondisclosure and research agreements while providing legal support to computing management and lab data management teams.

Associate

Gallagher & Kennedy

1998 - 2000

Prosecuted and drafted patent applications in many areas such as natural product pharmaceuticals (including anti-cancer compositions) and nutraceuticals, purified microbes, drugs, semiconductor processing methods and equipment, and software.

Patent Intern

Benman, Collins, & Sawyer

1996 - 1997

Prepared and prosecuted patent applications.

James E. Rogers College of Law, University of Arizona

J.D. | Law

1995 - 1998

Texas A&M University - College Station

Ph.D. | Chemistry

1988 - 1994

Honors: Robert Welch Fellow

Arizona State University

B.S. (1987) | Chemistry

1984 - 1987

Princeton University

Chemistry

1994 - 1994

Honors: Post-doctoral Research Associate

California State Bar  # 230296

Member

2004 - Current

Activities: inactive

Texas State Bar

Member

2001 - Current

Activities: inactive

Arizona State Bar

Member

1998 - Current

United States Patent and Trademark Office

Member

1997 - Current

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SAFETY NET:

Arizona Journal

November, 1998

Outsourced Programs: Ownership Issues Arise

The National Law Journal-IN FOCUS, Legal Tech.

October, 1998

Early Transition Metal Clusters with ½-Donor Ligands

VCH Publishers: New York

1995

Excising Hexanuclear Zirconium Clusters from Solids as a Route to Zirconium Cluster Solution Chemistry

Journal of the American Chemical Society

1994

Q. What bacteria/ organisms can be patented and what does this legally imply?

August 31, 2020

A: Short answer: you must be the inventor to file and get a patent application and you must file within a reasonable amount of time after inventing it (you cannot have concealed the invention, blah, blah). So, if it exists in nature, your not the inventor.

Now, there are patents for purified versions of bacteria found in nature and there are patents for methods to purify those types of naturally occurring bacteria. As with all patents, you can prevent someone from making the products or conducting the methods that are specifically set out in the claims section of the patent. Since the claims are all likely to include something about the purity or the specific method, reproducing the organism probably wouldn't fall under the claims. But preparing a purified version after reproducing the organism very well could.

One use of a patent for purified bacteria is selling the purified sample to researchers, etc.

Take care. ... Read More

Q. How do I get a literary work copywrite protected independent of an attorney in the state of Nebraska?

August 20, 2020

A: If you are the author of a literary work, the moment the work is finished copyright protection springs into being without any effort on your part. (other than finishing it). You can immediately mark it with the "C" in a circle.

If you go to the copyright office's website, they have detailed instructions on how to REGISTER your (already existing) copyright. Registration isn't necessary to have valid copyrights. Most people can figure out what to do after reading the copyright office's instructions. Therefore, you can file the registration yourself.

See particularly the copyright office's frequently asked questions. https://www.copyright.gov/

Q. Trademark question regarding my brand name, and protecting someone in different goods and services to take it

August 20, 2020

A: The trademark registration application fee is going to be calculated based on the number of different classifications you choose. If you select classifications that don't have the same "numbers", you will be charged one fee for each "number".

The trademark office has a manual of classification, which is kind of hard to use. But they also have a list of goods and services classification statements that are in a sense pre-approved by the office. One place to find that second list is during the application process itself when you get to the goods and services section. You can search there by keywords as much as you like. As long as the classes you choose have the same number, you only pay one fee.

Now, I typically search there and find the broadest or most generic description and go with that.

If you come up with a list of possibilities, you can send it to me and I will tell you which ones I would choose. There wouldn't be a charge for giving you that help. Trademark applications are at the edge of what I think people can do without being a lawyer as long as there aren't any complications. Read the trademark info that the trademark office has on there website. It does a good job of explaining what's going on.

Also, you don't get trademark rights by registering the trademark. If you have been using the mark, you have started developing trademark rights in any state you have made sales. (which could be just about every state depending on how extensive your internet sales are). And you can designate your trademarks with the little TM sign starting today, without registering the mark. Don't use the "R" in a circle because that is reserved for federally registered trademarks.

I hope this helps. ... Read More