The IP Strategy Summit: NYC

Puja Detjen is a partner at Patterson + Sheridan LLP who serves on the firm’s management committee. Her practice focuses on patent preparation and prosecution of both domestic and international patents, global brand protection, and IP due diligence.
Puja is able to parlay her knowledge of clients’ technology and business into a comprehensive IP strategy focused on developing and protecting their innovations and brands.
Prior to her legal career, Puja was an engineer for GE Energy supporting corporate strategy objectives across manufacturing, operations, and supply chain management. Today, she leverages her diverse industry experience to lead the way for clients seeking to align their IP efforts with a strategic plan.

Lance Hochhauser is Senior Intellectual Property Counsel at Prove Identity, Inc., overseeing all facets of Prove’s intellectual property. He is also managing Prove’s AI policy and has stood up a model risk management program to standardize responses Prove provides to clients.

Prior to his time at Prove, Lance was Associate General Counsel at SWIM USA; Intellectual Property Counsel at IQVIA; and Patent Attorney – Team Lead at IBM.

Lance earned his J.D. from Emory University School of Law and his bachelor degree in chemical engineering from Vanderbilt University. Lance is admitted to practice law in New York and is also admitted to practice before the USPTO.

Puja Detjen is a partner at Patterson + Sheridan LLP who serves on the firm’s management committee. Her practice focuses on patent preparation and prosecution of both domestic and international patents, global brand protection, and IP due diligence.
Puja is able to parlay her knowledge of clients’ technology and business into a comprehensive IP strategy focused on developing and protecting their innovations and brands.
Prior to her legal career, Puja was an engineer for GE Energy supporting corporate strategy objectives across manufacturing, operations, and supply chain management. Today, she leverages her diverse industry experience to lead the way for clients seeking to align their IP efforts with a strategic plan.

Sophie Abae is Senior Counsel for Flock Safety, a technology company focused on solving and eliminating crime through its suite of unique software, products, and wide network of customers. In her role, she manages the company’s expanding intellectual property portfolio, including patents, trademarks, and trade secrets, and is a senior member of the commercial revenue legal team. Sophie is proud to have had the privilege of entering into tech early in her career, giving her a fresh perspective on what it means to be a legal partner to a growing business. A South Florida native and a graduate of Boston College undergrad and law school, Sophie is thrilled to now call New York City her home.

Michelle has built an impressive track-record practicing in trademark, copyright, patent, unfair competition/false advertising, anti-counterfeiting/anti-piracy, internet, and fashion and wearable technology law.

Michelle’s clients span a broad range of industries including fashion and retail, food and beverage, computer software and hardware, educational services, financial and consulting services, pharmaceutical, and media and entertainment. Michelle is distinguished not only by the victories she has achieved for her clients but also for the wider influence and interest her cases have generated. She represents clients in state and federal courts, at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and before the International Trade Commission. She has also successfully obtained preliminary injunctions and ex parte seizure orders on behalf of her clients, and works closely with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and law enforcement in coordinated anti-counterfeiting efforts. She has argued and won numerous federal and state court appeals, including the Second Circuit’s seminal famous marks case of ITC Ltd v. Punchgini, Inc. Michelle has also successfully represented numerous companies in connection with design patent disputes in industries ranging from consumer products to industrial products.

Complementing her litigation work, Michelle’s practice also includes counseling and opinions, trademark and trade dress prosecution, devising cost-effective brand protection programs, negotiating licenses, IP acquisitions, and cobranding agreements on behalf of clients, and counseling clients on the use of social media and other online platforms to market and sell their goods and services.

Daniel S. Block is a director in Sterne Kessler’s Electronics Practice Group. Dan’s practice primarily focuses on patent and anti-counterfeiting litigation at the International Trade Commission and in Federal district court. Dan has been integral in designing and implementing anti-counterfeiting measures for numerous international brands, with a focus on cost-neutral enforcement strategies. He has also served as counsel in over 110 post-grant proceedings at the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board. His technical expertise covers many areas of computing including: computer graphics, networking communications, web services, complex computer architectures, and storage systems.

Dan’s brand enforcement work includes obtaining judgments against hundreds of defendants selling counterfeit products of major consumer brands. He has obtained judgments totaling over 50 million dollars, and seized or stopped the sales of tens of thousands of counterfeit items over the Internet. Dan has served as an advisor to associates participating in the PTAB’s Legal Experience and Advancement Program (LEAP), which provides associates with training and development opportunities in PTAB proceedings, including oral argument.

Ajay A. Jagtiani possesses 27 years of experience in all phases of patent prosecution, including patentability, validity and infringement opinions, procurement of international patents, client counseling, licensing, agreement negotiations, and mergers/acquisitions.

Ajay supports numerous clients in biotechnology, including diagnostics, genomics, immunotherapy, proteomics, pharmaceuticals and other microbiology techniques. He has extensive experience in the academic world, providing assistance in intellectual property matters and technology transfer to educational institutions around the globe.

In the state arena, he has advised the Secretary of Technology for the Commonwealth of Virginia regarding intellectual property matters, and he has drafted proposed intellectual property legislation.

At the federal level, Ajay has advised such government agencies and laboratories as the Department of Energy, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Mines, Naval Medical Research and Development Command, Naval Command and Control Center, NASA, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, and the Naval Research Laboratory.

Jason Sobel is a partner in the Firm’s Intellectual Property Litigation, Trademark, Copyright & Advertising, and Technology Practice Groups. His practice spans a wide range of areas of intellectual property law, including litigation, transactions, prosecution, and other strategic matters. Jason provides intellectual property and litigation counsel to clients in numerous industries and technological disciplines, including software and internet companies; manufacturing of mechanical and electrical devices and materials; financial services; chemicals; food products and ingredients; medical devices; life sciences; semi-conductors; and consumer products.

Ms. Ksenia Takhistova is an experienced IP litigator and technology attorney who counsels clients on US intellectual property law issues across a wide variety of modern and emerging technologies. She has substantial experience in all aspects of litigation, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in patent cases, including Hatch-Waxman litigations, before the Federal District Courts, at the International Trade Commission, in post-grant proceedings at the US Patent and Trademark Office, and in appeals from these proceedings.

She has also handled other IP-related disputes, including trade secret, false advertising, and antitrust issues, in both Federal and State Courts. Ksenia represents clients in transactions, such as settlement negotiations and IP licensing discussions, and performs due diligence and opinion work, including freedom-to-operate, patentability, infringement and validity analyses. Drawing on her extensive educational and research background in the mechanical and chemical engineering arts, she is able to effectively handle disputes in technical fields, such as mechanical and medical devices, electrical and computer technology, life sciences, chemical, materials, and consumer products.

Dania Nasser is the Senior Associate General Counsel at Canon Business Process Services. Prior to working in this role she was the Business Operations and Compliance Counsel at Ralph Lauren. Dania acquired her law degree from Yale University.

Leon Medzhibovsky is a highly regarded litigator focusing on intellectual property, trade secret, software and technology related commercial disputes. He helps clients solve their most challenging business problems arising from sophisticated business and commercial matters.

The subject matter of these disputes has ranged widely across the field of complex litigation, and includes software and computer systems, systems integration, consumer products, healthcare, aviation, FinTech, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and numerous types of general business-to-business technology related litigation.

Clients also turn to Leon for his extensive experience with complex domestic and multi-jurisdictional commercial technology disputes, seeking his counsel on high-stakes transactions involving intellectual property assets and cutting-edge technologies, in such areas as joint ventures, strategic alliances, collaborations, licensing, software development and systems integration agreements.

Leon is a board observer and member of the strategy steering committee for several technology, data/machine learning and software companies. From protecting intellectual property and technology to strategic risk assessment, Leon focuses on the whole picture and provides concise, practical and business-oriented advice.

Katharine Mowery clerked for the Honorable Joseph R. Slights III in the Delaware Superior Court.

Kate focuses on litigation in a variety of areas, including intellectual property, products liability, trade secrets, and complex commercial disputes in Delaware’s state and federal courts. She has also served as counsel in significant contractual disputes filed with the American Arbitration Association and has advised on real estate litigation disputes, including a successful tax assessment appeal.

Kate has assisted the District Court of Delaware with implementing its High School Fellowship Program, which provides an opportunity for students to work in chambers with District Court judges. She was chosen for and completed the Delaware District Court’s Federal Trial Practice Seminar, a program that provides exceptional opportunities for younger lawyers in Delaware to learn and practice trial skills and to learn from mentors on the Delaware bench and other prominent jurists. Kate is also active in the Federal Bar Association and the Rodney Inns of Court.

In law school, Kate served as an intern for the civil division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Nancy Del Pizzo is a member of Rivkin Radler’s Commercial Litigation; Intellectual Property; and Privacy, Data & Cyber Law Practice Groups. She resolves commercial disputes, including intellectual property matters such as trademark, trade dress, copyright and patent infringement, restrictive covenants and domain name disputes, misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition, false advertising, defamation and trade libel.

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.

Richard (“Rick”) M. Bemben is a director in Sterne Kessler’s Electronics Practice Group and a Co-Chair of the firm’s PTAB Practice. He is a recognized leader in post-grant proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Over the last decade, Rick has been counsel in over 130 PTAB proceedings—including inter partes reviews, post-grant reviews, and covered business method reviews. He has also been counsel in more than a dozen related Federal Circuit appeals. In 2023, Patexia ranked Rick as one of the most active and best performing PTAB attorneys over the five-year period from July 1, 2018 – June 30, 2023. Notably, he was ranked as the 2nd Best Performing PTAB Attorney Representing Patent Owners, and within the Top 50 Best Performing PTAB Attorneys Overall (representing Petitioners or Patent Owners) during this five-year period. Rick often speaks and publishes on patent- and PTAB-related topics. For example, he served as Co-Editor of Sterne Kessler’s “2023 PTAB Year in Review: Analysis & Trends” report, which synthesizes key events and decisions that occurred at the PTAB and provides detailed analysis to serve as a helpful reference for those who practice before or adjacent to the PTAB. He is also contributing author of Patent Office Litigation, Second Edition, which published in 2017.

Melissa Klein is Senior IP Counsel at Danone, a leading food and beverage company, with brands such as Dannon, OIKOS, Silk, International Delight and SToK. Melissa oversees the company’s brand portfolio in North America, including prosecuting trademark applications; enforcement; licensing opportunities and advising the marketing teams on “right time engagement” and media campaigns. Prior to working at Danone, she was IP Counsel at David Yurman.

Erik Milch is a partner in the Litigation Department, co-head of the Patent Law practice and a member of the Intellectual Property and Trials group.

As a first-chair trial lawyer, Erik brings more than 25 years of experience litigating in key jurisdictions across the U.S., as well as before the International Trade Commission and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Erik litigates complex matters involving medical devices, life sciences instrumentation, pharmaceuticals, electrical and computer technology, and consumer products. He regularly counsels clients in a range of industries in connection with patent procurement, development of patent portfolios, patent licensing, valuation of patent portfolios in business transactions and transactional diligence.

Joe Drayton is a partner in the Litigation Department, co-head of the Patent law practice and a member of the Intellectual Property and Trials groups.

Joe is a first-chair trial lawyer with over two decades of experience representing some of the nation’s most prominent companies in high-stakes intellectual property (IP) and complex commercial litigation. He has successfully handled matters across a broad range of industries before state and federal courts, the International Trade Commission and arbitration tribunals including the American Arbitration Association. Joe’s practice spans all areas of IP law—patent, trade secrets, copyright, trademark, trade dress and false advertising—both domestically and internationally. He also advises clients on IP acquisition, transfer, protection and enforcement strategies.

Imtiaz Khan is a Director at Houlihan Lokey, where he leads the firm’s Intellectual Property (IP) Valuation & Advisory Services practice. With over a decade of experience in valuation, modeling, and strategic consulting, he helps clients quantify, monetize, and optimize the value of IP and other intangible assets across dynamic sectors including fintech, software, semiconductors, digital assets, life sciences, and industrials.

Operating within a leading global investment bank, Mr. Khan’s work uniquely bridges technical IP valuation with capital markets, M&A, and financing strategy. His expertise spans IP valuation, strategy, licensing, and IP-backed financing. His work transforms complex IP assets into business-critical levers for growth and competitive advantage.

Before joining Houlihan Lokey, Mr. Khan was a Senior Director at Aon’s IP Solutions practice, where he led valuation efforts for several IP-backed financings and played a key role in supporting companies, insurers, and investors with IP portfolio valuations and risk analyses.

Philip L. Hirschhorn focuses his practice on patent litigation and counseling. He prides himself on working with clients to understand their businesses thoroughly, including the ways in which intellectual property litigation affects their business objectives. Clients can rest assured that Phil will go the extra mile, both on his own and as part of a team, to help clients solve their legal challenges.

Phil’s extensive experience, spanning more than 30 years, includes bench trials, jury trials, and arbitrations. He has represented clients in traditional infringement/validity litigations as well as Hatch-Waxman (Paragraph IV) litigations. Phil also has experience handling copyright, trademark/trade dress, and trade secret litigation. Phil advises clients on commercial patent licensing agreements. The subject matter of these engagements is diverse, including chemical, pharmaceutical, consumer products, medical devices, graphics, visualization technologies, apparel, and radiotherapy software and devices.

In addition to his patent litigation experience, Phil counsels clients on the interplay between the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and district court actions. He has extensive PTAB litigation experience, having assisted both patent owners and petitioners.

Phil’s prowess in intellectual property law has earned him many accolades over the years. Managing Intellectual Property has named him an IP Star nearly every year since 2013, and he has been named among IAM’s Patent 1000 list several times. He also has been named a New York Super Lawyer in the practice area of patent litigation.

Phil earned a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College and his law degree from Fordham University School of Law, where he also served as Associate Editor of the Fordham Law Review and Editor of the Fordham Environmental Law Report.

Phil is a frequent speaker on IP litigation topics such as recent developments in Paragraph IV litigation, patent damages, and trade secret litigation. He is a current Co-Chair of the PTAB/TTAB committee of the Federal Circuit Bar Association and the immediate past chair of the Patents Committee of the New York City Bar Association.

Carina Harrison is a distinguished brand developer and strategic leader with over a decade of experience in managing globally recognized brands. Her expertise lies in media and talent-led brands, particularly excelling in large-scale Direct-to-Retail programs for major retailers such as Target, Walmart, Amazon, Ulta, American Eagle, and Kohl’s.

Currently, as the Vice President and Head of Licensing & Partnerships at Hello Sunshine, Carina is responsible for building and implementing strategies to amplify the brand’s mission to center women in storytelling through strategic partnerships, brand collaborations, and licensed consumer products. Before advancement, she held Vice President, Commercial Operations for The Home Edit, where she led their organizing services, drove new revenue streams, and optimized retailer relationships.

Carina’s previous experience as Vice President of Brand Management at Creative Artists Agency (CAA) involved leading the growth and execution of consumer product programs for high-profile clients, including Draper James, Drew Barrymore, Lil Wayne, and Netflix’s licensing programs for popular series such as Stranger Things, Bridgerton, and Squid Game.

Her career began at Tesco, the largest retailer in the UK, as an apparel buyer, following her graduation with top honors in Buying Management. In 2017, she relocated to New York City to focus on developing Drew Barrymore’s Flower brand portfolio into a cross-category Home DTR with Walmart.

Renowned for her ability to build high-performing teams and holistic management approach, Carina combines her expertise in licensing, retail management, and brand development with exceptional communication skills. This has solidified her reputation as a trusted leader in the industry, with a proven track record of driving brand expansion and sustainable growth for her clients.

Over the course of her over twenty-year career, Erin M. Dunston’s practice has been a purposeful mix of patent prosecution and litigation. Having handled many patent litigations, Erin recognizes how every word in prosecution may ultimately be analyzed by the fact-finder and thus strives for efficient, law- and science-driven prosecution. Her extensive prosecution experience, in turn, is invaluable when analyzing prosecution documents and issues as part of a litigation. With a background in biochemistry, she concentrates her practice primarily in the fields of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and associated computer technology. 

In terms of patent prosecution, counseling, and strategy, Erin learns her clients’ businesses and how a given project will advance the client’s business objectives, from both offensive and defensive standpoints. Erin also works closely with clients to satisfy budget constraints and assist in leveraging and monetizing patent assets. 

To date, Erin has handled more than 20 district court litigations and more than 25 inter partes reviews (IPRs) and more than 40 interferences before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (P.T.A.B). Assisting both patent owners and putative infringers/petitioners, this experience ranges from pre-filing analyses all the way through appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. 

Her deep experience in patent law has been recognized by several leading IP organizations and awards programs. Erin has been selected for inclusion among The Best Lawyers in America each year since 2018. She also has been recognized in IAM’s Patent 1000 list – a best-in-class listing of patent prosecution, licensing, and litigation practitioners. For several years, including for 2021, she has been named an IP Star by Managing Intellectual Property and a Leading Intellectual Property Lawyer by Chambers USA. Erin also received Lawyer Monthly’s Women in Law 2016 Award for her contributions to the practice of biotechnology law. 

Erin is the Co-Chair of the firm’s Post-Grant Group.

Philip L. Hirschhorn focuses his practice on patent litigation and counseling. He prides himself on working with clients to understand their businesses thoroughly, including the ways in which intellectual property litigation affects their business objectives. Clients can rest assured that Phil will go the extra mile, both on his own and as part of a team, to help clients solve their legal challenges.

Phil’s extensive experience, spanning more than 30 years, includes bench trials, jury trials, and arbitrations. He has represented clients in traditional infringement/validity litigations as well as Hatch-Waxman (Paragraph IV) litigations. Phil also has experience handling copyright, trademark/trade dress, and trade secret litigation. Phil advises clients on commercial patent licensing agreements. The subject matter of these engagements is diverse, including chemical, pharmaceutical, consumer products, medical devices, graphics, visualization technologies, apparel, and radiotherapy software and devices.

In addition to his patent litigation experience, Phil counsels clients on the interplay between the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and district court actions. He has extensive PTAB litigation experience, having assisted both patent owners and petitioners.

Phil’s prowess in intellectual property law has earned him many accolades over the years. Managing Intellectual Property has named him an IP Star nearly every year since 2013, and he has been named among IAM’s Patent 1000 list several times. He also has been named a New York Super Lawyer in the practice area of patent litigation.

Phil earned a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College and his law degree from Fordham University School of Law, where he also served as Associate Editor of the Fordham Law Review and Editor of the Fordham Environmental Law Report.

Phil is a frequent speaker on IP litigation topics such as recent developments in Paragraph IV litigation, patent damages, and trade secret litigation. He is a current Co-Chair of the PTAB/TTAB committee of the Federal Circuit Bar Association and the immediate past chair of the Patents Committee of the New York City Bar Association.

Lindsay serves as an advisor to companies and creators in the fashion & retail; art, media & entertainment; and technology industries. As a Partner in the firm’s Intellectual Property department, she helps brands and creators protect and monetize their most valuable assets.

Ajay A. Jagtiani possesses 27 years of experience in all phases of patent prosecution, including patentability, validity and infringement opinions, procurement of international patents, client counseling, licensing, agreement negotiations, and mergers/acquisitions.

Ajay supports numerous clients in biotechnology, including diagnostics, genomics, immunotherapy, proteomics, pharmaceuticals and other microbiology techniques. He has extensive experience in the academic world, providing assistance in intellectual property matters and technology transfer to educational institutions around the globe.

In the state arena, he has advised the Secretary of Technology for the Commonwealth of Virginia regarding intellectual property matters, and he has drafted proposed intellectual property legislation.

At the federal level, Ajay has advised such government agencies and laboratories as the Department of Energy, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Mines, Naval Medical Research and Development Command, Naval Command and Control Center, NASA, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, and the Naval Research Laboratory.