Jennifer Knight Scores Pro Bono Patent Victory for “Stroke Warriors”
Jennifer Knight
Alon Kaplan describes himself as a “stroke warrior,” and rightfully so. The Asheville-based entrepreneur and founder of the AlonTree Company has been designing and providing equipment for fellow stroke victims since 2011.
Jennifer Knight does not describe herself as a “pro bono warrior,” but Charlotte-based Knight has every right to do so, given her extensive record of pro bono service and her most recent efforts in securing a patent for Kaplan and his company through the USPTO Patent Pro Bono Program.
U.S. Patent 12,059,630 B1 was issued on August 13, 2024, to applicant AlonTree Company of Candler. Co-inventors are Alon Kaplan and Christine Perrone of Leicester, who works with Kaplan and helped invent their “Therapeutic Game for Stroke Survivors Improving Fine and Gross Motor Skill.”
For North Carolina inventors, the USPTO Patent Pro Bono Program is coordinated by the North Carolina Bar Foundation in partnership with Georgia Patents. Georgia Patents, as described on the NCBF website, “accepts, assesses and processes client applications for North Carolina residents and provides referrals to the Patent Pro Bono Program for attorney pro bono case matching.” The North Carolina Bar Foundation matches the approved clients with pro bono attorneys. The North Carolina Bar Foundation and Georgia Patents are responsible for bringing Knight and her clients together.
The summary of the application to which Knight responded reads as follows:
Inventor suffered a stroke and has limited capability for certain dexterous motor functions, inspiring him to create a game for stroke survivors. The invention also helps develop motor functions in weaker hands/grip. This invention is a novel opportunity for stroke survivors and those with limited motor skills to rehabilitate in a unique and enjoyable way.
Why did she take the case?
“Basically,” Knight said, “when people ask me about pro bono, I usually start with the fact that I am a Girl Scout, and Girl Scouts make the world a better place! The description of the therapeutic game had been on the waiting list to be matched with an attorney for a while, and part of my bias was, having dealt with other elderly issues, I was comfortable working with a stroke survivor.
“I wasn’t sure everyone would be, so that was part of what made me want to take up this particular application. Also, the obvious perseverance and effort to help others with the invention was very meaningful to me. And they are great!”
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Knight resides in Belmont and is Of Counsel with Clements Bernard Walker (CBW), which she joined in 2018 after spending three decades with Eastman Chemical Company and its predecessor, Kodak.
Law was not her first career.
“I graduated with a degree in chemical engineering in 1982 (University of Tennessee) and got a Ph.D. in chemical engineering in 1986 (University of Massachusetts). In the meantime, I was married and had a child in the middle of graduate school. I went to work for Kodak in 1986 and, being a really good logic-based engineer and not knowing anything about history, I really believed a female engineer would be viewed exactly the same as a male.
“Maybe not in 1986, but certainly by the time I retired. I was really kind of disappointed that it wasn’t that way. So that’s one of the things that makes me a big believer in supporting diversity efforts. I also very much appreciate that I have had a successful life on every measure. I have been married for 44 years, I am highly educated, and I’ve had a good and successful career. And now I have grandchildren!
“And although I would be the first to say that I worked hard, I also grew up in a family that encouraged education, I always went to very good school systems, and simply put, I’ve been very lucky!”
And smart. Knight graduated second in her class from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 2006 and served as executive editor of the Tennessee Law Review.
“I was a Ph.D. engineer,” Knight said. “I had worked at Eastman for 17 years, and for my midlife crisis I ran away and went to law school. I was 42, and at that point my daughter, who I had in graduate school, was in college and my son was a ninth grader in high school.
“It was like having a travel job, because we lived in Kingsport, Tenn. I would get up at dark-30 on Monday morning and drive down to Knoxville. I had an apartment there, and I would come back on Wednesday afternoon to have dinner with Joe and James and get back up at dark-30 on Thursday morning to school and come back home on Friday afternoon. I took an educational leave of absence from Eastman when I decided to go to law school, and Eastman rehired me into the legal department as a patent attorney.”
Knight remained with Eastman doing patents and patent prosecution for 10 more years, after which she accepted a voluntary separation package.
“Part of the reason I went to law school to begin with was that my husband is seven years older than I am, so based upon both temperament and age difference, I always knew he would retire before I did. I wanted the ability to work part-time.”
Knight maintained her own practice for a few years and joined CBW and the NCBA upon moving to North Carolina in 2018.
“I was licensed to practice law in Tennessee in 2006 and I was licensed to practice in North Carolina in 2018. Technically I could do patent law here because it’s federal, but I got my license because one, I think you should be licensed where you’re practicing; that’s just me. And two, it gives me the flexibility to do pro bono and branch out to other areas of law in the future if I want to.”
Alon Kaplan and Christine Perrone display their invention at a trade show.
Kaplan’s story drew Knight to pro bono patent application immediately.
“It has been extremely meaningful to me, because when I look at these things, I am looking for a diversity angle. And really, with patent pro bono, there is always a diversity angle. The economic restrictions on applicants for the Patent Pro Bono Program alone ensure at least one element of diversity as low-income people are underrepresented as inventors compared to high-income people. Also, various races, ethnicities, people with disabilities, and veterans are underrepresented as inventors, and make up a significant number of the applicants. Alon was my first Patent Pro Bono Client with a disability. Until we met via Zoom, I did not realize the stroke had happened in 2008. Alon still goes to speech therapy, so he strongly preferred that we do everything over Zoom because it made communication easier.
“I was in Belmont and they were in Asheville, and because we weren’t going to be getting together, they sent me a prototype of the game. They sent me every part of the invention, which was great because I could see it and feel it. And in a Zoom meeting, I could hold up a piece that we were talking about and ask a question about something that I didn’t understand about a piece or why it works or what’s the point you’re trying to make.”
From beginning to end, the entire process took just under a year for the patent to be issued.
Alon and Christine became clients on August 31, 2023, the patent application was filed on December 8, 2023, and the patent issued on August 13, 2024. “Which is phenomenal,” Knight exclaimed.
“That doesn’t usually happen as it often takes more than two years to get the first Office Action. The reason the patent application issued into a Patent so quickly in this case is that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has new first-time inventor pilot program. Basically, any patent pro bono client qualifies for the program as long as they don’t have another patent application. In other words, they meet all of the financial and other qualifications, so if they are indeed a first-time filer, they are eligible.”
Knight has kept up with her pro bono clients through email.
“A lot of collaboration occurs between inventors and a patent attorney when drafting a patent application. I find myself developing friendships with my Patent Pro Bono Clients. Alon and Christine were both heavily impacted by Hurricane Helene. Alon left Asheville and was in Philadelphia from around the 5th of October and came back on the 3rd (of November). AlonTree’s place of business was closed due to damage from Helene until November 6. Christine has a well, so she is doing better on the water issue, but she has lost employment. It’s just really hard for both of them.”
Alon is a stroke warrior, and he will persevere through the setback of Hurricane Helene to get the patented Therapeutic Game out to as many stroke survivors and their occupational therapists as possible.
It also helps to have a “pro bono warrior” on your side.
Russell Rawlings is director of external affairs and communications for the North Carolina Bar Association.