Cary Tope-McKay:

Cary Tope-McKay founded Tope-McKay & Associates in 1996, and has managed the firm since its inception. Mr. Tope-McKay is experienced in all aspects of patent and trademark prosecution as well as in related matters such as licensing.

 Mr. Tope-McKay has served as outside counsel for entities such as HRL Laboratories, Honeywell (formerly AlliedSignal), CalTech/JPL and Precision Tool Company (Boulder Engineering Division), among others.  

Mr. Tope-McKay received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington, and both a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and a Juris Doctor degree from Pepperdine University.  Mr. Tope-McKay is currently in the process of completing Master of Science degrees in both Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.  Mr. Tope-McKay is an active member of the State Bar of California and is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.  Additionally, Mr. Tope-McKay is a member of the Los Angeles Intellectual Property Association, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the State Bar of California’s Intellectual Property Section (where he sits on the State Bar’s Patent Standing Committee), and is an advisor to the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology Law at Pepperdine University, where he also occasionally lectures.

In addition to work as a patent attorney, Mr. Tope-McKay has also worked as a business consultant to both Honeywell (assisting in streamlining cross-division communication to help optimize their patent processes) and Yamaha Musical Instruments (assisting in an organizational behavior/culture study for increasing employee satisfaction and retention), as an engineer for the U.S. Forest Service, and in various other capacities including the position of Foreman on a variety of U.S. Forest Service fire fighting crews, including the Entiat Hotshots, an elite national firefighting team.