Overview
Jason A. Fitzsimmons is a director in Sterne Kessler’s Mechanical & Design Practice Group and a Co-Chair of the firm’s PTAB Practice. Jason specializes in conducting complex post-grant proceedings at the USPTO and has a keen understanding of their interplay with district court proceedings. He also helps clients obtain patent protection for cutting edge technologies and provides opinions of counsel.
Jason was named to “Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America” (2024 – 2025) by Best Lawyers and selected to the Washington D.C. “Rising Stars” list in Intellectual Property (2022 – 2018) by Super Lawyers. In 2023, Patexia ranked Jason in the Top 50 Best Performing PTAB Attorneys Overall (representing Petitioners or Patent Owners) and in the Top 50 Best Performing PTAB Attorneys Representing Patent Owners based on PTAB data over a five-year period.
Jason is well-versed with every stage of inter partes reviews (IPRs)—from pre-institution strategies through argument at oral hearing. He understands the challenges faced by both patent owners and petitioners and has unique experience managing and developing strategies for complex, multi-patent proceedings. Jason is a contributing author of the firm’s renowned Patent Office Litigation, Second Edition, published in 2017, which provides a comprehensive exploration of patent office litigation proceedings, including how the proceedings interact with other aspects of patent procurement and enforcement. Jason also served as a Co-Editor of Sterne Kessler’s “2023 PTAB Year in Review: Analysis & Trends” report, which synthesizes key events and decisions that occurred at the PTAB and provides detailed analysis to serve as a helpful reference for those who practice before or adjacent to the PTAB.
Jason also has broad experience preparing and prosecuting U.S. and foreign patent applications and preparing infringement, validity, and patentability opinions. He is a trusted strategic advisor to clients. Jason’s primary areas of technical experience include: sporting goods, clean energy technologies, automotive systems, medical devices, physiological sensors, communications systems, consumer electronics, industrial equipment, apparel, optical devices, and image collection and processing.
Additionally, Jason is a member of Sterne Kessler’s Recruiting Committee and he co-leads the firm’s engagement in the PTAB’s Legal Experience and Advancement Program (LEAP), which provides associates with training and development opportunities in PTAB proceedings, including oral argument. He has served as an advisor to associates participating in the program.
At The George Washington University Law School, Jason was the student editor-in-chief of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) Quarterly Journal, a member of the Moot Court Board Executive Committee, and vice president of the Student Intellectual Property Law Association (SIPLA).
Prior to law school, Jason gained valuable industry experience as an engineer for a defense contractor. He managed the development of innovative, lightweight armor solutions for combat vehicles and oversaw ballistic testing. Additionally, he helped design a system for remote detection of nuclear materials by overcoming natural phenomena such as particle scattering and temporal detection delays.
Jason earned his B.S. in physics-engineering, magna cum laude, from Washington & Lee University.
Technical Publications
- Jeffrey K. Mills, Jason A. Fitzsimmons, and Kevin Rodkey, “Protecting Nanotechnology Inventions: Prosecuting in an Unpredictable World,” 7 Nanotechnology L. & Bus. 223 (2010).
Education
- J.D., The George Washington University Law School
- B.S., Physics-Engineering, Washington & Lee University, magna cum laude