Experienced patent attorney dedicated to simplifying the IP process

For nearly a decade, Preston Kent has advised inventors on their intellectual property, drafting and prosecuting more than 250 applications during his tenure at Patterson + Sheridan. His experience includes patent, trademark and brand protection work across diverse technologies including artificial intelligence, machine learning, communications technologies, oil and gas services, and food processing devices and procedures.

To Preston, a good law practice means staying focused on one issue at a time and driving each to resolution. It also means maintaining open communication with clients and gaining their trust by raising any potential patentability issues early in the patent process. He believes to provide even greater IP protection, attorneys must challenge their clients to think like their competitors and present them with actionable solutions.

A passion for mechanical engineering

Before he became an IP attorney, Preston worked as a mechanical engineer. He’s designed tools used for radar antennae and others used by NASA astronauts in orbit, including a load-limiting foot restraint and a torque-multiplying power-tool attachment he designed for Lockheed Martin. Throughout his decades-long engineering career, he also worked as a consultant and IT manager responsible for maintaining email and phone communications infrastructure for large corporations, and he regularly draws from those experiences in his IP law practice.

While pursuing his law degree at the University of Houston Law Center, Preston was an associate editor of the Houston Law Review and a member of the Order of the Barons, the school’s student-run scholastic honor society. As a law review editor, he was tasked with proofreading the work of authors, reviewing them for accuracy and presenting challenges that would strengthen their legal arguments. Now he utilizes the critical thinking skills he learned as editor to draft patent applications that are thorough yet easy to understand.

A life-long learner who speaks “engineer”

To truly be effective, IP lawyers must familiarize themselves with new inventions and the many possible applications for these technologies. Preston’s engineering background enables him to quickly grasp the complicated concepts his clients present to him and communicate with inventors working in highly technical fields.

Since joining the firm in 2012, Preston has counseled clients on the patentability of innovations such as wireless networking, including Wi-Fi and Wi-Max; integrated circuit packaging technologies; vacuum deposition chambers; and down-hole sensing utilizing fiber-optic instruments. One of his greatest career achievements was writing and prosecuting a patent application for low-density parity checking (LDPC), a style of encoding for cellular communication that has since been adapted into 5G standards.

Preston has a hard time separating work from leisure because he truly enjoys what he does. Outside of work, he enjoys reading, bicycling, and spending time with his family.