Sarah Heape, Patent Practice Manager Patent Practice Manager

Duties and Experience

Sarah Heape is the Patent Practice Manager at SHERMAN IP. Sarah supports the SHERMAN IP attorneys in domestic and international patent prosecution management and oversees our clients’ patent portfolios. Sarah assists the attorneys in patent/trademark application preparation, prosecution, strategic planning and project management. Sarah is a primary contact and coordinator for our clients and foreign counsel. Sarah is also responsible for training staff, and developing, implementing and enforcing firm procedures and systems. In addition, Sarah has also been integral in SHERMAN IP’s human resource department, IT management and overseeing day-to-day operations.

Education

Sarah received her Associate of Arts degree in Paralegal Studies from Kaplan University in February 2005. Sarah graduated with a 4.0 GPA and honors distinction.

Legal Expertise

Sarah began her legal career preparing pleadings for small claims court, preparing lien releases interfacing with outside counsel and participating in settlement negotiations for debt collection agencies.

Sarah entered the field of Intellectual Property as a United States Docketing Agent where she was trained in domestic docketing, performing quality control on United States Patent & Trademark Office incoming correspondence and outgoing filings, assisted in developing quality control checklists, and eventually managing the firm wide master docket.

After obtaining her paralegal degree, Sarah wanted to experience a “boutique” style of legal practice and joined SHERMAN IP in April 2005 as an Intellectual Property Legal Assistant to Ken Sherman.

Get To Know Sarah

Sarah is in the throes of "mom-life" with children, which entails lots of tape, glitter, bandaids and patience! In her free time, she enjoys boating on the pontoon, camping and planning her family's next adventures. Sarah can be found volunteering for her children's school on a routine basis. Sarah's creative outlets include cooking new recipes, baking and learning hand lettering-calligraphy.