Dr. Harold Burstyn is Of Counsel to Hoffberg & Associates, and specializes in patent law and counseling. He was registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 1989 and is admitted to practice law in New York and Florida.  He began his legal career as an associate with the Syracuse firm of Melvin & Melvin from 1988 to 1991, and later practiced intellectual property law with Morrison Law Firm, Mt. Vernon, N.Y., from 1991 to 1995. Dr. Burstyn has served as Adjunct Professor at the L. C. Smith College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University, since 1995. He also served as the Patent Attorney for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, N.Y., from 1996 to 2001.

Dr. Burstyn is a member of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association and The Florida Bar.  He is also a life member of the corporation of the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, and a director of the Technology Alliance of Central New York.

Dr. Burstyn is a native of Boston, Massachusetts. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude in History and Science from Harvard College. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in 1951-52 and later received a Master of Science degree in Oceanography from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of California. He earned a Ph.D. in History of Science from Harvard University in 1964 and received his law degree from Rutgers Law School in 1987. He has also done research at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Dr. Burstyn is a U.S. Navy veteran and an honor graduate of the Naval Justice School, Newport, R.I. Following his discharge from the Navy, he served as a technical writer and computer programmer for Honeywell, Inc., and as an instructor in the history of science at Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass. He then studied as a U.S. National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow at Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London, England, from 1965 to 1966. He returned to the U.S. and held positions as assistant and associate professor of the history of science and technology at Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, from 1966 to 1973, at which time he was named a professor of mathematics and natural sciences and dean of Graduate and Research Programs, The William Paterson College of New Jersey (now William Paterson University) in Wayne, N.J. He served as Historian for the U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA, from 1976 to 1984, and was a visiting lecturer in the Physics Department at Rutgers University from 1977 to 1987 (except for 1979). He was a visiting lecturer in the Business Communications Department of the Rutgers Graduate School of Management in 1985, as well as microcomputer coordinator and development associate at the Rutgers Law School from 1985 to 1987. He served as a visiting professor in the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in 1987.

Current Positions:

Patent Attorney (private practice), Of Counsel, Hoffberg & Associates, White Plains, NY

Adjunct Professor, L. C. Smith College of Engineering & Computer Science, Syracuse University

 

Professional Qualifications:

Attorney & Counselor at Law, New York & Florida, 1988

Registered Patent Attorney, 1989

 

Education:

Harvard College, A.B. magna cum laude in History and Science, 1951

U.C.L.A., M.S. in Oceanography, 1957

Harvard University, Ph.D. in History of Science, 1964

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, J.D., 1987

 

Publications:

"Using Computers in the IBM Case: an Interview with Thomas D. Barr," J. C. Tredennick, ed., Winning with Computers: Trial Practice in the 21st Century (Part 1, ABA, 1991), 191-93; Editor's Introduction to Sec. 5: "Presenting Your Case at Trial," Id. at 305; "English Lawyers Communicate Electronically," Id. (Part 2, ABA, 1993) at 114; "Now Lawyers Can Dictate to Their Computers," Id. at 125; Editor's Introduction to Sec. 5: "Toward the Future: Project Management, Risk Analysis, and Expert Systems," Id. at 163.

"CAFC Panel Creates New Test for Equivalents," 9 PTC Newsletter #3 (ABA, 1991)

"Electronic Transfer Catches On," 13 National Law Journal #13 (1990), 26, 29

"RTM and the Worm that Ate Internet," 92 Harvard Magazine #5 (May/June 1990)

"Computer Whiz Guilty," ABA Journal (April 1990)

"Copyright, Piracy, and the Practical Navigators," 47 Mariner's Mirror (1961)

Review in the Federal Bar Journal

Over 50 Non-Legal Publications

 

Awards:

Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha of Massachusetts, 1951

Fulbright Scholarship to The Netherlands, 1951-52

Honor Graduate, U. S. Naval Justice School, 1954

U. S. National Science Foundation Pre- and Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1959-62, 1965-66

Henry & Ida Schuman Prize (now the Reingold Prize) of the History of Science Society, 1960

U. S. Air Force, Outstanding Civilian Career Service Award, 2001

 

Professional Affiliations:

American and New York State Bar Associations

The Florida Bar

American Association for the Advancement of Science

Computer Law Association (1988-2003)

American Intellectual Property Law Association

Federal Bar Association

Government Patent Lawyers Association (1996-2001)

Central New York Patent Law Association