Education

1974 Seton Hall Law School,
Juris Doctor

1968 Carnegie Mellon Univ.,
BS Chem. Eng.

1964 Univ. of Notre Dame
Physics

Admissions

State of Wisconsin

State of New York

U.S. Patent & Trademark Office

Joseph T. Harcarik

Of Counsel

Cook Alex
N6638 Shorewood Hills Road, Suite G101
Lake Mills, Wisconsin 53551
Tel: 608.692.3757
Fax: 608.299.3744



Download vCard

Professional Experience

Mr. Harcarik received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1968 and completed his Juris Doctor from Seton Hall Law School in 1974. In 1975, he joined the legal department of RCA where he gained valuable experience patenting RCA’s technologies, including invention analysis and patent prosecution. After a brief period as a prosecutor in a local township, he joined the legal department of Ingersoll Rand continuing to gain experience in analyzing, identifying and protecting technology.

In 1981, Mr. Harcarik became patent counsel for General Foods where he protected, defended and enforced an extensive intellectual property portfolio for General Foods. Later, he became patent counsel for Oscar Mayer where he aggressively enforced Oscar Mayer’s patents against competitors resulting in substantial financial settlements including an $11.7 million judgment against ConAgra and a substantial financial settlement with Sara Lee.

In 1994, Mr. Harcarik became Director of Legal Services for the Oscar Mayer Food Division where he was responsible for the division’s legal issues including intellectual property, regulatory, corporate and government affairs, and operations. This enabled him to gain additional insights to the legal issues facing a manufacturing enterprise and high-tech operation including product recalls, labeling, co-packing, and legal support for sales and marketing, as well as lobbying issues impacting industry regulations.

In 1999, Mr. Harcarik became Chief Patent Counsel for Kraft Foods where he was responsible for the management of Kraft’s U.S. and international intellectual property portfolio and activities, including the management of a large legal team and outside counsel that was responsible for generating hundreds of domestic and international patents annually.

He retired early from Kraft Foods with an enhanced retirement package and pursued other opportunities including co-founding Hartington Press with the mission of educating the public on the benefits of personalized medicine. One of Hartington Press’ most recent publications is Mommies Cry Too by Carol Harcarik with contributions from the Mayo Clinic and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine. Mommies Cry Too highlights the benefits of personalized medicine in treating postpartum depression.

By joining Cook Alex in 2007, Mr. Harcarik looks to continue his crusade for personalized medicine by focusing on providing intellectual property legal services in various disciplines including in the biotechnology and medical devices industries.