Mr. Strom's passion for software started in 8th grade programming on punch cards and paper tape. Continuing to program in high school, Mr. Strom won awards in the Baltimore County Science Fair. He then supported himself with programming work while earning Math and Computer Science degrees at the University of Maryland, where he attained the Dean's List. After a decade working in the software industry, Mr. Strom undertook a legal career. Through years of education, work, and patent practice, Mr. Strom has lived through the computing revolution firsthand. As an attorney there are few areas of computing where Jim hasn't obtained meaningful quality patents.
After beginning his legal career at the D.C. patent boutique of Staas and Halsey, Mr. Strom worked as in-house and outside counsel for Microsoft. As an in-house patent attorney, Mr. Strom reviewed the work of outside counsel and helped align patent acquisition with corporate goals. As outside counsel, Mr. Strom was Microsoft's top outside counsel for patents enforced and licensed.
In addition to drafting and prosecuting patents, Mr. Strom reviews patent portfolios for valuation and to inform business decisions, advises foreign and domestic attorneys on patent strategy, formulates infringement opinions, reviews invention disclosures, and conducts patent harvesting sessions with inventors.