JOSEPH A. RHOA joined Nixon & Vanderhye in December of 1999. Prior to that time, he was a patent attorney with the firm of Liniak, Berenato, Longacre & White from 1993-1999, and was a United States Patent Examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office from 1989-1993. Mr. Rhoa has extensive experience in all aspects of patent prosecution and litigation, as well as patent licensing matters. Mr. Rhoa has successfully acted as lead attorney in numerous patent infringement litigation matters.

Mr. Rhoa is admitted to practice in Maryland (1993) (but not Virginia), as well as before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (1993), before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland (1996), and before the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois (1998).

Mr. Rhoa attended law school at George Mason University in the Patent Track program, which was specifically geared to a specialization in intellectual property law. He graduated from George Mason University School of Law in 1993, and from Catholic University in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering.