Michael A. Cicero

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, South Carolina 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 numerous patents and office action responses and petitions. Examples of patents he has authored include those covering an elevator monitor, a machine for opening signature sheets, and a wearable interactive notification device and notification system.

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 enabled him to author the trademark and copyright infringement portions of a chapter on IP Litigation appearing in the 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024 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.

Affiliations

• Trade Secrets Committee of the Georgia Bar Intellectual Property Law Section, Chair (2020-present); Vice Chair (2017-2020)
• Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, Volunteer Attorney (2018-present) – Includes representation of tenants in dispossessory actions filed in the Fulton County Magistrate Court
• Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce, Education Committee (2020-present); Governmental Affairs Council (2018-2019); Leadership Cherokee Class of 2021
• Colony Square Toastmasters Club, Member (2006-2021); President (2007-2008); VP of Education (2013-2014 and 2006-2007); VP of Public Relations (2010-2011); VP of Membership (2011-2012)
• Georgia Italian American Bar Association, Member
• Georgia Manufacturing Alliance, Member

Recognitions

• Georgia Super Lawyers, Rising Star, 2005