Profile
Mark G. Chretien focuses his practice in the areas of acquisition, maintenance and enforcement of patent, trademark, copyright and related intellectual property rights.
Mark has experience in prosecuting and obtaining patents for clients in a wide range of technologies, including chemical and hydrocarbon processing, oil and gas technologies, waste treatment and recycling, materials science, industrial controls and medical processes. Mark has prosecuted patents before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and conducted appeals before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences. Mark also counsels clients on patent portfolio management and has experience in preparing validity, non-infringement and freedom to operate opinions.
Mark is also experienced in trademark matters, including prosecution and registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, clearance of trademarks for commercial use and conducting trademark opposition and cancellation actions before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
Mark's practice also involves transactional matters including drafting and negotiating of technology licensing, transfer, joint development, confidentiality and other intellectual property related agreements and conducting of intellectual property due diligence investigations.
Before entering law school, Mark obtained work experience in the field of petrochemical processing and participated in the startup and commissioning of an ethylene production facility in south Louisiana. Mark also participated in the Teach for America program and was a high school chemistry and math teacher for three years.
Capabilities
Recognition & Leadership
- Listed, The Best Lawyers in America, Patent Law, 2018-2024
- Listed, Super Lawyers magazine, Texas Super Lawyers, 2016-2018
- "Rising Star," 2007 and 2009
- Leadership Houston, Class of 2007-2008
- Leadership Academy Class, Houston Young Lawyers Association, 2004-2005
- Secretary, Houston Intellectual Property Law Association
- Former Board Member
- Former Chair, Membership Committee
- Member, American Bar Association
- Member, Houston Bar Association
- Member, Houston Young Lawyers Association
- Member, State Bar of Texas
- Trustee, Houston Young Lawyers Foundation
Credentials
-
J.D., cum laude, University of Houston Law Center
- Articles Editor, Houston Law Review
- Houston Law Review Award - Most outstanding law review paper in the area of general litigation
- President, Black Law Students Association
- B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
- Texas
- Supreme Court of the United States
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- U.S. Patent and Trademark Office