James M. "Jim" Smith

About James

Jim is a co-founder of Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds. For more than 40 years, Jim has helped universities, start-ups and emerging companies, small companies, and mid-sized corporations obtain, expand, and protect intellectual property rights. Jim has devoted his career to the practice of intellectual property law with particular focus on patent prosecution and post-grant proceedings, portfolio strategy and counseling, due diligence studies, opinions, freedom to operate studies and intellectual property litigation support. Jim assists clients in the electronics, computer science, communications, physical science and various engineering fields including electrical, biomedical and mechanical engineering. With regards to complex electronic and computer software advancements, Jim works in the areas of analog and digital circuits, network routers and algorithms, wireless communications, memory devices and systems, power supplies, speech processing and business applications. Jim’s practice offers equal expertise in the physical sciences including medical devices, infrared and electromagnetic sensors, electro-mechanical drives, battery systems, lasers, cryotechnology, and optics. Jim is a Martindale-Hubbell featured AV Peer Review rated lawyer. Since 2015, he has received distinction in The Best Lawyers in America® for his expertise in Patent Law. In 2022, Jim was recognized by Best Lawyers® as the 2023 "Lawyer of the Year" for Boston Patent Law. Only a single lawyer in each practice area and designated metropolitan area is honored as the "Lawyer of the Year." For 18 years (2004-2022), Jim was named to Super Lawyers, a rating of outstanding lawyers who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement.

Practice Areas

Education

• Georgetown University
• Old Dominion University, Electrical Engineering

Bar Admissions

• Massachusetts, Massachusetts Bar Association
• Virginia, Virginia State Bar
• United States, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
• United States, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Languages