Keegan Caldwell

Keegan M. Caldwell is an American attorney, patent agent, chemist, and businessman who is known for being the founding partner of Caldwell Law (formerly Caldwell Intellectual Property Law), which specializes in intellectual property, IP litigation, and corporate law.

Early life and education Caldwell grew up in Michigan. 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. 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.”

Caldwell later developed an interest in becoming a patent agent and interned in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Reducing recidivism In 2022, Caldwell launched the Incarcerated Innovators Program to help current and aspiring entrepreneurs obtain patents for their inventions and guide 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 his invention, which was granted by the USPTO. Caldwell has also helped Bruce Bryan secure a patent for his platform designed to help inmates and 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.