Marcia Johnston

Patent Manager

Bio

Marcia joined CTTEC in 2023 as the Patent Manager where she works closely with the CTTEC team and outside Counsel to manage the patent portfolio and to support strategic opportunities identified by the Licensing Managers.  She works in conjunction with the Director of Intellectual Property and Operations staff to support the Licensing Managers in creating timely, data-driven business decisions to support the University’s mission of continual innovation in education, research, creativity and entrepreneurship.  In this newly created role, she is also responsible for coordinating substantive patent prosecution communications between counsel and Licensing Managers, facilitating timely actions are taken for patent prosecution matters, and, in conjunction with the Database Manager and Compliance Manager, accurate patent data entry and
docketing.

Prior to joining Carnegie Mellon, Marcia had a 20-year career as an Intellectual Property paralegal supporting Intellectual Property Practice Groups at Vorys, Sater Seymour and Pease LLP and Beck & Thomas, P.C. where she worked in all areas of Patent application, prosecution and maintenance including pharmaceutical and medical devices, engineering and life sciences. She also handled Trademark and Copyright applications, prosecution and maintenance.  Prior to working in the Intellectual Property field, Marcia worked in the banking industry for 20 years.

Marcia received her B.B.A. in Accounting from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana and an M.B.A. in Finance from the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh.  In her spare time, Marcia enjoys going to concerts, traveling and spending time with family and friends, especially her sons who live in Illinois and Kentucky.