Scott M. Kelly represents clients throughout the life of an invention, from the birth of an idea through procuring a patent and enforcing it to protect key technologies and business interests. Mr. Kelly’s practice is focused on intellectual property issues relating to a wide range of computer software, networking, and business methods. He has worked with technologies including user interfaces, gesture-based input, mobile devices, cloud computing, algorithms, virtual and augmented reality, network routing, interactive television program guides, and video games. In addition to preparing and prosecuting patent applications, Mr. Kelly counsels clients regarding validity, infringement, and other issues presented by asserted patents or potential acquisitions. He also works with clients to develop effective responses to patent assertions, avoiding or reducing the cost of litigation through use of Inter Partes Reviews (IPRs) and Ex Parte Reexaminations at the USPTO.

Mr. Kelly is a former Examiner with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office where he examined patents in class 715 – Presentation Processing of Documents and Operator Interface Processing. During his time at the USPTO, Mr. Kelly examined patents relating to a variety of technologies, including word processing, spreadsheets, markup languages, input validation, display rendering, and assistive technologies. Mr. Kelly also examined business method patents, including several directed to the process of drafting a patent.

Mr. Kelly has a passion for startup companies. His last venture before joining the firm was founding a company to develop an intelligent patent search engine using document similarity analysis. The company was acquired by a startup foundry and remains in development. Prior to law school, Mr. Kelly was the sixth employee at a startup company developing gigapixel resolution video cameras for use on drone aircraft.

Mr. Kelly received a Bachelor of Science degree in honors from Virginia Tech, where he majored in Computer Science with minors in Physics and Mathematics. He received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served on the Editorial Board of the Virginia Journal of Law and Technology.

Mr. Kelly is the chair of the Digital Games and New Media Committee of the American Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Law section. He is an assistant editor at PatentArcade.com and a contributing author to the ABA Legal Guide to Video Game Development, 2nd Edition (2016). He serves on the Editorial Board of the Interactive Entertainment Law Review and is a member of the Video Game Bar Association.

Mr. Kelly has been named to Washington D.C. Super Lawyers’ “Rising Stars” since 2017.

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