Keegan Caldwell

Keegan M. Caldwell is an American attorney, patent agent, chemist, and businessman who is known for being the founding partner of the intellectual property law firm Caldwell.

Early life and education
Caldwell grew up in Michigan. During his senior year of high school in 1997, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. After finishing his service in the Marine Corps. in his 20s, Caldwell suffered from a drug addiction and was convicted of six felonies. After seeking treatment, Caldwell continued his education, earning a Bachelor of Science degree from Western Michigan University and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from George Washington University.

Career
As a chemist, Caldwell researched topics such as dealloyed PtCox catalysts, the effects of H3PO4 in high temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cells, and Pt-alloy catalysts in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. After developing an interest in becoming a patent agent, Caldwell interned in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Addiction and sobriety
Caldwell struggled with a narcotics addiction for about a decade, starting in his teen years, and eventually became homeless, cut off from friends and family. <ref name=":7" / From 2003 to 2006, Caldwell said he was arrested 13 times and accumulated six felony convictions. He described himself as a “desperate person doing what I needed to do,” not a “criminal mastermind.” Newly sober in the mid-2000s, he was living in a men's shelter and meeting weekly with a social worker whom he eventually told he wanted to go to college. He is committed to his sobriety openly discussing his 12-step recovery and how that has changed his life.

He also served as a registered patent agent for the IP firm Merritt & Merritt & Moulton and as a patent advisor at Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC. Caldwell founded Caldwell Intellectual Property Law after he passed the patent bar in 2016. The company helps clients develop and monetize patents and negotiates licensing and manufacturing deals. After founding the company, he also became a registered lawyer by passing the Vermont State Bar exam.

Through Caldwell IP, Caldwell also developed the Incarcerated Innovator's Program, which does pro bono work for inmates, helping them obtain patents for and monetize business ideas.

Reducing recidivism
In 2022 Keegan launched the Incarcerated Innovator's Program  to help current and aspiring entrepreneurs succeed in life, especially those in underserved communities. The firm takes on pro-bono incarcerated inventors and helps them not only obtain patents for their inventions but also guides them in furthering their entrepreneurial dreams. Thomas Alston who is serving a 27-year federal prison sentence, contacted Caldwell to help him secure a patent for the invention, which was approved by the USPTO Caldwell has also helped Bruce Bryan secure a patent for his platform designed to help inmates or former inmates pursue wrongful-conviction claims by providing a database of all parties involved in previously overturned cases, including prosecutors, judges and public defenders.

Selected publications

 * Jia, Q., Caldwell, K., Strickland, K., Ziegelbauer, J. M., Liu, Z., Yu, Z., ... & Mukerjee, S. (2015). Improved oxygen reduction activity and durability of dealloyed PtCo x catalysts for proton exchange membrane fuel cells: strain, ligand, and particle size effects. ACS Catalysis, 5(1), 176–186.
 * Kaserer, S., Caldwell, K. M., Ramaker, D. E., & Roth, C. (2013). Analyzing the influence of H3PO4 as catalyst poison in high temperature PEM fuel cells using in-operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 117(12), 6210–6217.
 * Jia, Q., Li, J., Caldwell, K., Ramaker, D. E., Ziegelbauer, J. M., Kukreja, R. S., ... & Mukerjee, S. (2016). Circumventing metal dissolution induced degradation of Pt-alloy catalysts in proton exchange membrane fuel cells: revealing the asymmetric volcano nature of redox catalysis. ACS Catalysis, 6(2), 928–938.
 * Jia, Q., Segre, C. U., Ramaker, D., Caldwell, K., Trahan, M., & Mukerjee, S. (2013). Structure–property–activity correlations of Pt-bimetallic nanoparticles: A theoretical study. Electrochimica Acta, 88, 604–613.
 * Jia, Q., Caldwell, K., Ramaker, D. E., Ziegelbauer, J. M., Liu, Z., Yu, Z., ... & Mukerjee, S. (2014). In situ spectroscopic evidence for ordered core–ultrathin shell Pt1Co1 nanoparticles with enhanced activity and stability as oxygen reduction electrocatalysts. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 118(35), 20496–20503.
 * Caldwell, K. M., Ramaker, D. E., Jia, Q., Mukerjee, S., Ziegelbauer, J. M., Kukreja, R. S., & Kongkanand, A. (2015). Spectroscopic in situ Measurements of the Relative Pt Skin Thicknesses and Porosities of Dealloyed PtM n (Ni, Co) Electrocatalysts. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 119(1), 757-765.
 * Jia, Q., Caldwell, K., Ziegelbauer, J. M., Kongkanand, A., Wagner, F. T., Mukerjee, S., & Ramaker, D. E. (2014). The role of OOH binding site and Pt surface structure on ORR activities. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 161(14), F1323.