James I. Burris

James Burris is a member of Flaster Greenberg’s Intellectual Property Department and Patent Practice Group.

Prior to joining the firm, James was a patent examiner for the United States Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, VA where he assessed the patentability of inventions claimed in patent applications. These duties included performing research to assess inventiveness, novelty, and non-obviousness; analyzing each application to ensure it meets U.S. Patent Law requirements; drafting and issuing legal office actions on patentability and/or restrictions; responding to an applicant’s amendment and/or argument; conducting interviews; and providing guidance and/or amendments to help the applicant reach allowability.

James also has more than two decades of engineering experience including almost ten years serving as president and CEO of an engineering design and consulting company he created.  His company specialized in electrical and fire alarm design as well as power system analysis for commercial and industrial installations. When his firm was acquired by an MEP engineering firm with multiple locations around the country, James transitioned into a new leadership role as vice president, chief engineer, and electrical practice lead.

In these leadership roles, James was responsible for overseeing all the electrical engineering and design work performed by the firm and managing the daily operations and staff. In the engineering roles, he designed and created documents and plans for primary distribution systems, secondary distribution systems, emergency, and stand-by systems, building fit-out, professional CAD drawings, single line diagrams, load calculations, panel schedules, power/lighting layout, fire alarm design, and solar array permit/construction documents.

He has also provided electrical expertise and support to electrical engineers and designers; presented reports, analyses, and high-level strategies to non-technical management/project teams; led the development and continued improvement of electrical standards; ensured accuracy of finished product design, reviewed products for completeness and conflict avoidance, and ensured clients’ objectives are met throughout products’ life cycles; developed solutions for various electrical engineering, and more.

• IEEE Delaware Valley Young Electrical Engineer of the Year, 2004

• International Association of Electrical Inspectors (IAEI)
  • Past Member
• Drexel University
  • Adjunct Professor, 2017-2019