Richard Gary Taranto, born May 06, 1957 (age 54), is a lawyer who has been nominated by President Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

-Vacancies and pending nominations:-List of former judges:-Chief judges:Notwithstanding the foregoing, when the court was initially created, Congress had to resolve which chief judge of the predecessor courts would become the first chief judge...

.

Biography

Richard Gary Taranto was born in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree, Summa cum Laude, in 1977 from Pomona College

Pomona College

Pomona College is a private, residential, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. Founded in 1887 in Pomona, California by a group of Congregationalists, the college moved to Claremont in 1889 to the site of a hotel, retaining its name. The school enrolls 1,548 students.The founding member...

 in Claremont

Claremont, California

Claremont is a small affluent college town in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. The population as of the 2010 census is 34,926. Claremont is known for its seven higher-education institutions, its...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. He then received his Juris Doctorate from Yale Law School

Yale Law School

Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...

 in 1981. While in law school he served as an article and book editor for the Yale Law Journal

Yale Law Journal

The Yale Law Journal is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students at Yale Law School...

. Upon completion of law school, he clerked for Judge Abraham Sofaer

Abraham David Sofaer

Abraham David Sofaer was a federal judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and then a legal adviser to the United States State Department. He is currently a George P...

 of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is a federal district court. Appeals from the Southern District of New York are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case...

. The following year he clerked for Judge Robert Bork

Robert Bork

Robert Heron Bork is an American legal scholar who has advocated the judicial philosophy of originalism. Bork formerly served as Solicitor General, Acting Attorney General, and judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit...

 of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit known informally as the D.C. Circuit, is the federal appellate court for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Appeals from the D.C. Circuit, as with all the U.S. Courts of Appeals, are heard on a...

. He then clerked for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor

Sandra Day O'Connor

Sandra Day O'Connor is an American jurist who was the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States. She served as an Associate Justice from 1981 until her retirement from the Court in 2006. O'Connor was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981...

 of the United States Supreme Court.

From 1984 to 1986, Taranto worked at the law firm of Onek, Klein & Farr in Washington, DC. From 1986 to 1989 he spent three years as an assistant to the Solicitor General

United States Solicitor General

The United States Solicitor General is the person appointed to represent the federal government of the United States before the Supreme Court of the United States. The current Solicitor General, Donald B. Verrilli, Jr. was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 6, 2011 and sworn in on June...

. In 1989, he returned to Onek, Klein & Farr as a partner, which law firm is now known as Farr & Taranto.

Taranto has taught a course on patent law at Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...

 and various courses at Georgetown University Law Center

Georgetown University Law Center

Georgetown University Law Center is the law school of Georgetown University, located in Washington, D.C.. Established in 1870, the Law Center offers J.D., LL.M., and S.J.D. degrees in law...

. Since 2009, he has served as a member of the appellate rules advisory committee for the United States Judicial Conference. He has argued nineteen cases before the United States Supreme Court. His legal specialty is intellectual property law and patent law.

Taranto is also married and a father of three.

Nomination to the Federal Circuit

On November 10, 2011, President Obama nominated Taranto to serve as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He would replace Paul Redmond Michel

Paul Redmond Michel

Paul Redmond Michel was an American federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit from 1988 until 2010, and served as its chief judge from 2004 until his retirement....

 who retired in 2010. The previous nominee for this position, Edward C. DuMont

Edward C. DuMont

Edward Carroll DuMont is an American lawyer who in 2010 and 2011 had been nominated by President Barack Obama to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In November 2011, however, DuMont sent a letter to President Obama asking him to withdraw his nomination to the...

, was withdrawn by President Obama after his nomination languished in the Senate for eighteen months without action.