Arnold J. Ericsen, of Counsel

Arnold became Counsel to the predecessor firm of Wheeler Kromholz & Manion in 1995.  In that capacity, he has mentored several of the young associates, in addition to being responsible for the preparation and prosecution of a sizable number of utility and design patent applications filed in both the United States and abroad.  He has also conducted several patent validity and infringement studies for firm clients.

Before joining the firm, Arnold had several intellectual property law positions in the Milwaukee area, beginning with an eight-year position as corporate patent and trademark attorney with Line Material Company, a division of McGraw-Edison Company (now a part of Cooper Industries), as well as four years with the intellectual property group of the predecessor firm of the present Quarles and Brady law firm.  During that period, about one-half of his time was spent on patent preparation and prosecution, along with other intellectual property matters, for the Allen-Bradley Company (now also known as Rockwell Automation).  Upon retirement of the patent liaison individual, Arnold was recruited as the Manager of the Allen-Bradley Patent Law Department, and remained in that position until he retired 26 years lager.  He then continued his IP law career for seven years as a member of the Intellectual Property Law staff of the Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek law firm.

Arnold has been registered to practice law in the State of Wisconsin and before the United States Patent and Trademark Office since 1950.  He has also been admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Eastern District Court of Wisconsin.  He received his BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin and an LLB (now JD) from Harvard Law School.  He is a member of the Wisconsin Bar Association (Emeritus), where he is a past chairman of the Intellectual Property Section; The American Intellectual Property Law Association (Emeritus); and Wisconsin Intellectual Property Association, where he served as a past President of the predecessor organization (The Milwaukee Patent Law Association).

Arnold has had extensive industrial engineering and intellectual property law practice, which includes time and motion studies in almost all of the procedures, machining and production activities relating to the products of Cutler-Hammer Company.  The various subjects of his patent law practice have included high voltage transformers, fuse cutouts, lightning arresters, street and airport runway lighting, electro-mechanical controllers and motor starters, ferrite magnets, and electronic components including composition resistors, capacitors and semi-conductors, water purification and electrical porcelain manufacture, and the list continues to this day.

Prior to his industrial engineering and intellectual property law practice, Arnold served in the Army Infantry in World War II Korean Occupation, where he taught college algebra to GI's awaiting discharge from the service.