Background

Curtis Behmann is a partner in the Ottawa office. Curtis graduated with honours with a B.A.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Ottawa, with a double specialization in communications and microwaves. A licensed Professional Engineer and former Canadian Senior Patent Examiner, he became registered as a Patent Agent in Canada in 2002 and in the United States in 2003. Curtis is fluently bilingual in English and French and practices in both official languages. Curtis is a member of the Intellectual Property and Technology Professional Group, and the Innovation Sector Focus Group.

Areas of Practice

• Intellectual Property
• Specializing in drafting and prosecution of high-tech, mechanical and cleantech patents and industrial designs.

Professional Experience

• Drafting and prosecuting Canadian, United States and international patent applications for emerging companies and established clients in various fields of mechanical and electrical engineering, software, telecommunications, and environmental technologies, to add value to client companies.
• Advising entrepreneurs, innovators and corporations on global patent strategy and portfolio management.
• Preparing and prosecuting industrial design applications in Canada and the United States.
• Providing opinions regarding patentability, infringement, validity and IP due diligence issues to enable clients to make informed strategic business decisions.
• Patent Examiner in the Canadian Patent Office from 1997-2000: examined patent applications relating to emerging Internet and wireless technologies, data switching networks, fiber optic networks, and related protocols, architectures, software and hardware.

Selected Professional Publications and Presentations

• 'IP Primer- Patents' and 'IP Primer- Non Patent IP' presentations with C. Watson to McMaster University Engineering Entrepreneurship Program, November 2009.
• 'Correcting Canadian Patents' Client Presentation with A. Kinsman and M. Chakrapani, June 2009.
• 'Getting Your Patent Faster' Flintbox e-newsletter, September 2008.
• 'Patent Issues In Cleantech: What You Need to Know.' in The Ottawa Cleantech Report, Vol. 1, Winter 2007.
• 'Companies can beat competition by patenting software inventions.' in The Lawyers Weekly, Vol. 27, No. 27 (November 16, 2007).
• 'The Basics of Intellectual Property' presented to the Canadian Heads of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the National Arts Centre on May 8, 2006.
• "Patents: A Valuable Tool for Commercializing Your Research" presented to faculty and researchers at the University of Regina, July 23, 2004.

Professional and Community Activities

• Member: Association Internationale pour la Protection de la propriété intellectuelle (AIPPI), Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC), American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), Christian Legal Fellowship, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO).
• Moderator, Canada’s Top 10 Companies Competition, Cleantech Investment Coaching sessions, November 2007 and 2008.
• Serves on the Self-Regulation Committee and Joint Liaison Committee - Industrial Designs of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC).
• Invited speaker at two Christian Legal Fellowship national conferences, and the former coordinator of Ottawa chapter.
• Volunteer reader with BLG Reads to Kids program since inception, and active member of the firm’s local charitable donations committee.
• Trained patent examiners at the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, made innovative contributions to both policy and resource projects in the Patent Branch, and received a federal government award presented by the Commissioner of Patents.