About our Team

Biography

Margaret Polson, Founder and Senior Partner for Polson Intellectual Property Law, leads the firm in authority and expert knowledge of intellectual property law. Overseeing the preparation and prosecution of utility and design patent applications, trademarks, and copyrights, she also assists clients with licensing and intellectual property strategy and management. With a sensible approach and depth of experience, she adeptly manages the competitive landscape of each undertaking.

In the United States, Ms. Polson has drafted, prosecuted and enforced utility patents for diverse clients and obtained patents in a wide variety of technical areas, from drilling tools to computer controlled rock saws, complex amusement rides, and vegetable-based engine oil. She helps multinational corporations protect their intellectual property worldwide, including IP strategy, patent portfolio management, and enforcement.

Ms. Polson also specializes in helping startups spend their limited intellectual property budget wisely, having counseled hundreds of startups and individual inventors during her career.

Ms. Polson also has obtained hundreds of design patents for her clients on a wide variety of commercial products.   Ms. Polson’s practice also covers concerns such as prosecution, invalidation and opinion works, and industrial design as well as trademark matters.

Globally, Ms. Polson’s practice maintains a strong energetic presence in international intellectual property law, including both prosecution and litigation.

Ms. Polson is the immediate past Chair of the Industrial Designs Committee of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) and the Chair of the Education Subcommittee of the Industrial Designs committee.  She is also the vice chair of the speaker vetting committee for the Professional Programs committee, the vice chair of the pro bono committee and a member of the Ethics and Professionalism committee.

Practices

Legal Areas of Emphasis

• Worldwide Intellectual Property Portfolio Management
• Utility Patent Application Preparation and Prosecution
• Design Patent Applicant Preparation and Prosecution and Industrial Design Registration
• Client Counseling
• Strategic Planning
• Patent Infringement Opinions
• Patent Invalidation
• In-house Training and Quality Control

Technical Areas of Emphasis

• Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Mechanics
• Industrial Design

Education

• University of Colorado-Boulder, Juris Doctorate 1996
• University of Colorado-Boulder, B.A. in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology & B.A. in Biochemistry 1991

Bar Admissions

Ms. Polson is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In addition, she is admitted to practice in the State of Colorado. She is a member of the Colorado Bar Association.

• US Patent Bar Admitted 1998
• Admitted to practice law in the state of Colorado 1996

Affiliations

• Colorado Bar Association (CBA), Intellectual Property Section
• Boulder County Bar Association
• American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA)
• International Trademark Association (INTA)
• Colorado Intellectual Property American Inn of Court

Speaking Engagements

• “Design Law Update”, Utah IP Summit, Salt Lake City, Utah, February 2017. Speaker.
• “Functionality and design patents: The Federal Circuit giveth, the Federal Circuit taketh away”, American Intellectual Property Association, Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., October 2016. Speaker.
• “Design Law Update” Rocky Mountain Intellectual Property Institute, June 2016. Speaker.
• “To Hague or Not to Hague, and Trade Dress Overlap,” AIPLA CLE Webinar, January 2016. Using Hague in the United States. Speaker.
• “Trends for the Protection of “apps” for Mobile Devices,” Mexican Group of AMPPI, Mexico City, Mexico, March 2015
• “3D Printing and US IP law”  Mexican Group of AMPPI, Guadalajara, Mexico, March 2016. Speaker.
• “Marijuana and IP Law”, Rocky Mountain Intellectual Property Institute, May 2015, panelist for lunch session.
• “Tips for Using Hague to Obtain Your Design Protection,” Colorado Bar Association, Intellectual Property Section, Denver Colorado, June 2015. Speaker.
• “Foreign Patent Prosecution: Focus on Latin America, Asia and Europe,” AIPLA CLE Webinar, June 2015. Moderator.
• “My Kind of Design: Copyright and Tradedress Protection in the US and the EU,” AIPLA CLE Webinar, September 2015. Moderator.
• “The Case Law Year in Review,” USPTO Design Day, Washington DC, April 2014. Speaker.
• Introduction to the Hague Agreement, Rocky Mountain Intellectual Property Institute, May 2013
• “FasTrac Growth Venture,” Denver Small Business Development Center, October 17, 2102. Intellectual Property Issues for Small Business Owners. Speaker. (Also spoke at the 2010 and 2009 sessions).
• “Design Patents Internationally,” Boulder County Bar Association, Boulder Colorado, October 12, 2011. Speaker.
• “Introduction to The Hague Agreement,” American Intellectual Property Association, Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., October 21, 2011. Speaker.
• “Design Patents,” Boulder County Bar Association, Boulder Colorado, November 12, 2009.