I. C. (Jack) Waddey, Jr. is co-founder and senior attorney at the Firm, instrumental in its growth from three lawyers to 15 patent professionals in 20 years. He represents clients as an adviser in developing their intellectual property portfolios, as a patent and trademark advocate, and as mentor to start-up organizations. He is trained, certified and active locally, regionally and nationally as a mediator. He is listed as an approved Rule 31 Mediator by the Supreme Court of the State of Tennessee and has been publicly proclaimed as the "go to" mediator for difficult IP and commercial cases. Mr. Waddey is a Charter Member of The Tennessee Academy of Mediators & Arbitrators, a Distinguished Fellow and member of the Board of Governors of the International Academy of Mediators and a member of the technology panel of CPR. He is one of three mediators on the INTA panel of approved mediators for trademark cases in the 11 state Southeast region. He is also approved to serve as an arbitrator in FINRA cases. Mr. Waddey's technical expertise is in the mechanical arts and electro-mechanical technologies, with particular emphasis in road building machinery, automotive equipment, consumer goods, business methods and construction equipment. He has assisted clients in obtaining over 160 patents and has more than 40 years of experience in intellectual property counseling and litigation, including trials representing clients in state and federal courts throughout the country and in the United States Courts of Appeals. Mr. Waddey also serves as a legal consultant and expert witness in patent and trade secret litigation involving mechanical and electro-mechanical technologies, and in other disputes involving intellectual property issues.
Education
- J.D., Georgetown University of Law Center, 1970
- Finished in top 5% of class
- Served as Associate Editor of the Georgetown Law Journal
- B.S., Aerospace Engineering, Auburn University, 1965
Representative Matters
For a list representative of cases in which Mr. Waddey served as , please email Mr. Waddey.
Bar Admissions
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Washington, D.C.
- Registered Patent Attorney (USPTO)
Professional Memberships
- Tennessee Academy of Mediators & Arbitrators (Charter Member)
- Tennessee Association of Professional Mediators (Founding Member and Past President)
- International Academy of Mediators (Distinguished Fellow) and Board Member
- Nashville Entrepreneurial Center (Founding Board Member)
- Commercial Mediators Association
- American Bar Association (Intellectual Property and Dispute Resolution Sections)
- International Trademark Association
- American Intellectual Property Law Association
- Tennessee Intellectual Property Law Association (Founding Member and Past President)
- Tennessee Bar Association (Past Chairman, Section on Intellectual Property, member of ADR Section)
- Nashville Bar Association (Secretary/Treasurer 1974-75, IP and ADR Sections member)
- Nashville Bar Foundation (Distinguished Fellow)
- Board Member, Davidson County Industrial Revenue Board 1981
- Area Delegate, Tennessee Bar Association, House of Delegates 1996 - 2008
- Nashville Technology Council
- Nashville Chamber of Commerce
Publications
- Contributing author to Commercial Mediation Newsletter with an article entitled Mediating IP Case
- Author of a regular section, Mediator's Corner, on mediation of IP cases, published in the magazine Intellectual Property Law Today; including articles:
- Selecting a Mediator
- Midnight Memoranda
- Shrink The Invitation List
- Timing Can be Everything - When to Mediate?
- Continued Mediation - Prolonged Mediation
- Focus on the Srengths of Each Side's Case
- It Ain't Over Till It's Over
- The"70-30" Rule
Presentations
- Guest lecturer, Vanderbilt University School of Engineering, Intellectual Property for the Business Executive
- Frequent speaker and lecturer to business and community groups on intellectual property law issues, including:
- Public Relations Council of Alabama
- Tennessee Intellectual Property Law Association
- ADR Options and Benefits
- BizTech, Inc. (Technology Business Incubator)
- American Association of Business Publications
- International Association of Business Consultants
- Oak Ridge National Laboratories (Patent Awards Dinner)
- Ingram Industries Inc.
- Tennessee Association of Legal Secretaries
Other Activities
- Named by National Law Journal as one of 2012 Tennessee's Top Lawyers
- Nashville Business Journal, Best of the Bar, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 & 2010
- BusinessTN Magazine, 101 Best Lawyers in Tennessee, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 & 2011
- Nashville Post Magazine, Best Lawyers in Nashville, 2003
- Served as patent examiner for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from 1966 through 1968
- Law clerk in 1970-1971 to Judge Harry Phillips, the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit