J. William Dockrey

J. William (Bill) Dockrey's practice includes all aspects of Intellectual Property Law with a primary focus on patent opinions, prosecution, interferences and licensing. Mr. Dockrey prepares and prosecutes patent applications in a wide range of technologies including chemical processing, food product formulation and manufacture, packaging science, semiconductor devices and fabrication processes, electro-mechanical devices, and refrigeration and mechanical systems. Mr. Dockrey has extensive experience in patent portfolio evaluation, patent validity and infringement analysis, and has also prepared pleadings, motions and legal memoranda in support of patent litigation and interferences. Mr. Dockrey's practice also includes copyright law and contract issues related to music licensing.

Before becoming an attorney, Mr. Dockrey worked in the electronics industry as a semiconductor process engineer where he sustained and developed processes for ion implantation, physical vapor deposition, plasma etching and micro-fabrication metrology. Mr. Dockrey is a named inventor on four U.S. patents relating to semiconductor fabrication technology.

As an in-house patent agent, Mr. Dockrey prepared and prosecuted patent applications in various areas of semiconductor technology including fabrication, electronics packaging and device architecture. Mr. Dockrey also analyzed patents for infringement and validity in support of semiconductor cross-licensing and helped negotiate patent cross-license agreements with a large number of U.S. and foreign corporations.

As an in-house patent attorney, Mr. Dockrey prepared and prosecuted patents in the electronics field, including semiconductors, chemical processing, flat panel displays and electro-mechanical devices. Mr. Dockrey managed patent agents involved in patent prosecution and provided patent counseling and portfolio management services to corporate operating divisions. Mr. Dockrey also negotiated and drafted patent license agreements, trade secret agreements, joint development agreements and consulting agreements.

• Leading Intellectual Property Lawyer, Leading Lawyers Network, 2011

• U.S. Pat. No. 6,087,267, Process for Forming An Integrated Circuit, Dockrey et al., July 11, 2000
• U.S. Pat. No. 4,812,418, Micron and Submicron Patterning Without Using a Lithographic Mask Having Submicron Dimensions, Pfiester et al., March 14, 1989
• U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,991, Process for Preferentially Etching Polycrystalline Silicon, Dockrey, January 24, 1989
• U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,086, Dry Etching of Multi-layer Structures, Thomas et al., July 14, 1987

• "The Importance of a Written Agreement When Collaborators Create a Copyrighted Work in the Performing Arts," Entertainment and Sports Lawyer, Summer 2010
• "Licensee Estoppel: Coping with the Licensee's Dilemma," Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal, December 2003
• "Getting Over the Patent Licensing Hurdle: When Does the Licensee have Independent Standing to Sue for Infringement?" co-author, Managing Intellectual Property, April 2002

• American Bar Association
• Chicago Bar Association
• Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago

• 48 Brinks Attorneys Honored as Leading Intellectual Property Lawyers for 2011
• Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione Announces New Shareholders and Counsel

• Chicago Daily Law Bulletin