Kirk Dorius
Background
Intellectual Property Attorney - Licensed in Texas, Utah, and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office since 2004. Specializes in patent and trademark filings, prosecution, licensing, enforcement, and portfolio development across technology-centric industries including manufacturing, medical, oil and gas, and software.
Education:
- J.D. from University of New Hampshire Law School
- B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Utah State University
- Former mechanical engineer for major defense contractor
- Experience as judicial clerk for patent litigation
Current Role: CEO and General Counsel at Atom Mines, specializing in medical isotope production for cancer therapy. Previously served as president of the Pointsman Foundation, advancing isotope production for medical diagnostics and cancer therapies.
Current Professional Focus
Nuclear Medicine Innovation: Led a nuclear medicine company through 6-year growth phase, securing millions in state grant funding. Company produces stable precursor isotopes that get irradiated and turned into active ingredients for prostate cancer therapy.
AI Transition Strategy: Actively transitioning legal practice toward AI and technology, recognizing the transformation of the legal profession through automation.
"I could see the AI was quickly coming for much of the legal profession's low-hanging fruit basic contract generation review and whatnot... I've had clients that I've been writing patents for for years that have started sending me drafts that their inventors have iterated with chat GPT."
General Counsel Role: Recently joined Travis Oliphant's incubator ecosystem as General Counsel, providing legal, accounting, marketing, HR and other back-office services traded as service credits for equity in incubator companies.
Connection to Travis Oliphant Ecosystem
15+ Year Relationship: Known Travis for over 15 years, dating back to when Travis started Anaconda while Kirk went in-house with nuclear energy.
Incubator Structure Expertise: Understands the service credit trading model where back-office services are exchanged for equity, with successful companies receiving additional funding rounds.
Current Legal Needs: Seeking corporate attorney to join the team after their current in-house counsel expressed interest in stepping away from corporate law role.
Key Insights on Travis
Visionary Assessment:
"Travis is a visionary. He chewed on the problem of how do you monetize open source? Long enough to figure out how to do it with Anaconda... He's also been a real thought leader in the industry about who do we want to be as an open source community."
Revolutionary Ideas:
"He wants to try to create a movement where just like companies set aside a stock pool for employees. He wants companies that use open source software to set aside a piece of equity, you know say 1% for the open source community."
Operating Philosophy
Execution Focus: Believes in taking ownership and following through without requiring micromanagement.
"Some of the things he wants to touch one and done right make a decision hand it off and trust that it's gonna get to the finish line... we need to know that if we assign something to someone or someone steps up and takes ownership of something that they've got it right."
Connection Points
Shared Values:
- Long-term relationship building and trust
- Innovation in technology and business models
- Nuclear energy advocacy (consulting to molten salt reactor companies)
- Open source community development
- Faith-driven approach to business
Potential Synergies:
- Legal and regulatory expertise for complex technology ventures
- Grant funding and government relations experience
- Nuclear/energy technology insights
- Intellectual property strategy for open source ecosystem
- Corporate structure optimization for multi-entity operations
Location: Austin, Texas (BK west of town)
Personal: Married
Transcripts
| Transcript ID | Date | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| 2025-08-04-gary-sheng-kirk-dorius-bradden-blair-travis-ecosystem-interview | 2025-08-04 | Travis ecosystem interview covering legal expertise and incubator structure |