BENJAMIN I. EDLAVITCH
PATENT ATTORNEY
USPTO Reg. No. 57,142
Ben Edlavitch is a USPTO-registered patent attorney and strategic intellectual property advisor with technical backgrounds in software, electrical and computer engineering, and the life sciences. He is also an avid long-distance runner — a pursuit that reflects his persistence, focus, and discipline.
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​With more than 27 years of experience in the IT and intellectual property industries — including eight years as a computer information systems developer and nineteen years as an IP attorney — Ben counsels clients on a wide range of commercial, technology, and intellectual property matters. His practice includes advising on complex commercial agreements and technology licenses, including open-source software issues and other advanced challenges in computing and e-commerce.
He represents clients in domestic and international patent and trademark prosecution, and he regularly assists executives, in-house counsel, and outside attorneys in IP disputes and litigation. He also advises on trade secret policies and provides guidance on trademark and copyright registrations.
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​Ben is admitted to practice law in Minnesota and Illinois and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He brings BigLaw experience from his time as an intellectual property attorney with Greenberg Traurig and Brinks Gilson & Lione, and he also served as the sole in-house counsel for an enterprise software company before establishing his own practice.
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​Over the past 5 years, he has prepared more than one hundred U.S. patent applications spanning innovations in e-commerce, telecommunications, computer hardware and software, fintech, artificial intelligence, neural networks, deep learning, computer vision, blockchain, cybersecurity, medical devices, MEMS, biosensors, semiconductors, power electronics, robotics, agritech, IoT, telemedicine, and education technology.
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​Across his 19-year career in patent law, Ben has contributed to more than a thousand patent applications for individuals, startups, corporations, and universities in fields including computer science, electrical and computer engineering, biomedical and mechanical engineering, and systems design. The vast majority of those applications have since been granted as U.S. patents.
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Education
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Chicago-Kent College of Law
(J.D., Dean's List)
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Editor of the Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property
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Editor of the Chicago-Kent Journal of International and Comparative Law
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CALI Award for academic excellence in Trade and Intellectual Property Rights
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Purdue University
(Graduate School Coursework in Electrical and Computer Engineering)​
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​University of Illinois at Chicago
(B.S. Electrical Engineering, cum laude)
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Eta Kappa Nu (HKN) - Electrical Engineering Honors Society
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University of California, Berkeley
(Certificate in Computer Information Systems, with Distinction)
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​Washington University in St. Louis
(B.S. Biology, Dean's List)
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​Bar and Court Admissions
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United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Minnesota
Illinois
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Example Volunteer Activities
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Volunteer Attorney at LegalCORPS
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​President of the Minnesota Inventors Hall of Fame
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Startup Mentor at Minnesota Cup
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Startup Mentor at Cleantech Open
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Startup Mentor at Berkeley SkyDeck
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​​Lead discussions and seminars on intellectual property law and patent strategy as well as train engineers, scientists, physicians, and software developers on brainstorming techniques and invention harvesting
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​​Led presentations at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the Minnesota chapters of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE International)
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​​Provided assitance in a housing dispute through Volunteer Lawyers Network (VLN)
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​​Provided pro bono immigration law services via the Legal Assistance Foundation (LAF)
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​​Tutored inner city high school students at Chicago’s Legal Prep ​Charter Academy
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​​Tutored math and science through the African American Academic Network at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)
Example Publications and Presentations
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Twin Cities IEEE Computer Society: Software Patents (Presentations, April 2018, February 2024, March 2025)
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SAE: Patent Law for Engineers (Presentation, Jan. 2020)​
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INCOSE: Patent Law for Engineers (Presentation, Sept. 2018)​
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Open Source Software Licensing at the Office of Technology Management - University of Illinois (Presentation, Mar. 15, 2011)​
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Coauthor of "A MEMS-based Vacuum Gauge for Measuring Pressure and Out-gassing Rates in Miniaturized Vacuum Microelectronic Devices" (International Vacuum Nanoelectronics Conference, 2010)​
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