After serving as a top patent judge with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Trenton Ward has returned to Atlanta, joining intellectual property firm Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner as a partner.

Ward headed for Washington in 2012, where he spent five years as a lead administrative patent judge for the USPTO's newly formed Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Before that, he was a partner at Troutman Sanders, where he'd worked since 2003.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board formed in September 2012 as part of the America Invents Act to streamline the patent review process. The appeals division, with more than 100 administrative patent judges, handles appeals of patents that have been rejected by USPTO patent examiners. The trial division handles contested cases. Ward adjudicated more than 250 trial proceedings during his tenure.