Profile

Michael Cicero practices in Taylor English’s Intellectual Property Department, where he focuses his practice on patent prosecution and preparation of opinions. His work also extends to trademark prosecution and copyright matters.

While at the University of South Carolina School of Law, Mr. Cicero worked as a patent disclosure writer for the Commercial Nuclear Fuel Division of Westinghouse Electric Corp., serving as a liaison between inventors in Columbia, S.C., and Westinghouse’s Patent Committee in Pittsburgh.

After working for Westinghouse, Mr. Cicero amassed more than 22 years of private practice in intellectual property with law firms in Greenville, S.C., and, beginning in 1997, in Atlanta. Registered to practice before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, Mr. Cicero possesses patent prosecution experience in the mechanical and electromechanical arts, and he drafted patents and dozens of office action responses and petitions. Examples of patents he has authored include those covering a three-dimensional prototyping process, a machine for opening signature sheets, and a process of producing soft elastic gelatin capsules.

Mr. Cicero also has substantial intellectual property litigation experience. His patent litigation experience includes Markman (patent claim interpretation) proceedings, trials, and motion practice. A significant portion of his experience also includes trademark and copyright infringement litigation, which provided him with the experience to author the trademark and copyright infringement portions of a chapter on IP Litigation appearing in the 2016-2018 and 2020 Editions of Georgia Business Litigation.

Mr. Cicero received his BS in civil engineering from The Citadel in 1987, attained membership in Tau Beta Pi, and is a South Carolina-certified engineer in training. Mr. Cicero also obtained a BS in electrical engineering from Kennesaw State University in 2015.

Memberships

Trade Secrets Committee of the Georgia Bar Intellectual Property Law Section, Chair (present); Vice Chair (2017-2020)

Leadership Cherokee Class of 2020

Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce, Education Committee (2020-present); Governmental Affairs Council (2018-2019)

Georgia Manufacturing Alliance, Member

Georgia Italian American Bar Association, Member

Community Involvement

Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, Volunteer Attorney, 2018-present – Includes representation of tenants in dispossessory actions filed in the Fulton County Magistrate Court.

Colony Square Toastmasters Club, Member, 2006-present (President, 2007-2008; VP of Education, 2013-2014 and 2006-2007; VP of Public Relations, 2010-2011; VP of Membership, 2011-2012)

Atlanta Citadel Club, Member, 2005-present

Brief Reviewing Judge, Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition, 2003-2010, 2013

Practice Highlights

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