Ken Solomon and Don V. Kelly, registered patent attorneys at the law firm Gallop, Johnson & Neuman (www.gjn-ip.com), have been approved by the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, as certified neutrals in the Court's alternative dispute resolution (ADR) program. Their names are included on an exclusive roster of neutrals from which parties before the U.S. District Court may chose when a law suit is referred to alternative dispute resolution by judicial order.

Mr. Kelly and Mr. Solomon are among a small handful of patent attorneys in Missouri who qualify as mediators under Missouri Supreme Court Rule 17. They each were certified after completing formal mediation training at the Saint Louis University School of Law.

"A growing number of businesses are looking to alternative dispute resolution and its cost-effective benefits and its flexible, speedy, business-oriented options for resolving disputes as the alternative to traditional litigation and its limited means for relief.  As certified neutrals, we are able to offer clients and litigants mediation and arbitration expertise to help resolve disputes in areas of patent and trademark  infringement, licensing and other matters to achieve quick, creative, certain, and business-driven resolution, while at the same time avoiding costly litigation processes," Mr. Solomon and Mr. Kelly said in a statement.

Mr. Solomon and Mr. Kelly are both partners of the firm and members of the Intellectual Property Law Practice at Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, L.C., one of the largest full-service law firms in St. Louis.

Mr. Solomon, chair of the IP Law Practice, has substantial oversight and management experience gained over more than 25 years of preparing and prosecuting hundreds of patents and trademark applications, maintaining such rights and protecting such rights through client counseling, policing, licensing, negotiating, defending against claims asserted by others, and through litigation. The May 2009 edition of Intellectual Property Today magazine features an article by Mr. Solomon entitled “Arbitration & Mediation: A More Effective Way to Protect Valuable Intellectual Property” explaining how ADR can short-circuit expensive litigation to achieve better results.

Mr. Solomon’s practice over the past 15 years has been primarily focused on managing large client patent and trademark portfolios in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and, also, international patent and trademark offices. His expertise includes drafting and prosecuting diverse intellectual property agreements and preparing patentability, validity and infringement opinions on behalf of clients. He has substantial experience in many industry sectors and technologies involving chemical and mechanical arts, pharmaceutical products and processes, among many others. He earned a J.D. from the Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law, currently ranked among the five top law schools in the country for intellectual property law by U.S. News & World Report, and a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Mr. Kelly represents clients in litigation and intellectual property matters. He concentrates his practice in the areas of patent infringement, trademark infringement, trade secret litigation, non-compete agreements and business disputes. He has handled numerous multi-million dollar trade secret, franchise, contract and intellectual property cases. He has drafted and prosecuted patent applications for engine components, industrial tools, computer equipment, fuel systems, optical coatings and food industry apparatus, among many other technologies. He also counsels clients regarding trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, technology license agreements and infringement analyses.

Mr. Kelly is featured in a recent article in Midwest CEO discussing indemnity rights. He has served extensively as lead counsel in state and federal jury and non-jury trials. His experience includes handling medical malpractice, toxic tort, pharmaceutical, medical device and products liability litigation. Mr. Kelly earned a J.D. degree from Washington University School of Law and a B.S. in physics from Duke University.

Gallop, Johnson & Neuman, L.C., a full service law firm of 80 attorneys, has provided legal services to clients in all industries since its founding in 1976. The firm received an A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau in its January 2009 ratings of Missouri law firms. The firm is located at 101 South Hanley Road, Suite 1700, in Clayton, Missouri. For more information, visit www.gjn.com. For information about the firm’s Intellectual Property Law Practice, contact Ken Solomon or Don Kelly at 314.615.6000.

For more information, contact Lois LaDriere, Director of Marketing, at 314.615.6103