Abraham Hershkovitz received a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering from the City College of New York in 1972. He received management training for Executives and attended a number of patent law courses.
Mr. Hershkovitz was employed by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) for over 27 years, from 1972 to 1999. He began his career at the PTO as a Patent Examiner specializing in Power Plants and Fluid Controlled Motors. He became a Primary Examiner in 1979 and received recognition in 1986 as an Expert in the field of Fluid Controlled Motors. In 1988 he became the Petitions Examiner on the staff of the Assistant Commissioner for Patents. That same year he received the U.S. Department of Commerce Bronze Medal for Superior Service. In 1995 he was appointed to the position of Director of the Office of Petitions.
Mr. Hershkovitz worked on a number of rule change (37 CFR), had Notices published in the Official Gazette, worked on changes in patent laws (35 USC) and is the author of "Petitions Practice Within the PTO on Patent Matters" published in the March 1998 issue of the Journal of Patent and Trademark Society and appearing on the Internet as part of the PTO's home page.
Mr. Hershkovitz taught Fluid Mechanics courses at the PTO, lectured to new patent examiners and new managers on petitions and patent policy related issues and made petitions and rule changes presentations to Patent Bar Association groups and via televideo conferencing to remote locations. He served as Resident Advisor to the Governments of Romania and the Republic of Moldova in 1993, 1995 and 1997 as part of the government to government assistance funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. In that capacity, he was the principal organizer of an international conference and was a panelist along with officials from Patent Offices, judges and lawyers involved in intellectual property in other countries and a Judge from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Mr. Hershkovitz joined the Greenblum and Bernstein Law firm in July 1999, where he oversees prosecution of a number of patent cases, supervises attorneys, manages certain operations in the firm, including electronic filing of patent applications in the PTO, and served as an expert witness for other law firms involved in litigation of patents. Mr. Hershkovitz is sought out by other law firms and corporations whenever they need assistance with complex petitions or regulatory and procedural issues before the PTO. Since joining the firm, he has lectured to a number of State Bar Associations and foreign clients on patent related matters, including recent changes in patent laws and regulations. He served as Chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Sub-committee on Electronic Filing and currently chairs the ABA Sub-committee on PTO New Rules and Regulations.