different
by design

Bill Naifeh

Founding Attorney

With over 20 years of legal experience, Bill Naifeh is the founding member of the firm.

Patent portfolio development, international patent strategies, and trademarks make up his primary areas of concentration. Currently, he assists small to mid-size companies in the development of their intellectual property (“IP”) portfolios and often functions as a “part time” in-house IP counsel.

Bill served as a vice president of intellectual property for a medical device company in the Boston area and has assisted St. Jude Medical with overflow patent work and in-house patent procedures and standards. J.C. Penney's patent litigation is another matter he assists with.

When Ericsson brought in-house a patent portfolio of several thousand patent applications, Bill also assisted and consulted on a long-term basis. Prior to opening his own practice in 2003, Bill worked for the Texas-based law firms of HaynesBoone and Winstead.

He has authored numerous articles and blogs relating to intellectual property. Available on Amazon, his books can be found here.

Bill holds a B.S. in General Engineering with Special Distinction from the University of Oklahoma and a Juris Doctorate from The University of Texas School of Law. As a licensed Professional Engineer (“P.E.”), he is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He is also admitted to practice law in Texas, Oklahoma, and in numerous federal courts.

Tim Bliss

Patent Agent

Tim brings 18 years of experience in patent portfolio development and technology licensing, with particular depth in software. He helps small and mid-size companies build and protect their IP, and advises on the open-source questions that come with modern software — from internal use to product distribution.

Before joining the firm, Tim spent four years as in-house counsel at Niolabs, where he wrote and prosecuted the company's foundational patents and managed its licensing agreements. Earlier, he handled patent preparation, prosecution, and IPR work at his own firm, Howison & Arnott, and at Haynes & Boone.

Tim holds a B.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Oklahoma and a J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law. He's registered to practice before the USPTO and admitted in Texas and Georgia.

Charise Naifeh

Trademark Practice Lead · Washington, D.C.

Charise began her career at White & Case in Washington, D.C., spending a decade on international commercial litigation and antitrust matters. In 2018, she founded Happy Law Mom, a coaching practice for attorney parents — an experience that gave her a close look at how small businesses struggle to protect what they build. That's what pulled her into trademark and copyright law, working alongside her father, Bill.

Today Charise leads the firm's trademark practice, building brand strategies around each client's actual business goals. She's fluent in Spanish and brings a global perspective to the firm's client work.

Charise holds a B.A. with honors from the University of Texas at Austin and a J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center. She's licensed to practice in New York and the District of Columbia.