Attorney profile
TMB Law
The short version
San Luis Obispo patent and trademark firm led by a former USPTO Patent Examiner, guiding entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses through prosecution, clearance, and portfolio maintenance in the U.S. and abroad.
Strengths
- Led by a former USPTO Patent Examiner with in-house biotech counsel experience, bringing examiner-side and industry-side perspective to filings
- Handles both patents and trademarks, including clearance searches, prosecution, maintenance, and foreign procurement
- Reviewers repeatedly cite responsiveness, thoroughness, and clear explanations of technical terminology
- Multiple reviews describe pricing as reasonable or affordable and turnaround as faster than expected
- Offers strategy, portfolio development, landscape analysis, and freedom-to-operate opinions alongside filing work
Considerations
- TMB clients praise understandable patent and trademark explanations and prompt replies rather than recurring problems getting answers.
- Entrepreneurs describe affordable fees and good value, without repeated billing disputes in the written feedback.
About TMB Law
TMB Law is a patent and trademark practice at 956 Walnut Street in San Luis Obispo, California, led by attorney Timothy M. Brown, M.S., J.D. Brown is licensed to practice law in California and registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and he previously served as a USPTO Patent Examiner in Washington, DC, where he examined applications in medical diagnostics and hepatitis C and other flaviviruses. He later worked as in-house patent counsel for San Diego biotech companies before establishing the firm. The website describes more than two decades of patent and trademark work, with a stated focus on making protection achievable for entrepreneurs, small businesses, and startups.
The firm’s patent practice covers application preparation and prosecution across consumer products, mechanical devices, medical devices, cell biology, stem cell therapy, medical diagnostics, and nutritional products. Services extend to worldwide patent and trademark procurement, intellectual property strategies and portfolio development, patent and trademark maintenance, freedom-to-operate and validity opinions, patent landscape analysis, and patentability analysis. Guidance is offered during the research and design stages as well as through prosecution, which the firm frames as a way to improve outcomes before filing.
On the trademark side, TMB Law handles registration in the United States and foreign countries for marks already in use or intended for future use. Offerings include trademark clearance searches and analysis, selection advice, filing and procurement, and ongoing maintenance.
The office sits in downtown San Luis Obispo, and the firm states that it serves clients nationally while also naming local communities across San Luis Obispo County and nearby areas, including Morro Bay, Cayucos, Pismo Beach, Arroyo Grande, Paso Robles, Atascadero, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, Monterey, and Fresno.
Across 13 collected reviews, the recurring notes are responsiveness, plain-language explanations, thoroughness, and cost sensitivity. Reviewers describe patent and trademark filings moving smoothly, prototypes advancing to utility and design patents, and questions about terminology being broken down into understandable terms. Several mention scheduling flexibility around busy owners and faster-than-expected turnaround; one describes prior consultations with other attorneys that did not inspire confidence. Most reviewers identify as small business owners or entrepreneurs.
Recurring feedback
What clients consistently mention
- Responsiveness and communication: reviewers consistently note prompt replies and clear explanations of patent and trademark terminology.
- Cost and value: multiple reviewers describe the firm as reasonably priced or affordable relative to expectations.
- Turnaround speed: several reviewers report filings and patent issuances completed faster than anticipated.
- Technical competence: feedback highlights thorough research, accurate filings, and the attorney's USPTO background as an asset.
- Scheduling flexibility: reviewers mention meetings arranged around busy owner schedules and time given generously during consultations.
All reviews
5 out of five stars based on 13 reviews.
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