Atlanta IP Inn of Court Honors Charley Brown for Pro Bono Service

Charley F. Brown, Vice Chair of Ballard Spahr's Intellectual Property Department, has received the Atlanta IP Inn of Court’s 2026 Pro Bono Award.

Charley was nominated by Georgia Pro Bono Assistance & Training for Entrepreneurs and New, Talented, Solo Inventors (PATENTS), a Georgia Lawyers for the Arts program that helps solo inventors, nonprofits, and small businesses find patent agents and attorneys to help draft and file patents on a pro bono basis. Charley has dedicated over 400 hours of pro bono service to Georgia PATENTS matters, either through direct handling or diligent supervision. Charley also volunteers with Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, where he regularly supervises teams on landlord/tenant representations, advocating for clients to stay in their homes, to secure the return of their wrongfully withheld security deposits, and for habitable conditions. And as the Atlanta delegate of Ballard Spahr’s Pro Bono Committee, he leads the office to exceed pro bono expectations annually: It regularly reaches 100% participation in pro bono service.

Charley co-leads the firm’s Technology Industry Team and Engineering & Software Patent Team, co-leads the firm's Artificial Intelligence Team and is also a member of the Intellectual Property Litigation Team. A registered patent attorney with deep experience in both patent prosecution and intellectual property litigation, Charley’s practice encompasses patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret disputes; strategic patent prosecution; client counseling; and opinion work. He served as co-editor for Artificial Intelligence & Intellectual Property, a treatise from PLI for which many attorneys from Ballard Spahr were contributing authors.

The attorneys of Ballard Spahr’s Atlanta office have a longstanding relationship with Georgia Lawyers for the Arts and Georgia PATENTS. The firm and Atlanta Office Managing Partner Richard W. Miller were named Georgia Lawyers for the Arts’ Patents Firm of the Year and Arts Volunteer of the Year, respectively, in 2024.

For media inquiries, please contact Will Ashenmacher at 612.371.5792.