The IP Strategy Summit: Seattle

George Simion is Associate General Counsel and Senior Director of Intellectual Property at Palo Alto Networks. He is head of the IP group — managing the company’s global IP strategies and policies, IP litigation, opensource legal compliance, and IP matters related to new product introductions in cyber and network security areas. 

Heather Hedeen is a Principal Corporate Counsel on the Patent Team at Microsoft. She is responsible for advising on and developing the patent portfolio for Microsoft’s Security organization. She is also chair of Microsoft’s Intellectual Property Group Legal Learn Committee as well as sitting on the Outside Counsel Committee and Patent Law & Policy Committee.

In addition, Heather serves as a committee co-chair for ChIPs Mock Program, developed to create opportunities for associates and junior partners to gain real-life experience pitching to clients. Heather also sits on the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) LeadershIP Development Committee. Further, Heather was recently appointed as the Young Lawyer Liaison to the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Intellectual Property Section and will serve for the 2024-2026 term. Heather also regularly speaks on patent portfolio strategy and development.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Heather was at Lam Research where she managed intellectual property portfolios related to semiconductor wafer fabrication equipment. Heather is a registered Patent Attorney before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and while in private practice, she had a varied practice representing leading technology clients in patent prosecution, patent portfolio analysis, and patent defense. Heather graduated cum laude from Lewis & Clark Law School and served as Managing Editor of Lewis & Clark Law Review. She received her B.S. General Engineering degree and M.S. Engineering degree with distinction from Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo.

Rob is an intellectual property attorney who helps technology companies—particularly those developing advanced software, cellular and wireless technologies, electrical and complex mechanical devices, and optoelectronics—protect and leverage their innovations. Drawing on his background in electrical engineering and business, Rob advises on every phase of patent procurement, from identifying patentable inventions to managing global portfolios and collaborating with patent offices around the world to secure robust protection.

In addition to obtaining patents, Rob counsels clients on software licensing, as well as trademark and copyright matters. He frequently conducts infringement analyses, performs due diligence for corporate transactions, and represents clients in disputes before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and federal courts. Before practicing law, Rob spent five years in engineering, working on real-time embedded systems and wireless communications—technical experience that underpins his ability to translate complex technologies into commercially meaningful IP strategies.

Jack Chang is a Counsel at Davis Wright Tremaine, specializing in intellectual property law. He is adept at drafting patent applications and responding to actions from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Jack’s practice spans patent cases in Artificial Intelligence (AI), neural networks, machine learning, autonomous driving vehicles, GPU technology, 5G wireless communication, RF, electro- and electromechanical devices, substrate cleaning apparatuses, GPS tracking devices, e-commerce, and drone technology, both domestically and internationally. Jack currently manages a docket of 5000+ cases for multiple Fortune 500 companies and oversees workflow and docket management for 35+ attorneys/agents on the patent prosecution team.

Alexandra Martinez is a partner in the firm’s Intellectual Property practice group, specializing in all phases of patent preparation and prosecution. With extensive expertise in medical devices and computer-based inventions within the fintech and insurance sectors, she has a broad and impactful practice. Alexandra is proficient in handling patents for various technologies, including implantable and non-implantable devices, MRI machines, computer network architecture, payment networks, autonomous vehicles, drones, sensors, and artificial intelligence. She also provides invaluable guidance to clients on patentability analyses, landscape searches, patent strategies, and freedom-to-operate opinions. Recently, she was honored to be selected for the State Farm® Law Department 2025 Rising Star Academy, reflecting her exceptional contributions to the field.

Alexey Titov is an Intellectual Property Director at Stryker, a leading medical device company. His primary interests include defining IP strategy and patent development processes that maximize the business value of patent portfolios. Prior to joining Stryker, Alexey worked at a variety of intellectual property organizations including an IP consulting firm, a university technology transfer office, and a premier technology development company. Alexey is an inventor on 31 U.S. issued patents, has contributed a chapter to a book “Intellectual Property in Academia: A Practical Guide for Scientists and Engineers,” and is an author of several papers in the field of high energy and nuclear physics. He holds a Ph.D. in physics from the Rockefeller University, NY, and an M.S. in physics from Kharkov University, Ukraine.

Christopher Sweeney, Executive Director of Intellectual Property at Acuitas, focuses on aligning the company’s global IP strategy with its business objectives and supporting its robust internal research and development (R&D) program.  He has over 20 years of experience in IP law and prior to joining Acuitas, served as Executive Director of IP at Seagen until its acquisition by Pfizer.  Previously, he was an equity partner in the Seattle Office of Knobbe Martens. He received his JD (IP concentration) from the University of Washington, his MS in chemistry from the University of Oregon, and his BS in biochemistry from Gonzaga University.

Rose serves as the global head of the Legal Intellectual Property (IP) group at Expedia with responsibility for a team handling all IP matters across Expedia and its various brands.

Prior to coming to Expedia, Rose served as Global Trademark Counsel managing the Cummins global trademark portfolio, which including responsibilities for advising on marketing and advertising matters and management of the anticounterfeit program.

Rose also provided IP support for multiple different Cummins business units, including support for the global patent portfolio development for those business units.

Rose is experienced in advising on intellectual property strategies for and implementation of complex transactions.

Prior to her time at Cummins, Rose was a federal employee for fifteen (15) years at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security where she established an Intellectual Property Law Practice Group within the Office of the General Counsel. Most recently, Rose was the Chief IP Counsel for DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), where she serves as the intellectual property subject matter expert for and on behalf of CISA.

Rose studied at George Washington University, New York University School of Law and Manhattanville College.  She has a Master of Law (LL.M.) in Intellectual Property, a Juris Doctor (J.D.), and Bachelor of Arts Degree (B.A.).  She is a registered patent attorney with a discipline in Physics.

Bryan McWhorter focuses on patent procurement and dispute resolution, particularly for companies in the software, telecommunications, and food and beverage areas.

Bryan’s practice includes all aspects of patent development and acquisition for both utility and design patents, including identifying patentable concepts, drafting patent applications, and negotiating with patent offices to gain allowance of applications. His practice also focuses on helping clients to analyze, manage, and mitigate risks stemming from intellectual property, by conducting patent searches to identify potential risks, infringement analyses to quantify risks, and dispute resolutions and license negotiations to mitigate risks. A significant portion of Bryan’s practice involves appeals and other special proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Shawn Duckworth is a seasoned intellectual property litigator with over a decade of experience representing clients in complex patent disputes before Federal Courts, The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). He has assisted in numerous patent, trademark, and trade secret infringement matters and has been involved in inter partes reviews, oppositions and cancellations at the USPTO. He has successfully invalidated patents, secured favorable settlements in trade secret disputes, excluded expert testimony with a Daubert motion, and defended clients in high-stakes litigation.

His deep understanding of intellectual property law, coupled with a strong technical background, enables him to provide comprehensive legal counsel and strategic guidance.
Beyond litigation, Shawn excels in building and managing robust intellectual property portfolios. He works closely with clients to develop and implement strategies for securing and protecting their trademark, design patent, and utility patent rights. His ability to navigate the complexities of intellectual property law at the international level, combined with his technical expertise, makes him a valuable asset to companies of all sizes.

With a strong foundation in industrial and mechanical engineering, Shawn brings a unique perspective to technical matters. His ability to understand complex technological issues and translate them into clear legal arguments is instrumental in achieving successful outcomes for his clients.

Shawn is admitted to practice in Illinois and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Dr. Paul A. Maltseff is a highly experienced professional in all aspects of intellectual property creation and management. He graduated as an electronic engineer from Mozhaysky Military Aerospace Engineering Academy (MMAEA), Saint Petersburg, Russia, and received Ph.D. and D.Sc. in applied cybernetics from MMAEA in 1981 and 1989 respectively, and was conferred Juris Doctor from a School of Law, Seattle University in 2005. Until 1992 he had been a professor in MMAEA and a head of laboratory in the National Academy of Sciences of USSR. During 1992-2014, Dr. Maltseff had been involved in R&D projects with Versatron Corp. and Intermec Technologies Corp. on senior engineering positions and as a chief intellectual property counsel. In January of 2014, he joined Datalogic as a chief intellectual property counsel. Dr. Maltseff holds 30 U.S. patents and authored more than 50 publications.

David Sanker is a Mathematician, a Software Engineer, and a Patent Attorney. David earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Berkeley, and returned to Berkeley 15 years later for his law degree after careers in academia and production software development. As a Patent Attorney at Morgan Lewis, David was a patent litigator for four years and a patent practitioner for more than 13 years. As a patent practitioner, David works with clients, inventors, the U.S. Patent Office, and associates throughout the world to build strong IP protection. This has included a lot of work with AI, and David continues to speak and write about AI. David also has an entrepreneurial spirit, launching his own small patent firm SankerIP in February 2024. In this way, David is able to provide high-quality work without the very high billing rates and conflicts of large law firms.

Raghu Chinagudabha, Senior Director of patent engineering and IP operations in the legal affairs division of Microsoft, is a seasoned technical leader with over 30 years of experience in the realm of computer technology. With a career spanning more than two and a half decades in intellectual property (IP) at Microsoft, Raghu has honed his expertise in IP Engineering, Operations, IP Management Systems, portfolio analysis, patent infringement analysis, and the management of worldwide IP licensing programs & litigations.

Tyler McAllister focuses his practice on patent preparation and prosecution, patent clearance and opinions, patent licensing, patent litigation, post-grant review, and related business and intellectual property counseling. Tyler helps startups, along with established corporations, bring new products and services to market in a wide range of technologies and industries including computer software and hardware (e.g., artificial intelligence, cloud computing, real-time location services, virtual assistants, health IT, FinTech, etc.) wearable medical and consumer devices, warehouse automation and material handling, sporting goods, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Nicholas Lagerwall is focused on helping clients protect their technology, creating and managing valuable patent portfolios for companies in both the electronics and mechanical technology spaces. He is a partner in Foley’s Electronics Practice.
Nicholas has significant patent prosecution and counseling experience in the areas of artificial intelligence and machine learning; medical and imaging devices; communication protocols/systems; optical networks, computer hardware and software; semiconductor devices/fabrication; control systems; financial, insurance, and health care services; and mechanical devices.
Nicholas also has substantial IP due diligence experience in the context of M&A, early-stage investment, and licensing.
In addition, he has extensive experience in post-grant proceedings before the USPTO, as well as in district court and Federal Circuit appeals litigation. This experience includes inter partes review proceedings, post-grant review proceedings, covered business method proceedings, reexamination proceedings, and reissue applications.

Ms. Gloria Steinberg is a Senior Corporate Counsel of IP from NuScale Power, the industry leader in advanced nuclear reactor technology that is the only reactor to receive design approval from the US NRC. She specializes in handling complex IP-centric technology transactions and is a key negotiator for all technology licenses for advanced nuclear projects across the global market. She is an expert in working with various government agencies to manage federal contracts and government sponsored projects, and she also advises on corporate governance and compliance, financings, and M&A due diligence. Gloria is a Seattle native and served in the US Army for over a decade before her current tenure at NuScale.

Jay Wilusz is a Senior Corporate Counsel for Bristol Myers Squibb. Prior to his position at BMS, Jay established a patent law firm in Washington State. His clients included academic institutions and large and small companies. He procures and defends intellectual property rights and negotiates transactions and acquisitions for biopharma interests. Those interests include small molecule, biotech, and cellular therapies, AI and ML initiatives for drug discovery, clinical innovations, and patient disease monitoring tools. Jay has collaborated to optimize exclusivity for more than 100 products with combined annual sales of over 80 billion dollars for his clients. He has secured IP rights for assets that span drug discovery, clinical development, and patient centric innovations. Jay has previously held roles as Senior VP of IP and Licensing at Makai Biotechnology, Life Cycle Management Lead at Sanofi, and VP of IP at Novartis. He is a USPTO registered patent attorney and admitted to practice law in New Jersey and Washington.

Conrad is a technology entrepreneur and business strategist with deep expertise in intellectual property. He spent over a decade at Intellectual Ventures, initially supporting the Invention Investment Funds’ patent acquisition, licensing, and divestiture strategies. Later, he played a key role in launching the Invention Science Fund’s startup incubator, leading more than a dozen licensing deals and divestitures. He also managed a portfolio of approximately 5,000 patent grants and applications. Currently, at Mangata Networks, Conrad is shaping the company’s AI strategy while continuing to advise innovative startups on IP and business strategy.

Jennifer is an experienced litigator. As a partner at Delaware law firm Morris Nichols, she focuses on patent, trademark, trade secrets, and other complex intellectual property disputes in federal and state court. Her experience encompasses all aspects of litigation from outset to trial and through appeal in both lead counsel and co-counsel roles.

An MIT graduate with degrees in electrical engineering & computer science and management, she frequently draws on her technical background in her patent litigation work.

Jonathon Talcott is a Shareholder in Buchalter’s Scottsdale office who specializes in intellectual property. An experienced IP counselor and trial attorney, he handles high-stakes patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, and complex commercial disputes. He also advises on IP portfolio management, licensing, and related transactions.
With a background in electrical engineering, Jonathon has broad technology industry experience, including software, communications, aerospace, optics/photonics, and now the latest in generative AI. Committed to pro bono service, Jonathon has served on the Arizona Technology Council for many years and has successfully represented pro bono clients in clemency, military, and pandemic-related legal matters.
Along with Jonathon’s nearly two decades of legal experience, he leverages Buchalter’s national, full-service business law practice to address a wide range of clients’ business needs.

Nicholas Kim is a Senior Corporate Counsel at Microsoft Corporation and focuses on IP litigation. Mr. Kim joined Microsoft from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Division, where he was a trial attorney in the Intellectual Property Section. Before that, Mr. Kim was a patent attorney in private practice in Washington, DC.

Jessica is an intellectual property litigator with a focus on patent and trade secret litigation. She has represented clients in a variety of technological fields, including AI, data analytics, gaming, cloud-computing, and internet-related technologies, as well as consumer goods and life sciences companies. She has experience in all aspects of litigation, from pre-litigation dispute resolution, through pleadings, discovery, claim construction summary judgment, trial, and appeal. Jessica is actively involved in the Washington legal community, including serving on the executive board of the Seattle Intellectual Property Inn of Court. She is a former board member of Mother Attorney Mentoring Association of Seattle, an organization designed to empower female attorneys and encourage professional success.

Scott focuses on intellectual property litigation, representing clients in courts throughout the U.S. He has had great success both obtaining relief for intellectual property owners and defending suits in a wide range of technical fields in cases involving patent, trade secret, unfair competition, employment agreement, copyright, DMCA, trademark, trade dress, product configuration, and false advertising claims.

Scott has litigated cases involving chemical, mechanical, internet, software, encryption, computer, clean energy, automotive, apparel, food, agricultural, and pharmaceutical technologies. Representing some of the largest companies in the world as well as smaller businesses and start-ups, he has succeeded for clients such as Adobe, British Airways, Columbia River Knife & Tool, Capsugel, Costco, Danner, DexCom, Intuit, Microsoft, Nightforce, Phibro Animal Health Corporation, SAP, SunModo, Twitter, and Yelp.

Describing his past success and approach with the Klarquist litigation team, IAM Patent 1000 recently lauded Scott’s ability to assess the best strategies and his talent for understanding and simplifying complex technology, and noted that Scott will “always put your objectives first and act like a part of your team.”

Scott joined Klarquist as an associate in 2002 and became partner in 2008.

Eric Berger is Senior Counsel for IP and Litigation at Databricks, where he advises Databricks’ research, product, and engineering teams on critical issues including IP litigation and risk management.  Prior to joining Databricks, Eric litigated IP cases for 19 years at leading law firms in NYC and San Francisco, with an emphasis on high-tech patent litigation.  Eric graduated cum laude from the University of Illinois College of Law and earned his B.S. in electrical engineering with minors in computer science and mathematics from the University of Illinois College of Engineering.

Sharif E. Jacob serves as lead counsel in high-stakes litigation. He focuses on intellectual property litigation, complex business disputes, and the representation of individuals. Sharif has extensive experience with intellectual property litigation, including litigation between competitors. He has represented leading firms in video streaming, social networking, and the app economy in dozens of disputes before U.S. district courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the International Trade Commission, and the Patent and Trademark Office. He counts among his current and former clients Netflix, Instacart, Hulu, and Twitter.

Sharif has also served as lead counsel in bet-the-company business litigation. He has extensive experience with breach of contract, tort, qui tam, antitrust, and unfair competition cases, among others. He has also defended clients in class actions with billions of dollars at risk. He has over a decade of experience litigating cases in the health care industry.

Sharif recently served as lead counsel for Instacart in a plaintiff-side copyright lawsuit against Cornershop, Uber’s grocery delivery app. Instacart obtained a permanent injunction. He also recently prevailed on behalf of Dialpad in multi-patent litigation against its competitor RingCentral pending in the Northern District of California, which granted Dialpad’s motion to dismiss all asserted patents as ineligible subject matter. He currently serves as lead counsel for Netflix in patent litigation.

In his pro bono practice, Sharif has repeatedly litigated actions advancing the constitutional rights of inmates. He has won judgments and appeals for prisoners locked in solitary confinement and brutalized in prison. His pro bono work led to systemic reform of California’s prison system and has been covered by the national press.

Sharif currently serves as a Lawyer Representative for the Northern District of California to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Council. Sharif formerly served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. He graduated first in his class from Hastings and received his undergraduate degree from Yale University. After law school, Sharif clerked for the Honorable Mary M. Schroeder of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Trey Powers, Ph.D., is a director in Sterne Kessler’s Trial & Appellate and Biotechnology & Chemical Practice Groups and co-chairs the firm’s PTAB Trials practice. He has served as counsel on about one hundred inter partes review and post-grant review proceedings before the PTAB.

Trey specializes in the interface between district court litigation and PTAB proceedings, securing eight-figure jury verdicts for his clients as part of a comprehensive enforcement strategy. He also assists clients with U.S. ITC investigations under §337, evaluates patent portfolios, drafts patent applications, prosecutes interferences, and provides intellectual property strategic advice.

Trey has significant technical experience in aging, surgery, stem cell biology, microbiology, metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, and biotechnology.

Kristin’s practice focuses exclusively on intellectual property litigation, including patent, trademark, and trade dress cases. She has extensive experience handling all phases of litigation, from obtaining favorable results in early motion practice, to efficient management of cases through discovery, claim construction, summary judgment and trial. She has a national trial practice, litigating in federal district courts around the country, and has argued at the Federal Circuit. Kristin is the chair of the Litigation practice group and has served in the past as the firm’s managing partner.

Kristin’s knowledge of patent damages is well respected in the industry. In addition to being a regular presenter on the topic, she is the current chair of the Damages Subcommittee of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) Patent Litigation Committee. In patent cases, Kristin’s strategy is to collaborate with damages experts early in the case to develop effective and compelling theories of patent damages to present to juries and judges, as well as encourage early pre-trial settlements.

Kristin is also committed to increasing diversity within the firm and the profession at large. In addition to mentoring and encouraging other female attorneys, she has helped coordinate the firm’s partnership and support of AIPLA’s Women in IP Law Committee.

Kristin joined Klarquist in 1999 as a lateral associate and became partner in 2004.

Alex Hadjis is a distinguished first-chair patent trial attorney with over 20 years of experience in high-stakes disputes before federal courts and the U.S. International Trade Commission. Celebrated for his IP litigation prowess, Alex was named a 2021 MVP by Law360 for defending Roku in a notable Western District of Texas patent infringement jury trial. His accolades include recognition from Chambers, Legal 500, and IAM Patent 1000. Alex has successfully led trials for major companies like Freescale, Genesis Microchip, Huawei, and Roku, and has led amicus briefs before the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. He is a former Federal Circuit Judicial Law Clerk and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Alex is also a pro bono advocate and board member for Wheeling Country Day School.

Daniel Richards is counsel in Ropes & Gray’s intellectual property group. He focuses his work on patent litigation involving a variety of technologies, including mobile device, semiconductor, computer software, RF, networking, LCD display, content distribution, signal processing, and telecommunications technologies. Daniel is experienced in all stages of district court and ITC litigation from pre-suit investigations, discovery, claim construction, pre-trial proceedings, trial, and post-trial briefing, and appeals. Daniel also has extensive experience in all stages of proceedings before the patent office. His experience spans all aspects of both bringing and defending against inter partes review petitions, as well as preparing ex parte reexamination requests.

The Honorable Jacqueline (Jackie) Wright Bonilla serves as Deputy Chief Administrative Patent Judge at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Since her appointment as an Administrative Patent Judge in January 2012, she has conducted numerous post-grant trial proceedings under the America Invents Act, heard appeals from adverse examiner decisions in patent applications and reexamination proceedings, and rendered decisions in interferences.
Judge Bonilla has served in several leadership positions at the USPTO, including her current role as the Deputy Chief Administrative Patent Judge, and a detail assignment as Senior Legal Advisor to the Director of the USPTO. She helps shape agency policy as it relates to PTAB practice and lead the PTAB as it handles cases and renders decisions in all areas of jurisdiction.
Prior to joining the USPTO, Judge Bonilla worked in private practice, including as a partner at Foley & Lardner, LLP. She also served as a judicial law clerk to the now-retired Chief Judge Randall Rader at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Judge Bonilla graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law, and holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Virginia, and a B.A. in Biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley.

Michael Rosato is a partner in the Seattle office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he focuses on intellectual property protection and counseling, as well as intellectual property-related disputes. Michael leads the firm’s practice involving contested proceedings at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He has extensive experience representing clients before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (formerly the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences), including USPTO proceedings under the America Invents Act (AIA). Michael has served as lead counsel in numerous inter partes review (IPR) and covered business method (CBM) review proceedings, patent interferences, and reexamination procedures, as well as corresponding appeals to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC). He has significant experience with international and domestic patent protection and enforcement for both early- and later-stage companies, often involving a combination of mechanical technologies, software systems and electronics, and medical sciences or biotechnology.

Prior to joining the firm, Michael was an intellectual property partner in the Seattle office of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton (formerly Townsend and Townsend and Crew). He began his legal career at DLA Piper and previously worked as a patent agent for a microfluidics device manufacturer.

Jessica is an intellectual property litigator with a focus on patent and trade secret litigation. She has represented clients in a variety of technological fields, including AI, data analytics, gaming, cloud-computing, and internet-related technologies, as well as consumer goods and life sciences companies. She has experience in all aspects of litigation, from pre-litigation dispute resolution, through pleadings, discovery, claim construction summary judgment, trial, and appeal. Jessica is actively involved in the Washington legal community, including serving on the executive board of the Seattle Intellectual Property Inn of Court. She is a former board member of Mother Attorney Mentoring Association of Seattle, an organization designed to empower female attorneys and encourage professional success.

Jon is an intellectual property litigator who represents and counsels innovative companies in patent infringement and other disputes. Jon’s practice spans technology fields. As a registered patent attorney with a background in bioengineering, he has successfully navigated disputes involving leading life sciences and medical device companies, cutting-edge high-performance computing systems, consumer goods and beauty technologies, and streaming and networking-related fields. Jon’s practice includes all phases of disputes, from pre-litigation counseling on IP portfolios through summary judgment, trial, and appeal. Key to every engagement is Jon’s ability to develop strategies to achieve clients’ goals—for companies defending against litigation and companies seeking to protect their innovations alike.

Jon’s track record of success has earned him recognition as one of the “best performing” patent litigators nationwide and a “Rising Star” among intellectual property litigators. Jon has represented clients in venues throughout the country, including in federal district courts, the International Trade Commission, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Jon draws on his early experience as a judicial clerk for Chief Judge Leonard Davis in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, one of the busiest patent dockets in the country.

Jon is actively involved in the local legal community, including serving as a mentor for young attorneys and law students. He also presents on intellectual property issues at CLE and other events.

David Sanker is a Mathematician, a Software Engineer, and a Patent Attorney. David earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Berkeley, and returned to Berkeley 15 years later for his law degree after careers in academia and production software development. As a Patent Attorney at Morgan Lewis, David was a patent litigator for four years and a patent practitioner for more than 13 years. As a patent practitioner, David works with clients, inventors, the U.S. Patent Office, and associates throughout the world to build strong IP protection. This has included a lot of work with AI, and David continues to speak and write about AI. David also has an entrepreneurial spirit, launching his own small patent firm SankerIP in February 2024. In this way, David is able to provide high-quality work without the very high billing rates and conflicts of large law firms.

Ariel C. Green Anaba is a trial and appellate attorney in the Los Angeles office of Wilson Sonsini who represents plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes disputes. Her experience teaching complicated subjects like cell biology and chemistry allows her to distill complex problems into a cohesive narrative that resonates with juries and jurists.
Ariel handles every stage of litigation, including pre-suit diligence, overseeing fact and expert discovery, taking and defending fact and expert depositions, expert reports, claim construction briefs, evidentiary and dispositive motions, trial examinations (both direct and cross), pre- and post-trial briefs, amicus briefs, and appeals. She guides clients through complex disputes across a diverse range of sectors, including CAR-T therapies, nucleic acid amplification technologies, medical devices, computer software, privacy, energy, consumer products, trademarks, trade secrets, entertainment, civil rights, and web applications. Ariel represents clients in federal and state courts across the country, including working on trial teams in Delaware and the Northern District of California.

Jonathon Talcott is a Shareholder in Buchalter’s Scottsdale office who specializes in intellectual property. An experienced IP counselor and trial attorney, he handles high-stakes patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, and complex commercial disputes. He also advises on IP portfolio management, licensing, and related transactions.
With a background in electrical engineering, Jonathon has broad technology industry experience, including software, communications, aerospace, optics/photonics, and now the latest in generative AI. Committed to pro bono service, Jonathon has served on the Arizona Technology Council for many years and has successfully represented pro bono clients in clemency, military, and pandemic-related legal matters.
Along with Jonathon’s nearly two decades of legal experience, he leverages Buchalter’s national, full-service business law practice to address a wide range of clients’ business needs.

Sharif E. Jacob serves as lead counsel in high-stakes litigation. He focuses on intellectual property litigation, complex business disputes, and the representation of individuals. Sharif has extensive experience with intellectual property litigation, including litigation between competitors. He has represented leading firms in video streaming, social networking, and the app economy in dozens of disputes before U.S. district courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the International Trade Commission, and the Patent and Trademark Office. He counts among his current and former clients Netflix, Instacart, Hulu, and Twitter.

Sharif has also served as lead counsel in bet-the-company business litigation. He has extensive experience with breach of contract, tort, qui tam, antitrust, and unfair competition cases, among others. He has also defended clients in class actions with billions of dollars at risk. He has over a decade of experience litigating cases in the health care industry.

Sharif recently served as lead counsel for Instacart in a plaintiff-side copyright lawsuit against Cornershop, Uber’s grocery delivery app. Instacart obtained a permanent injunction. He also recently prevailed on behalf of Dialpad in multi-patent litigation against its competitor RingCentral pending in the Northern District of California, which granted Dialpad’s motion to dismiss all asserted patents as ineligible subject matter. He currently serves as lead counsel for Netflix in patent litigation.

In his pro bono practice, Sharif has repeatedly litigated actions advancing the constitutional rights of inmates. He has won judgments and appeals for prisoners locked in solitary confinement and brutalized in prison. His pro bono work led to systemic reform of California’s prison system and has been covered by the national press.

Sharif currently serves as a Lawyer Representative for the Northern District of California to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Council. Sharif formerly served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. He graduated first in his class from Hastings and received his undergraduate degree from Yale University. After law school, Sharif clerked for the Honorable Mary M. Schroeder of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.