Novel idea: Heino helps clients protect their property

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Joe Heino was an engineering college student interning at Allen-Bradley during the 1970s when he struck up a conversation with one of the company’s patent attorneys.

“I was interested in law, too, and he tried to dissuade me from going into patent law, saying that everything had been invented. But I took it as a challenge and decided to go down that path,” said Heino, a shareholder at Davis & Kuelthau’s office in Milwaukee.

The 1980s and beyond, of course, brought a slew of new technologies and an increased need for patent attorneys.

“I really enjoy the people I work with. It’s interesting to see people who come in with an idea and then build a business around it,” Heino said. “Everyone I see goes home happy since we’re giving them protection.”

A registered U.S. patent attorney, Heino handles a variety of intellectual property cases ranging from patents, trademarks and copyrights to trade secrets and franchising.

“It’s vital for customers to have their ideas, products and technologies protected,” he said.

The past few years have been one of change for patent attorneys, including the adoption of the America Invents Act, which went into effect in 2012 and is the first major change in U.S. patent law since the 1950s.

“That brought the United States in line with what’s being done in other countries,” Heino said. “The amount of time it takes to review a patent is the same, but there’s a longer backlog.”

That means some technology receiving a patent may be out of date by the time the final paperwork comes through and then needs to be amended, he said.

Heino’s work involves a great deal of technical writing, so in his free time he wrote a novel titled “Seamless,” a Midwestern ghost story exploring the possibility of interdimensional contact. “That was fun and something very different,” he said. “Very different from my day job.”

Wisconsin Law Journal: What makes your work important?
Joe Heino: The clients. IP is like real estate — you can put up a fence around your land to keep people out. With IP, we’re putting up a fence to keep a person or company’s idea or technology protected and to keep others from using it without permission.

WLJ: Who is your hero in the legal profession?
Heino: Our founding fathers. The rights to patents and copyrights were built into the constitution. The first patent was examined by Thomas Jefferson and signed by George Washington.

WLJ: What do you do outside of work to deal with stress from the office?
Heino: Read, write and enjoy spending time with my family.

WLJ: What’s one thing many people get wrong about what you do?
Heino: This is something even some of my partners screw this up — I specialize in IP, not IT — that’s the information technology guys who come in to help you figure out what’s going on when the computer isn’t working right. IP has nothing to do with IT.

WLJ: What’s your favorite memory from law school?
Heino: When you’re in law school you form bonds that last a lifetime. These are people who went through the same thing you were going through and you just develop a lasting relationship.

WLJ: Is there a certain case that stands out to you?
Heino: I had a gentleman come in who I call the Beer Bottle Label Guy. He came up with this idea that you would have two rows of the alphabet on a beer bottle and then you could scratch on it your initials so if you put the beer bottle down, you knew which one was yours. I told him I didn’t think there was much potential in marketing the idea so he left. It turns out that he went and saw another attorney who got him the patent. He later came back to me and said, “I wish I had listened to you since getting the patent was a big waste of money.” I appreciated that he came back and told me that. It was validation of my viewpoint. I pride myself on being objective and determining whether an idea has good market potential.