James G. Passé (Jim) is the founding partner of Passé Intellectual Property, LLC. Jim's experience includes over 25 years in all aspects of the preparation and prosecution of US and foreign patent applications as well as all forms of patent opinions and strategic advice. Because of his varied background he has accumulated technical expertise in most areas including the life science sector, mechanical and product sector, business methods, electrical and electronic sector, and medical products.

The culmination of that experience is Jim's ability to create strategies for developing, managing, and leveraging product patent portfolios to maximize a client’s business objectives. Prior to founding Passé Intellectual Property, LLC, Jim has served as head in-house patent counsel for both small companies and divisions of large multinational companies such as, G.D. Searle, Genencor International, Rhone Poulenc, BASF, and most recently Xsira Pharmaceuticals.

Some of Jim's more noteworthy accomplishments are the NutraSweet (aspartame), Frontline (fipronil), and Transfluor (GPCR assay) patent portfolios, co-counsel for the first US patent extension and drafting the first issued patent to a genetically modified enzyme sequence. Jim is an active speaker at events and at corporate sites. His lectures include "Basic Patent Law for the Tech Oriented Company", “The 10 Biggest Patent Mistakes You Can Make” and "Building a Strategic Patent Portfolio – Not Just a Good Idea".

Education

• Law School

• Illinois Institute of Technology-Chicago Kent College of Law (JD 1979)

Admitted

Affiliations

Other

Bryan Shang

Bryan Shang is of counsel with Passé Intellectual Property, LLC.  Bryan's experience includes over six years of practical experience preparing and prosecuting patents with his emphasis in the areas of electrical, electromechanical, mechanical, and software technologies.

With over 20 years of industry experience Bryan has worked for industry leading companies in the telecom industry such as Nortel Networks, Fujistu Network Systems, ADC Telecom, ITT.  Some of Bryan's experience includes VLSI/ASIC design, systems design, network integration, as well as product marketing and product management.  Anticipating the burst of the telecom bubble, Bryan headed back to law school and graduated from the evening program at North Carolina Central School of Law.

Bryan began his legal career as in house counsel with Static Control Components preparing and prosecuting patents as well preparing for litigation against Lexmark International.  After leaving Static, Bryan spent several years as in house counsel with ABB, a large multi-national corporation continuing to prepare and prosecute patents both domestically and internationally.  After leaving ABB, he operated a solo practice before associating with Passé Intellectual Property, LLC.

Education

• BSEE/BME Duke University 1985
• JD North Carolina Central School of Law 2002.

Admitted

• State of North Carolina
• Registered nationally to practice before the US Patent and Trademark office

Affiliations

• North Carolina Bar Association
• American Bar Association
• IEEE
• National Asian Pacific American Bar Association

John McNeill

John McNeill is Of Counsel with Passé Intellectual Property, LLC. John combines his strong technology background and legal knowledge to counsel both established and start-up/emerging growth companies with technology licensing, intellectual property, business/corporate, and tax matters. His primary areas of focus are software and technology licensing, computer and internet law, trademarks and copyrights, intellectual property and open source/third party software audits, employment and intellectual property ownership agreements, electronic commerce, international and export compliance (ITAR, EAR, and FCPA), domain name issues and disputes, trade secret protection, domestic and international tax issues (e.g., business structures, revenue recognition, and transfer pricing), and developing intellectual property commercialization and protection strategies. John has worked on domestic and international transactions with clients in the electronics, telecommunications, software, Internet/e-commerce, finance/banking, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and life sciences industries.

Before beginning his legal career, John was in the U.S. Coast Guard where he specialized in electronics technology, computer programming and systems design, and government contracts.

John’s legal experience runs the gamut from working as a sole practitioner to working in large international law firms to serving as general counsel for a multinational software company.

• B.S., Computer Information Systems and Management, 1988, Park College, summa cum laude
• JD., 1992 George Washington University law School, with honors

Admitted

• State of North Carolina
• Commonwealth of Virginia (currently inactive status)
• Practice before all state courts in North Carolina and Virginia
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• U.S. Tax Court
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

Other

Teaching Experience

• Adjunct Lecturer, N.C. State University
• Intellectual Property Law

• Adjunct Professor, Strayer University
• Undergraduate level – Managing and Protecting Intellectual Property Rights, Business Law I and II, White Collar Crime/Computer Crime, Federal Taxation and Advanced Federal Taxation
• Graduate level – Commercial Law and Tax Research and Planning.

• Instructor, U.S. Coast Guard
• Electronics and Loran Navigation Systems