MICHAEL J. KEENAN joined Nixon & Vanderhye in 1986. Prior to that time, he was an Examiner-In-Chief of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, 1983-1986. He is a graduate of the University of Detroit (B.S., Mechanical Engineering, 1969) and Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., 1974).

Mr. Keenan is a registered patent attorney and a member of the Virginia State Bar; District of Columbia bar; American Intellectual Property Law Association; Federal Circuit Bar Association; and American Bar Association.

Mr. Keenan is a former Patent Examiner, U.S. Patent Office, in the metal deforming arts, 1969-1975, and was selected for participation in the Department of Commerce, Science and Technology Fellowship Program for 1975-76. He was also an acting director of the Office of Government Employee Inventions, 1977, and a Patent Office Staff Assistant for the Domestic Policy Review of Industrial Innovation, 1978. He was appointed Acting Examiner-in-Chief in 1980.

Mr. Keenan's legal experience includes all phases of patent preparation and prosecution including appellant practice before the Patent Office Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, preparation of infringement and validity opinions, primarily in the mechanical arts. He has also served as an expert witness on Patent Office practice and procedure.