Team Members

Russ Culbertson focuses his practice on patent and trademark prosecution and counseling.  Prior to founding TCG in 2004, Russ was a founding partner in the firm of Shaffer & Culbertson in Austin, and worked with Shaffer & Culbertson from its inception in 1991 up until TCG began operations in 2004.

With over 25 years of patent and trademark prosecution experience, Russ has worked with a wide range of technical subject matter in the fields of gaming systems, food processing systems, digital and analog electronic devices and systems, opto-electric devices and systems, medical devices and medical treatment processes, waste processing and recycling systems, and carbon nanostructure production technology.  Russ also has an extensive docket of international and foreign patent applications, and has a great deal of experience in extending his clients’ patent protection overseas, particularly to Europe, Canada, and Australia.

Russ has a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Tulsa, and a J.D. from the University of Utah.  Prior to beginning his career in intellectual property law, Russ worked as a petroleum engineer with Chevron in and around Los Angeles, California.

Nathan Calvert focuses his practice in intellectual property prosecution, licensing, and litigation support. Prior to joining the firm, Nathan was an associate attorney at the leading general service IP firm of Fish & Richardson. He is licensed to practice law in Texas and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Now practicing for over 10 years, Nathan has experience with all aspects of intellectual property law, including domestic and international prosecution, portfolio management, complex litigation, and ITC litigation. Nathan has litigated and prosecuted patents for several fortune 100 companies, and handled litigation and prosecution in a wide variety of technologies, including electronics, software, internet, database, medical devices, consumer products, automation, oilfield/drilling, semiconductors, wireless, and particle beam technologies.  Nathan is also very familiar with the startup business cycle and venture capital process. He has helped establish patent portfolios for many new companies such as Integral Wave Technologies (Austin, TX) and Kuware Technologies (Cupertino, CA).

Nathan has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Texas Tech University and a J.D. from The University of Texas. His professional experience includes four years in engineering and product management supporting technical operations at the CIA.