James R. Palmer is employed at Luedeka, Neely & Graham as a Patent Agent, U.S. Registration No. 48633. A patent agent is a person who is admitted to practice before the U.S. Patent Office but who is not an attorney. Patent agents conduct prior art searches, write patent applications, prosecute the patent applications before the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office, work with foreign associate firms to secure foreign patent protection, and maintain schedule dockets for clients to ensure that critical dates in the patenting process are met. Because Mr. Palmer is not an attorney, he cannot provide legal counsel, represent clients in litigation, or perform certain other services that are considered to be practicing law. On the other hand, the advantage to a client of having Mr. Palmer in a law firm such as Luedeka, Neely & Graham is that his skills may be combined with the skills and qualifications of the attorneys in the firm to offer very economical professional services.

Mr. Palmer joined Luedeka, Neely & Graham in January, 2004 after having completed a first career in high technology endeavors. Immediately prior to joining the firm, Mr. Palmer was the Manager of the Office of Technology Management for the "Y-12 National Security Complex" in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In that capacity, Mr. Palmer conducted the commercial licensing program for intellectual property generated by this U.S. Department of Energy facility. His principal activities involved assessing the commercial value of technologies, developing licensing strategies, and negotiating patent, copyright, and trademark licenses. Mr. Palmer was recognized for developing the use of advanced analytical techniques at this facility, including the application of diffusion of innovation models, the use discounted cash flow calculations that incorporated parametric sensitivity analysis, and the assessment of reasonable royalty rates based on profitability expectations. Mr. Palmer also served as a patent agent for Y-12, working in that capacity under the direction of patent counsel.

Prior to his position at the "Y-12" facility, Mr. Palmer was a technology licensing executive at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In that position, Mr. Palmer cultivated clients for intellectual property licenses and technology partnerships, negotiated technology transfer agreements, and managed customer accounts. This position also required the assessment of the commercial potential for new technologies developed in the course of government-sponsored research in such areas as electronics, software, mechanical designs, and chemical processes. In the course of this endeavor, Mr. Palmer developed and implemented technology partnership strategies for these various technology portfolios. Another important aspect of this job was managing internal company interactions, including developing consensus with research management on licensing strategies and working with attorneys to develop effect terms and conditions of technology transfer agreements.

Mr. Palmer's career also included assignments as a project engineer on various high tech projects in Oak Ridge. For example, Mr. Palmer managed the design package and conducted first production article evaluations at manufacturers' sites for a high technology chemical processing device (a gas separation centrifuge). Mr. Palmer also used his business and contracting skills to successfully manage the conception, development and implementation of a "Just-in-Time" procurement system for materials and supplies. The system is still saving over $10 million per year for three Oak Ridge government facilities.

Early in his career Mr. Palmer was President of Elographics, Inc. (now Elo Touch Systems) where he developed the patent position, growth strategy and marketing direction for this very successful company that manufactures touch screens for computer systems used in restaurant ordering systems, point of service cash registers, and information kiosks and similar displays. Mr. Palmer began his full-time career at Hughes Aircraft Company in Los Angeles, CA, where he held various assignments in finance, production control, marketing, and business development. Product areas included satellite communication systems, military aviation electronics, aircraft radar display systems, and television and video electronic scan converters.

Mr. Palmer's formal education was at Iowa State University in Ames, IA where he received Bachelor of Science degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Operations. Mr. Palmer was also an early resident of Silicon Valley, receiving a Masters in Business Administration from Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA. During the summers Mr. Palmer was employed as an Engineering Assistant at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL. In that position he worked on solid fuel rocket designs and man/machine functional system design analysis.

Assistant: Linda Cable

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