FRANCISCO M. LEY is a Patent Agent in the Electrical, Mechanical, and Chemical Engineering Department.

Mr. Ley specializes in conducting patentability searches of U.S. and foreign patent databases and non-patent documents for client inventions and innovations. He evaluates search results and provides recommendations for filing strategies to inventors in written reports with links to supporting documents. Additionally, he counsels clients on patentability matters, prepares and prosecutes patent applications, and assists in various patent and non-patent related projects. Mr. Ley’s technical expertise covers a wide variety of areas including mechanical and electrical engineering, medical devices, and materials science.

Prior to joining NGM, Mr. Ley managed and led the mechanical engineering search groups at several international IP services companies.  He has conducted various searches (patentability, invalidity, freedom-to-operate, state-of-the art) for over 15 years and is a former USPTO patent examiner.

Mr. Ley holds a B.S degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park and is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Mr. Ley enjoys spending time with his family, reading, playing piano, basketball, running, cycling, and competing in tennis leagues.