Christine Pisarski helps turn ideas into products at Hartman Global

Christine Pisarski is the Executive IP Secretary at Hartman Global Intellectual Property Law. In her role, she carries the patent process from start to finish.

“I do everything but the drafting and approval of the patent application. I manage all of the patent prosecution work and the mountain of paperwork associated with the patenting process here in the US and international,” she said.

Christine moved from the South Suburbs of Chicago to Valparaiso in the spring of 2011.  After commuting from Valparaiso to the city of Chicago for six years, she applied for a job at Hartman Global in 2017 which turned out to be a position for a Paralegal.

“I saw an ad for a paralegal position that the firm’s partners Domenica and Gary Hartman had posted,” said Christine. “It turned out that they had just filled it right before I applied. By the time I called, Domenica said, ‘I wish you would have called a week ago. I filled the position already, but I’ll keep your resume on file.’”

A year later, Christine received a call from the firm. The secretary was retiring, and the position needed to be filled. Hartman Global hired Christine for a role that handled multiple admin tasks plus the patent prosecution. As the workload for patent prosecution grew, the role eventually transitioned into what it is today, which is pure patent prosecution management

“We are always very busy at Hartman Global, and there is never a shortage of things to do,” said Christine. 

Christine worked in the city of Chicago for 24 years at the larger patent firms.  While working at those firms, she stated “I never saw the volume of work at those firms that she has seen at Hartman Global”. 

Christine values the leadership at Hartman Global. 

“It’s so nice to be respected and appreciated, and our partners are two of the most compassionate people I’ve ever met in my life,” said Christine.

She continues to grow and learn from the firm’s leadership.

“I learn every day from Domenica,” Christine said. “Ongoing learning is a part of the IP business.”

Christine is almost 70 years old and intends to keep working for years to come. She loves being active in the workplace.

“Everybody keeps asking me when I’m going to retire because I’ll be 68 this year,” Christine said. “They’re probably going to have to wheel me out in a wheelchair because I don’t have any intentions of retiring soon. I don’t want to sit at home and be a couch potato!” 

Christine and her husband have three cats, and Christine loves to be outside.

“I love to be outside and work outside,” she said. “I love flower planting and doing things around the home.”

Christine enjoys staycations and doesn’t travel much with her time off.

“I don’t like to fly, so we typically stay home,” she explained. “I’ve probably flown 6-7 times in my life.” 

Christine and her husband regularly remodel their home. This has become something of a hobby for the couple. 

“We bought a fixer-upper. It feels like we are always working on it, but I love it,” she said. “We recently discovered that we need a kitchen remodel because the pipes were originally put outside of the kitchen.” 

As she continues her work with Hartman Global, Christine remains grateful for her relationship with the firm’s leadership. 

“Gary and Domenica very remarkable people,” Christine said. “They really are. I’m going on eight years working for the firm , and Domenica and Gary are not only my employers they are my friends.”

As she starts to inch closer to a decade with Hartman Global, Christine will certainly continue her trajectory of growing and learning with the firm.