Paul L Smith Email & Phone Number

Katy, Texas, United States

Invention patentability research, freedom to operate, and liaising support for innovations in the field of service rigs.

Houston, Texas, United States

Houston, Texas Area

Designed products using SolidWorks 2018 and liaised with the CEO, a licensed patent attorney, regarding creating the patent management system for the startup’s innovative products to purify water using waste energy. Provided patentability reviews, and patent prosecution support on the product. Worked with outside consultants and manufacturers to build the products. Mentored interns during summer semesters. Took major role in several field trials on our gas powered evaporation system. • Major Accomplishments:o Completed NSF I-Corps training program as Technical Lead.o Redesigned the initial flagship product to be easily manufactured and tested.o Drafted patent application for new technology developed by the company.o Conducted landscape and freedom to operate patent studies on company technology.o Drafted a technology state of the art search on the startup’s technology and performed patentability searches on all patent filings.o Advised the CEO to create the best claim strategy for the patents.o Liaised with the manufacturer to build and test the initial flagship product prototype.o Participated in drafting a SBIR grant to the National Science Foundation. o Presented Game Changing Business Plan and Technology at the 2017 Houston Innovation Conference and Showcase Pitch Competition.

Houston, Texas Area

Patent Engineer | Patent Management | Project design clearance for non-infringement | Patentability reviews for new technology | Front line intellectual property support for Completions and Artificial Lift | Patent application prosecution support | Prior art searching for invalidity | Compiled and evaluated company's patent portfolio | Compiled and evaluated competitor's patent portfolio for future internal project guidance | Liaised between internal engineering groups and external patent attorneys | Gave presentations on intellectual property awareness and importance • Major Accomplishments:o Conducted 2 large-scale project clearance reviews and over 20 smaller reviews, providing a clear legal business development strategy for the products.o Wrote several office action responses for outside counsel, resulting in notice of allowances.o Successfully found key prior art used in invalidity opinions, enabling patent attorneys to form opinions. o Mastered a search strategy by using several patent search engines such as Thompson Innovation and Innography, forming mosaics of relevant prior art.o Participated in product line portfolio studies and presentations.o Witnessed a Markman Hearing for claim interpretation on a Weatherford patent during litigation. o Participated in several office action interviews with patent examiners at the USPTO.o Witnessed two oral hearings before the Board at the USPTO.

Houston, Texas Area

Focused on research and development of projects for Downhole Isolation Valves | Performed lab and rig testing of design project prototypes | Participated in several field trials on project prototypes | Performed sustaining engineering on out of conformance components | Used ProE during projects to model the concepts, perfect the detail design, tolerance studies on assemblies, and FEA analysis| Wrote technical manuals for operations and field reference | Participated in brainstorm meetings for new product development | Participated in failure analysis studies• Major Accomplishments:o Lead engineer for three successful DDV tool size projects, ending in commercialized products.o Team engineer for several DDV improvement projects.o Participated in development of a new Non-Umbilical DDV for use in offshore wells.o Engineered improvement on a component, which was adopted by several other tool sizeso Listed as inventor on 10 issued patents and 6 pending applications, a result of the engineering projects.o Participated in several field trials for Weatherford R&D projects.

Pearland, Texas

Research and development engineer for new and redesign products for downhole cementing equipment | Performed new tool development using Solid Works solid modeling software | Performed extensive lab and rig testing of new products for redesigned products | Constructed machine drawings of components | Performed sustaining engineering review and analysis on components manufactured out of conformance | Traveled to onshore and offshore drilling performing service work | Traveled to Europe as a technical advisor for Davis Lynch equipment | • Major Accomplishments:o Performed major design role in developing the Davis-Lynch Fill and Circulate Tool which proved to be the most reliable and favored tool in the market.o Major design improvements in Inflatable Packer valve system, changing reliability from 50% to near 100%.o Developed innovative manufacturing method for making zero leak Float Equipment.o Filed patent application as inventor on redesigned Inflatable Packer valve system, resulting in allowed claims.o Wrote comprehensive technical manuals for several tools.o Designed customer required high temperature and pressure Float Equipment for Statoil.o Experienced ISO 9001 audits, resulting in certifications.

Bs, Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

Minor, Mathematics