Paul M. Rivard focuses on identifying and strategically procuring intellectual property protection for new technologies, counseling clients in all aspects of intellectual property law, licensing, and contested matters. He works closely with clients in portfolio management with a view toward developing appropriate strategies to achieve business objectives. Representative technologies include plastics and polymer chemistry, molding and coating technologies, chemical manufacturing, packaging materials, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, fiber-reinforced thermoplastics, ink compositions, and agricultural sciences.

Paul has extensive experience in all phases of patent practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, including ex parte prosecution, appeals, reexamination proceedings, and post-grant proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Paul also has represented clients in intellectual property litigation before the U.S. District Courts and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Paul is active in the American Bar Association, having authored amicus curiae briefs for the ABA in patent cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including KSR v. Teleflex. Prior to entering private practice, he served as a Patent Examiner in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, where he examined applications in the chemical arts.

A native of Buffalo, NY, Paul earned a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York.

Paul is licensed to practice law in Virginia and in the District of Columbia. He is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Paul practices in the Washington, D.C. office of Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.