J. Thomas McCarthy

Who is J. Thomas McCarthy?

J. Thomas McCarthy is a senior professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law, where he has been on the faculty for more than forty years. He is the founding director of the McCarthy Institute for Intellectual Property and Technology Law, which is located at the University of San Francisco. He has practiced, written, and taught in the field of trademarks and unfair competition and is a frequent speaker on the subject. McCarthy is a member of the California and U.S. Supreme Court bars and is admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

He holds a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Detroit. He worked as an engineer for Chrysler Corporation Missile Division in the early days of the space program on the Redstone missile, which was used to launch the Explorer I satellite in January 1958. He received a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.

He is an of counsel consultant with the law firm of Morrison & Foerster. He was a member of the A.L.I. Advisory Committee involved in drafting the 1995 Restatement of the Law of Unfair Competition, was a member of the Trademark Review Commission, which drafted the 1989 revisions to the Lanham Act, and has served for several years on the Editorial Board of The Trademark Reporter.