About Jonathan Rigdon Smith
Jonathan Rigdon Smith Jr. combines decades of engineering work with a later-in-life legal career. He brings technical training in chemical engineering to cases that intersect patent law and environmental regulation. His path is not the usual one for a lawyer; it began in the plant and the lab and moved into the courtroom and the patent office.
He earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Virginia and later returned to school to earn a J.D. from Florida Coastal School of Law, finishing law school in 2006. The two degrees bookend a long professional timeline that crosses industry and legal practice.
Smith began his technical career as a research engineer at Chesapeake Corporation of Virginia in 1969. He moved into consulting in the early 1970s as a senior consultant for Mead Corporation. Over the 1980s and early 1990s he worked in environmental management for paper and pulp companies, holding roles at Brunswick Pulp and Paper Co. and later at Georgia-Pacific Corporation. Those positions involved operational oversight and regulatory interaction, and they shaped his understanding of industrial processes and compliance.
In the 1990s he established his own engineering practice, launching Rigdon Engineering in 1993 and later founding Rigdon Patents & Engineering in 2000. After completing his law degree he formed Jonathan Rigdon Smith, J.D., PC in 2007. He is a registered professional engineer in Georgia and is admitted to practice law in Georgia and Florida. He also holds registration to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and is admitted in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas and the Southern District of Georgia.
Smith’s work crosses technical and legal lines. He prepares and prosecutes patent applications, applying hands-on experience from chemical and paper industry roles to patent drafting and prosecution in related technology areas. He also advises on matters that sit at the junction of environmental regulation and industrial operations. His practice draws on decades of work in manufacturing and environmental management, paired with courtroom and administrative work on intellectual property issues. He maintains his engineering license and continues to handle matters that require both an engineer’s background and a lawyer’s training. His current practice focuses on patent prosecution and engineering-related legal matters.
