Julie Richardson received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, and J.D., with honors, from Duke University. Julie is a member of the North Carolina Bar and is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Julie has been practicing patent law since 1995. Prior to her legal career, Julie gained more than eight years’ experience in engineering and manufacturing with General Electric, including GE Medical Systems and GE Aircraft Engines. Julie now focuses on patent prosecution in the electro-mechanical arts with an emphasis on biomedical devices. Julie has expertise in patent licensing, patent opinion work, and trademarks. Julie also has prepared and prosecuted hundreds of patents directed to various technologies including MRI-based inventions. Julie is a past Chair of the Intellectual Property (“IP”) Section of the North Carolina Bar Association. She is one of the co-creators of “PROJECT TOGETHER,” a pro bono program now handled by Volunteer Lawyers Project that provides representation to indigent clients in domestic violence court proceedings and received the 2008 Pro Bono Impact Award for her work on this program. In 2019, Julie was ranked as the #1 intellectual property lawyer in North Carolina by Business North Carolina magazine, based on a poll of North Carolina lawyers, and has been inducted into the magazine’s Legal Elite Hall of Fame. Julie has been awarded the Pro Bono Impact Award (2008) and the Triangle Business Journal Women in Business award (2015). She has also been included in The Best Lawyers in America® (2013-2025), IP Stars (2021), Business North Carolina’s Legal Elite (2004, 2006-2011, 2014-2018), and Super Lawyers (2006).
Julie has authored numerous publications including “The Intellectual Property and Communications Omnibus Reform Act of 1999: An Overview for IP Practitioners” (North Carolina Journal of Law and Technology, www.jolt.unc.edu, Summer 2000); “The Protectability and Registrability of Product Configurations as Trademarks” (IP Links1996); and “Design Patents: Alternative Protection for Articles of Manufacture” (IP Today, August 1997).