Gregory J. Kirsch

Partner / Atlanta | Washington, D.C.

Gregory J. Kirsch is a Partner and the Head of the Intellectual Property Practice of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP.

Full Bio

Mr. Kirsch serves as patent counsel to clients ranging from large multinational corporations to small start-ups, as well as universities. His practice encompasses the entire range of patent law, including patent procurement, strategic patent portfolio development, patent opinions (infringement, validity and patentability), post grant proceedings, licensing, as well as patent litigation. He has served as a patent expert in a patent litigation matter, and has participated in patent opposition hearings at the European Patent Office. He has prepared and obtained many hundreds of patents during his career for a diverse clientele, for inventions spanning the full range of technologies, including software, business methods, computer technology, electronics, communications technology, analog and digital circuitry, medical technology, mechanics, electromechanics, plus many others. In addition to his US patent practice, Mr. Kirsch has extensive experience overseeing and pursuing on behalf of his clients patent protection in patent offices throughout the world, utilizing patent treaties (Paris Convention and the Patent Cooperation Treaty), in coordination with foreign patent counsel.

In addition to his full-time legal practice, Mr. Kirsch has served as an Adjunct Professor of patent law at Emory University School of Law since 1997, and as an Adjunct Professor of intellectual property law at Washington University School of Law (St. Louis) since 2011. He is a frequent speaker at national and regional conferences on various intellectual property topics and has contributed chapters on patent law to two books. In January 2022, Mr. Kirsch co-edited a book, Bioinformatics, Medical Informatics and the Law and also served as a co-author of a chapter on software patents.

Mr. Kirsch is a past Chair of the State Bar of Georgia’s Intellectual Property Law Section. He’s also been active in the Intellectual Property Section of the American Bar Association and is a past Chair of that section’s Patent Policy Committee.

Mr. Kirsch received his B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Iowa in 1987. He received his J.D. from Washington University School of Law in 1990, where he was Notes & Comments Editor of the Washington University Law Quarterly. Mr. Kirsch is admitted to practice in Washington, D.C., Georgia, Virginia and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Bar Admissions

Georgia
District of Columbia
Virginia (inactive)
Education
Undergraduate
- University of Iowa
Law School
- Washington University School of Law
Memberships

State Bar of Georgia, IP Section
American Bar Association, IP Section
Emory University Board of Visitors (2021-2022)
Recognitions

The Best Lawyers in America®, Atlanta, Patent Law (2007-2017, 2019-2026); Litigation – Patent (2021-2026)
Chambers USA, Intellectual Property, Georgia (2007-2013, 2015-2025)
Georgia Super Lawyers
Georgia Trend magazine - Legal Elite
Publications and Speaking Engagements

“Bioinformatics, Medical Informatics and the Law,” Co-Editor, January 31, 2022.

“Bioinformatics Law: Legal Issues for Computational Biology in the Post-Genome Era,” Contributing author, Chapter 5, April 15, 2013.

“Product Clearances, Design-Arounds and Avoiding Injunctions,” Practising Law Institute (PLI), 6th Annual Patent Law Institute, San Francisco, March 19, 2012.

Moderator, “TAG Corporate Development Society Panel Presentation on Intellectual Property,” TAG Corporate Development Society, Atlanta, September 1, 2010.

“Business Method Patents: How Worthwhile Are They to Financial Institutions,” Intellectual Property Rights in the Financial Services Sector, IBC Legal Conferences, London, U.K., October 16, 2007.
SGR Publications
Press