Tim Grathwol is a registered patent attorney and a Principal at Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner. Tim was also an adjunct professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law for 13 years, where he taught a semester long third year course on patent application preparation and prosecution before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
His practice includes U.S. and international patent procurement in mechanical, aerospace, and computer technologies, as well as infringement and validity counseling, freedom-to-operate studies, due diligence, and portfolio management. Tim has experience with heating and cooling systems, including liquid desiccant and membrane energy exchangers, aircraft and industrial power gas turbine engines, implantable medical devices, and a variety of software, computing and networking technologies.
Tim has been involved in IP due diligence to support mergers and asset acquisitions for a variety of companies and technologies, including residential and commercial electronic security, air handling, heating and cooling systems, medical devices, home automation, and personal emergency response systems (PERS).
Tim has extensive experience with various IP issues for medical devices, including robotic-assisted surgical systems, cardiac and neuro stimulation, drug infusion, and vascular assist devices, prosthetic valves, and fixation for endovascular grafts and stent grafts.
Tim has counseled clients in various other areas of IP management, including consolidating outside IP representation with a limited number of outside firms and building a comprehensive in-house IP management strategy. Such efforts have included managing large file transfers consolidating representation, reviewing and mitigating latent risks in the transferred portfolios, and building processes to manage and execute ongoing patent procurement, international filing strategies, and integration of IP procurement and infringement risk review into product development processes.
Tim graduated from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering. While completing his undergraduate studies, Tim worked as an intern developing automation equipment at a plastic injection molding company and conducted research with Prof. Ernst Eckert modeling cooling effects on film cooled turbine blades.
Tim received his Juris Doctor (magna cum laude) from William Mitchell College of Law in 2006. While attending law school, he participated in moot court including the 2004-2005 Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition at which he won the Dolores K. Hannah National Best Brief Award.
