Ralph P. Albrecht – Partner

Mr. Albrecht has twenty-five years of legal experience in  private practice representing large and small businesses on intellectual property matters. Ralph is a Registered US Patent Lawyer. Ralph’s practice focuses on technology and intellectual property (IP) law issues, including technology licensing, contracts and business transactions, drafting and prosecution of Letters Patent in the US, and abroad, the registration and commercialization of trademarks and copyrights, data privacy and security, Internet and e-Commerce law, and the creation or revision of contracts and policy statements. Ralph represents a broad range of clients, from large public companies to start-ups to midsize emerging growth enterprises. Ralph’s practice encompasses a full range of intellectual property related matters for clients in a variety of industries, including computer software, hardware, communications networking, network security, IT services, e-commerce, cybersecurity, financial securities, insurance, and manufacturing. Mr. Albrecht assists clients in a variety of IP-related tasks, including:

• Protection and monetization of intellectual property assets, including drafting and prosecuting US patent applications, and securing international protection globally through a network of foreign associate law firms, as well as federal registration of trademarks and copyrights.

• Structuring, drafting, negotiating, and closing technology-related licensing and other strategic business transactions, such as software technology, patent licensing, hardware procurement, professional services, distribution agreements, outsourcing, and asset acquisition agreements; and

• Drafting patent and other IP, and software licenses and other agreements, and organizing invention disclosure, evaluation, and awards (IDEA) programs, and improving client form contracts and contracting processes.

Ralph originally joined the Reston Law Group, LLP when it was David, Brody & Dondershine, LLP in 2020, first as counsel, and was later named partner in 2021. Ralph was previously co-founder and partner of  Albrecht Tousi & Farnum PLLC (later renamed ATFirm PLLC). Ralph was also previously Co-Leader of the Patent Prosecution Practice Group at Venable LLP, an AM-Law 100 lawfirm, after his prior firm Lane, Aitken & McCann LLP, an IP boutique, merged in 1999. Ralph began in private practice in 1997 with Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox, PLLC in Washington, DC as a patent attorney. Prior to private practice, Ralph worked for eight years at IBM Corporation in various positions in avionics development and submarine command control systems engineering, research & development, information technology consulting, marketing and technical sales.

ACTIVITIES

Ralph is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and currently serves as Trustee of the Foundation of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia (BADC). He is a member of the American Bar Association (ABA) and American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). Ralph is a Past President and is presently a Fellow of the BADC, DC’s voluntary bar, the nation’s third oldest bar, where he served as President in 2008-09, President-Elect ‘07-08, Treasurer-Elect ‘06-07, Secretary ‘05-06, and Board member. Mr. Albrecht served as Chair of the BADC’s Patent, Trademark & Copyright (PTC) Section (now the BADC IP Section) from 2003-04, and serves on the IP Section’s Executive Council 2022-2023 and previously from ‘00-05, for which he earned Outstanding Service Awards for serving as Chair of the Internet & Electronic Commerce, and Newsletter Committees. Ralph is a member of the Board of Advisors of the US Cyber Games, (2021-2024) a  National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) program of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of the US Department of Commerce, which leads efforts to build an inclusive, cyber community that accelerates cyber talent and inspires the workforce of tomorrow. Mr. Albrecht has been a member of Capitol Telecommunications Professionals, and a service provider to members of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). Ralph has been a member of IPO and sat on the Software and Business Methods Patents Committee. He has also served as a legal services provider to a technology business incubator eHive. Ralph previously volunteered with the Boy Scouts of America as an Assistant Scoutmaster, a coach of FIRST Robotics Competition, and the US CyberPatriot cybersecurity competitions.

AREAS OF PRACTICE

• Intellectual Property Protection, including Patent preparation, drafting & prosecution, and Federal Trademark and Copyright applications
• Handling Appeals before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences
• Technology, Software & Patent Licensing (both inbound and out-bound)
• Professional Services Agreements (again, both inbound and outbound)
• Data Privacy and Security Issues
• Technology and Business Process Outsourcing
• Internet and e-Commerce Law
• Complex Transactions, including asset acquisition agreements

• Computer and Information Technology
• Data and Voice Communications, Internet, Ecommerce & Satellite Communications
  
• Wireless Communications
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning (ML), Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), Natural Language Processing and Large Language Models (LLMs), expert systems, decision support systems
• Cryptographic and Trusted Systems
• Semiconductors and Chip Fabrication
• Electrical Engineering and Computer Software Engineering
• Energy – Alternative, Renewables, Green Energy
• Consumer Products
• Financial Services IT Systems
• Cybersecurity, Information and Network Security
• Mobile devices, Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) & Mixed Reality (MR) Systems
• Medical Devices
• Electromechanical, robotics and sensor-based devices, Internet of Things (iOT)
• Software as a Service, Security as a Service, Content Distribution Systems
• Block Chain, Nonfungible Tokens (NFTs), and Fintech

HONORS

• American Bar Foundation Fellow
• AV Preeminent Rating, Martindale-Hubbell, 2014
• Super Lawyers Top Rated Intellectual Property Attorney in Washington, DC, Thomson Reuters, 2016-2023

PRESENTATIONS & SEMINARS

• “Intellectual Property, Protecting Your Space Age Ideas and Inventions,” Luke Foundation Space Economy Symposium, Bowie State University, October 2023
• Presentation on “Hot Topics in Intellectual Property (IP) and AI” to the US Cyber Team, May 2023
• Presentation on “Intellectual Property” at Networking Before Nine, Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, December 2022, hosted by Google, Reston, VA.
•  Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance (Q-Group) Spring 2008 Conference relating to Financial Services Industry Business Method Patents

PUBLISHED WORKS

•  Do Business Method Patents Hurt or Help? A Financial Industry Perspective, 14 VA. J.L. & TECH. 147 (2009).