Michael K. Kelly

Michael K. Kelly helps companies protect complex technologies through strategic patent preparation, prosecution, and portfolio management. A registered patent attorney with more than three decades of experience, Michael has prosecuted hundreds of patent applications in the United States and coordinated patent protection across Europe and Asia.

Michael brings unusual technical breadth to his prosecution practice. He holds degrees in electrical engineering and industrial engineering and began his career designing fuel-control systems for advanced aircraft engines. He is also a named inventor on two U.S. patents, giving him firsthand appreciation for the challenges inventors face in explaining an innovation, distinguishing it from existing technology, and obtaining commercially meaningful protection.

His prosecution experience encompasses aerospace and propulsion systems, avionics, automotive technologies, semiconductors, microprocessors, medical devices and imaging systems, optics, software architecture, cloud computing, encryption, data caching, consumer electronics, hydro-mechanical controls, and advanced materials. Michael works closely with inventors and engineering teams to identify the features that differentiate a technology and translate those features into clear specifications and claims aligned with the client’s products and competitive objectives.

Michael has advised companies on both individual inventions and broader global patent strategies. His experience includes drafting and prosecuting patent protection for Harley-Davidson motorcycle technology, advising Rolls-Royce on jet-engine and turbine innovations, and coordinating international protection for avionics, composite materials, and flight-control systems. He also counsels clients on invention harvesting, portfolio development, intellectual-property transactions, and the integration of patent assets following corporate acquisitions.

Michael’s extensive litigation and appellate experience further informs his prosecution work. He has served as lead or co-lead counsel in patent trials, PTAB proceedings, and Federal Circuit appeals. That experience allows him to anticipate how claim language, specification disclosures, and prosecution statements may later affect claim construction, validity, and enforcement. His objective is not merely to obtain a patent, but to develop patent rights capable of supporting the client’s business over the full life of the technology.

Michael earned his J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law, his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Marquette University, and his B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Illinois. He is registered to practice before the USPTO and admitted before the Federal Circuit. Michael has also served as chair of the Arizona State Bar Intellectual Property Section Executive Committee.