NICKOLAS E. WESTMAN is a patent lawyer with over 30 years experience in preparing, prosecuting, licensing and enforcing patents in the mechanical and electro-mechanical fields. He has a degree in engineering from North Dakota State University and a law degree from the William Mitchell College of Law. He is a former president of the Minnesota Intellectual Property Lawyer's Association and a member of Tau Beta Pi honorary engineering society. He has been a lecturer for Minnesota Continuing Legal Education in areas of domestic and foreign patent law.