The IP Strategy Summit – NYC

Best boss ever

Jeffrey Waters concentrates his practice on drafting and prosecuting patents for mechanical and electrical innovations. In particular, he has experience with patent issues relating to GPS, Internet and e-commerce, semiconductor devices and processing methods, and telecommunications. While Jeff’s practice focuses on patent drafting and prosecution, he also has experience with patent litigation, having defended multiple patent infringement lawsuits. Jeff also has experience in conducting due diligence investigations and drafting opinions.

Smrithi Mohan is the General Counsel at Awes.me, Inc., d/b/a Awesome, the parent company of SmugMug, Flickr, and This Week In Photo. As a member of the Executive Leadership Team, she steers all legal efforts at the company, in addition to providing governance, compliance, as well as strategic operational input. At Awesome, Smrithi is developing the company’s very first innovation and intellectual property program. Prior to joining as General Counsel at Awesome, Smrithi was a Managing Attorney at Dun & Bradstreet, Inc., serving as both the Head of Legal and Compliance for Dun & Bradstreet India, and as the Head of the Global Corporate Innovation and Intellectual Property Strategy and Practice at Dun & Bradstreet, Inc., where she built and developed Dun & Bradstreet’s first intellectual property program and corporate IP strategy. She has delivered numerous presentations and spoken at national and international conferences covering a range of general legal and intellectual property-related subjects. She has also been featured in both Attorney At Law Magazine and Modern Counsel, and is also recognized as an international Top IP Leader by the IPR Gorilla. Though she earned her J.D. degree and has been a practicing attorney for many years, Smrithi also earned a Master’s degree in the field of Management from Harvard University in May 2023, achieving the Dean’s List Academic Achievement Award.

Atabak Royaee serves as the Senior Director and Assistant General Counsel, IP, at Regeneron. In this role, Atabak provides comprehensive IP strategy and portfolio development advice to business teams, supports the business development function, counsels on IP licensing and transactions, manages manufacturing IP clearances, and advises the companion diagnostics and precision medicine teams on IP risks. Prior to joining Regeneron, Atabak spent over six years at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Before that, he worked at various law firms for over a decade. Before practicing patent law, Atabak was a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, specializing in immunology and infectious disease research. Atabak holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology, a B.S. in chemistry from Georgetown University, and a law degree from Suffolk University Law School.

Wendy R. Stein focuses on intellectual property litigation, litigating patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation, and other commercial litigation matters in the life sciences, real estate, and software fields. For more than two decades, she has litigated intellectual property and related commercial disputes in federal and state courts throughout the United States, including before the Court of Appeals for the D.C. and Federal Circuits.

Patricia Young represents market-leading companies in intellectual property litigation, particularly high-stakes, complex, multi-patent, and multi-jurisdictional cases.
Ms. Young is a first-chair trial lawyer who litigates patent and trade secrets cases for a broad spectrum of companies, both as defendants and plaintiffs. She regularly tries cases across the country, including in state and federal courts, and before the International Trade Commission (ITC).
She deftly synthesizes technical, economic, and legal perspectives to develop unique, winning litigation strategies. As an incisive and trusted advisor for patent and trade secret matters, she is also well-positioned to counsel clients on intellectual property issues in corporate matters.
Ms. Young has developed an impressive record of leading and managing complex, multi-product, multi-claim disputes. Her experience spans industries from LiDAR, semiconductors, RF technology, memory, microprocessors, Wi-Fi routers and mesh network devices, file system and storage software and hardware, networking, gaming, e-commerce, telecommunications, UV LEDs, biotech, biologics, protein engineering, sequencing technology, microcoils, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals to consumer products.
Ms. Young was named one of the “Women Worth Watching in STEM” by Diversity Journal in 2021. She is also a collaborator on the Patent Case Management Judicial Guide, the Federal Judicial Center’s definitive patent litigation how-to guide for federal judges, now in its third edition.
Her pro bono work addresses Social Security disability, domestic violence, veteran disability benefits, housing, and §1983 civil rights actions. She served on the firm’s Pro Bono Committee and received the California State Bar Wiley M. Manuel Award for pro bono service in 2013.

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.

Basab Roy earned his PhD in Biochemistry from Arizona State University with a special focus on the biosynthesis of functional molecules. During his postgraduate research while working in Washington University School of Medicine he continued to explore the applications of synthetic biology in early diagnostics and medicine. Moved by global inequality in nutrition and his newfound interest in food innovation, Basab joined Chobani R&D in early 2020. Following the founder-owner’s vision, to bridge the gaps between Chobani-R&D and the food innovation agenda, Basab cofounded Chobani Labs as a platform for discovery biologics. He played a crucial role in the gradual expansion of Chobani Labs’ portfolio, while over the years his primary responsibility was to bring innovation ideas to highly nutritious food products, with the promise of nutritional equity to consumers. As a scientist leader working in an interdisciplinary space, he routinely collaborates with legal partners on technology transfer strategies, patent examination, identifying areas of IP potential, laying out strategic roadmap for IP protection, data protection, and risk management while partnering with CROs/CDMOs at the global level.

Joseph Bonassar is General Counsel and Global Legal Director at Dymax Corporation (https://dymax.com/ ). He joined Dymax in 2017 to create its first in house legal department, and  is responsible for all Legal, Compliance, Regulatory, IP,  Government Relations, and Environment, Health & Safety Matters.  He is a member of its Global Leadership Team.  Dymax is a leading global solutions provider of integrated rapid and light-cure formulations and equipment for the aerospace, defense, medical, consumer electronics, and automotive electronics markets.

In addition to being an attorney, Mr. Bonassar is also an engineer.  Prior to his role at Dymax, he was both an engineer and attorney at United Technologies, and he led legal teams at Konica-Minolta and Intertek.  His role at Dymax has focused on the company’s rapid growth strategy into new markets and territories, and he has worked with regulators and officials around the world.

Mr. Bonassar holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University, and Juris Doctorate from The University of Connecticut School of Law.

Emma L. Flett heads Kirkland’s Technology & IP Transactions Team in London. Emma’s practice is focused on complex intellectual property and technology-related transactions, carve-outs and business separations, EU data protection and emerging technologies including artificial intelligence.

Emma’s experience in the technology, intellectual property and data field is extensive. She is a deal lawyer with a deep understanding that covers the full spectrum of intellectual property and technology transaction-related work, from patents, data and designs, to trade marks, copyright, software and AI, most notably in complex, high-value M&A transactions and private equity investments. She brings a depth of knowledge across a broad range of industry sectors, including software, pharmaceuticals/life sciences, retail/fashion, media/entertainment, travel, consumer goods, hospitality, real estate, energy and infrastructure, and manufacturing, amongst others.

Emma works on a wide variety of transactions in which intellectual property, information technology and data privacy play a key role, including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, private equity investments, financings and secured lending, bankruptcies and restructurings. Emma also assists clients with a wide range of commercial contract negotiations, such as joint ventures and strategic alliances; intellectual property and technology transfers and licences; service agreements (including transitional service arrangements); development and collaboration agreements; data transfer and sharing arrangements; and supply and distribution agreements.

In addition, Emma routinely counsels clients on data protection compliance, AI and cybersecurity laws (including with regard to the EU and UK General Data Protection Regulation and the EU AI Act) and brings EU experience to Kirkland’s Cybersecurity & Data Privacy Practice.

Emma was named to the IAM Patent 1000 and is recommended for the United Kingdom. Her practice is Ranked Tier 1 in Legal 500 Technology Media and Telecoms – IP: Patents (contentious and non-contentious), heading the transactional practice. She was also recognised by Lawdragon in the 2024 list of the “500 Leading Global Cyber Lawyers” and by Financier Worldwide as a “Power Player: Cyber Security & Data Privacy 2022 – Distinguished Adviser.”

Emma is a frequent guest speaker at technology, intellectual property, AI and data protection seminars and conferences across the globe including in New York, Chicago, Texas, Washington, DC, London and has presented at Cambridge and Stanford University. She publishes widely in the area and regularly contributes to publications such as the Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, European Intellectual Property Law Review, the Entertainment Law Review, Digital Business Lawyer, BNA’s World Data Protection Report, and the Computer and Telecommunications Law Review. Prior to joining Kirkland, Emma was a lawyer at Clifford Chance LLP, London, where she also trained.

Daisy Darvall is a technology & IP transactions partner in the New York and Austin offices of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. She advises leading global private equity firms and strategic clients on a wide variety of commercial transactions involving intellectual property and technology, and has acted as a key advisor on some of the largest global technology deals in recent years. Daisy is highly experienced in a broad range of issues that arise in general corporate transactions, including private equity, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, equity and debt financing transactions and commercial agreements.

Daisy has particular interest in software, AI, open source, privacy and data security, and IP protection issues, the latter arising from her background in media and entertainment. She has counseled global clients on IP protection and ownership issues in the context of collaborations and joint-ventures, and is recognized as a thought leader in the intersection of technology, ESG and AI. In addition to technology and software, Daisy’s advisory experience extends to a significant array of industries, including media, music, entertainment, fashion, advertising, sports and education. Daisy is qualified to practice in New York, Texas and Australia.

Uma N. Everett is a director in Sterne Kessler’s Trial & Appellate Practice Group. She tries patent cases in federal courts across the country and before the United States International Trade Commission. Uma is experienced in all aspects of litigation, from pre-suit investigation through trial and appeal. In addition, she has handled appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal and Third Circuits and contested proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Uma has advised clients and litigated cases involving patents, trade secrets, contractual claims, as well as those involving a broad range of technologies, including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, LEDs, vehicle systems, telephone systems, communication systems, and consumer products.

Intellectual Property pattern and co-chair Jonathan S. Caplan represents clients in patent litigation, counseling and prosecution, as well as in general corporate matters involving the acquisition, sale or licensing of intellectual property rights.

Jonathan litigates patent infringement actions in federal district courts across the country, in the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and in state courts, both representing patent owners seeking to enforce their rights and defending companies against allegations of infringement.

Todd Sharinn is Chair of Tannenbaum Helpern’s Intellectual Property practice. His practice focuses on the worldwide registration, management, commercialization, protection, and enforcement of intellectual property rights.
Todd serves as a strategic advisor and outside general counsel to clients in connection with the development of local and global branding strategies. Clients seek out Todd for his vast expertise with crafting and implementing programs to police and enforce their assorted patents, trademarks, trade dress, trade secrets, product configurations, copyrighted works, and marketing and advertising efforts.
Todd has litigated more than one hundred successful patent, trademark and copyright infringement matters in domestic and foreign jurisdictions. He has also worked regularly with domestic and foreign agencies and law enforcement in the prevention of illicit trade.

RONALD J. PRAGUE is Chief Legal Officer at Origin Wireless, Inc., a technology company located in Maryland. www.originwirelessai.com, where is responsible for a all of the company’s legal affairs. Prior to Origin, Mr. Prague was Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Synchronoss Technologies, Inc., a publicly-held software and services company. Prior to Synchronoss, Mr. Prague held several positions with Intel Corporation, lastly as Group Counsel for Intel’s Communication Infrastructure Group. Mr. Prague also practice law with the New York law firms of Haythe & Curley (now Torys LLP) and Richards & O’Neil (now Bingham McCutchen) where he focused on mergers & acquisition, securities and intellectual property and matters.

Mr. Prague is a frequent speaker and has over 25 years of experience doing global transactions in the telecommunications market. He is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Law and received a B.S., with distinction from Cornell University.

Jeong Ah Joy Lee is Senior Corporate Counsel – Product Legal at Cisco. She provides legal support to emerging technology businesses, which include AI and cloud security solutions, and the Optics and Silicon businesses on issues ranging from data protection, IP, market access, open source, data protection, acquisition integration, and compliance. Previously at Cisco, she supported global webscale account teams, including providing legal counsel to AI cluster deployments at data centers. Prior to Cisco, Jeong focused on technology transactions, data protection, and litigation at Mayer Brown in New York and California and patent litigation and patent prosecution at Kenyon & Kenyon (now Hunton Andrews Kurth) in New York. Jeong attended Emory Law School and holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Ellen Smith is a Partner at Sughrue Mion PLLC. Having started her legal career with Sughrue in 1997, Ellen provides extensive patent counseling for clients ranging from large multi-national corporations to small business ventures. Her counseling includes freedom-to-operate, infringement, and validity opinions.
Ellen’s dedicated experience in the patent space for over 25 years has provided her clients with respected strategic advice for developing and protecting their intellectual property portfolios, including developing strategies for establishing, protecting, preserving and enforcing those patent rights in the U.S. and abroad.
Her practice encompasses the entire period of prosecution of a patent, from the initial drafting of the application to conducting oral hearings at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Her technical experience in the broad spectrum of mechanical arts ranges from fiber-optic connectors to athletic shoe designs to off-shore oil rigs. Examples of Ellen’s diverse technological prosecution experience includes medical devices, semiconductors, aircraft structure and operation, underground mining technologies, batteries, autonomous vehicle system management and devices, farm and construction equipment, cosmetic packaging, waste recycling management and oil/petroleum technologies.

Mark Vallone is Chief Patent Counsel, Americas at IBM, where he manages the company’s patent procurement team in the Americas and its patent portfolio management team, and where he serves as a leader in patent strategy and policy matters.  He previously served as lead IP Counsel for IBM Cloud and IBM Commerce, for which he supported transactions and product clearances, led patent procurement operations, and provided advice and counsel on a wide range of other IP matters.  He also previously led patent procurement operations for IBM Consulting and IBM Global Markets.  Mark received his B.S. in Computer Science from The Pennsylvania State University in 1998, after which he spent five years as a software developer for IBM in the areas of network security, distributed computing, and e-commerce.  He received his J.D., summa cum laude, from Syracuse University in 2006.  He is a registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and is a member of the New York State Bar.

Eric is a Counsel in the IP Group at Merck. He supports several drug products and candidates in the Infectious Diseases and Cardiometabolic areas, counseling inventors in Merck Research Laboratories on new filings and patentability and freedom to operate assessments. He prepares and prosecutes US and foreign patent applications on small molecule and large protein therapeutics. He also performs IP due diligence and licensing agreement reviews in support of Merck Business Development. Eric also serves an advisory role in Merck IP Group’s US prosecution practice committee.

Prior to working at Merck. Eric was an Associate at the law firm Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks. There, his practice focused on patent portfolio management and strategic legal counseling for clients in biotechnology. He counselled academic institutions and mid-sized companies in gene therapy, genome editing, adoptive immunotherapy, engineered cell therapies, and DNA and peptide sequencing applications. He also handled post-grant proceedings before the PTAB, including inter partes review (IPRs) and interference proceedings.

Eric also serves as a Board Member of the New York Intellectual Property Association (NYIPLA).

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.

Victoria Friedman is an IP attorney specializing in client counseling, procurement, and management of intellectual property. Her day-to-day practice involves patent and trademark preparation and prosecution, opinions of counsel, portfolio strategy and management, licensing, business transactions and much more. Her technical background is in Computer Information Systems and her patent practice primarily focuses on software, telecommunications, computer, search, email, and social network arts.

In her trademark practice, she manages international portfolios for top global brands in various industries. Friedman is one of a handful of attorneys who have been successful in registering a color mark. She enjoys developing and implementing efficient, practical solutions to her clients’ IP challenges.

Victoria Friedman speaks English and Russian and has been active in the field of IP since 2003.

Best boss ever

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.

Mr. Crooker is Patent Attorney for Schneider Electric, a Fortune Global 500 company, and leader in energy management and automation with operations in more than 100 countries.  At Schneider Electric, Mr. Crooker manages and develops patent portfolios for a number of business units within the company, including the company’s Digital Power, Solar, and Industry businesses.  Mr. Crooker drafts and files patent applications; coordinates international extension filings; reviews office actions and drafts responses based on feedback from the business units; and communicates with outside attorneys.  Mr. Crooker also trains and assists technologists in recognizing patentable inventions and submitting invention disclosures; prepares freedom-to-operate/clearance studies regarding third-party patent rights; participates in design review meetings, brainstorming sessions and innovation workshops; and leads invention identification sessions within selected projects.  Additionally, Mr. Crooker oversees and is involved in the invention disclosure submission and evaluation processes, and provides other assistance and support to research and development, marketing, and legal department staff as required, including on merger and acquisition and litigation matters.

Prior to working for Schneider Electric, Mr. Crooker worked for Daly, Crowley, Mofford & Durkee, LLP. as a Patent Attorney, and held numerous positions for technology companies around the Boston area with a particular focus on hardware and software testing.  Mr. Crooker has a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Boston University, and a J.D. with a concentration in Intellectual Property law from New England Law | Boston. 

Alon Yamin is the CEO and Co-founder of Copyleaks, an award-winning AI-based text analysis company trusted by businesses, educational institutions, and millions of individuals worldwide to identify potential plagiarism and paraphrasing across nearly every language, detect AI-generated content, and provide generative AI governance and compliance solutions. Under his leadership, Copyleaks has consistently grown 100+% annually and has been the first to launch marquee enterprise products, including the award-winning AI Content Detector, a cutting-edge generative AI governance enterprise solution that ensures responsible gen AI adoption and proactively mitigates all potential risks, and more.

Prior to founding Copyleaks, Alon spent five years as a software developer for the Israeli Intelligence Corps (Unit 8200), where he developed cutting-edge technologies for the Israeli Army.

Lloyd Smith focuses his practice on intellectual property litigation and enforcement matters. His case experience includes trademark infringement, false advertising, patent infringement, and unfair competition trials and litigation in venues nationwide. He litigates before numerous U.S. District Courts nationwide, the U.S. International Trade Commission, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the Third Circuit, and the Eleventh Circuit. Lloyd is the Co-Chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property section and IP Litigation group, Chair of the firm’s practice group for litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. He is recognized in IAM’s Patent 1000 list, the best-in-class listing of patent prosecution, licensing and litigation practitioners.

Michael Connelly is the President of WIT Legal, LLC where he consults on a range of licensing and legal issues. He has been in patent litigation for 25+ years, having practiced in front of the ITC as counsel for petitioners and respondents. Connelly has participated in 12 ITC investigations as an attorney and owner, with one of his entities being the subject of the first hundred-day review.
Previously, he was a partner at McDermott Will & Emery where he managed many patent licensing campaigns—overseeing patent litigation strategy, directing patent prosecution, developing defensive strategies, and managing corporate patent programs.

Josh Sibble is president of Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America, which leads Panasonic’s IP activities in North America. His team coordinates U.S. patent litigation for Panasonic in both NPE and competitor cases, provides patent application and docket management support services for Panasonic’s North American business units, and supports enforcement and monetization activities in the U.S. for groupwide partners. They also work closely with Ideaship, an innovative startup investment fund, to deliver strategic IP consulting services to help founders effectively assess and secure the value of their ideas and maximize exit potential.

Amy Lydon is an IP litigator experienced in managing all aspects of multimillion-dollar matters and crafting worldwide patent enforcement strategies. Amy is skilled at distilling complex legal issues to C-suite executives, including years spent leading legal department-wide executive committees and board reporting.

Benjamin Hershkowitz is a partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher where he is a member of both Gibson Dunn’s Intellectual Property Practice and Technology Transactions Practice. Ben serves on the Firm’s Technology committee and Associate Compensation committee.

Ben focuses his practice on intellectual property matters, both litigation and corporate, with a particular emphasis on complex patent litigation. In addition, Ben has extensive experience successfully representing clients in trademark, copyright, trade secret, computer fraud and breach of contract matters. Ben has represented companies in diverse industries including network, consumer and business electronics, software, telecommunications, consumer/retail, medical products and industrial manufacturing. Companies have ranged from the world’s leading technology companies to innovative start-ups.

Ben has regularly served as lead trial counsel in district courts around the country as well as before the United States International Trade Commission and in arbitrations. His work has garnered him recognition by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in the area of Intellectual Property: Patent, noting that he is “the full package,” being both “incredibly savvy with tech and an incredibly savvy trial lawyer,” and having “every skill set you could want and need for running a patent litigation.” He has also been recognized by IAM Patent 1000, which describes him as “adept at weaving stories around complex technical issues,” and “very smart, hardworking, technically astute, thorough and good on his feet; he is the complete package and someone you can trust.” Managing IP named him a national IP Patent Star. He was also listed as one of the top five Best Performing attorneys in the country in Patexia’s inaugural Top Patent Litigation Attorneys. BTI Consulting named Ben to its Client Service All-Stars list which recognizes those “delivering the absolute best client service.” Ben was featured as one of Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Litigators in America” for 2023 and 2024.

Ben’s litigation experience has covered a wide range of technologies including computer networking equipment, optical transmitters, cellular telephony, voicemail, semiconductors, computer hardware and software, e-mail, e-commerce, video-on-demand, compact discs, liquid crystal displays, VoIP, business methods, digital rights management, electromechanical industrial equipment, chemical processes, medical equipment and Internet and information technologies and protocols.

Ben also regularly counsels clients in technology transactions, including both the licensing in and licensing out of intellectual property, technology and know-how. In addition, he works with clients to acquire and divest patent and other intellectual property assets. Ben also handles intellectual property matters arising in corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments and strategic alliances. He further provides guidance to clients in establishing internal procedures and policies for addressing intellectual property issues and handling copyright software audits.

Ben is a frequent author and speaker and served for five years as the Editor-in-Chief of Patent Strategy & Management, an Incisive Media newsletter. His articles and presentations have covered topics including patent damages, selecting and working with expert witnesses, the intersection of patents, antitrust and standards-setting organizations, as well as trade secrets, the licensing of intellectual property, collaborative research agreements, computer software and business method patents, patent standardization and patent pooling arrangements, and prior art searching. He has presented in front of organizations including the ABA, NYIPLA, LSI, ACCA, Computer Law Association, PLI and IPIC. Ben is a former Chair of the Committee on Internet Law for the NYIPLA and participated in the Hon. William C. Conner Inn of Court.

Ben interned in the chambers of both a Federal District Judge in the District of New Jersey and a Federal Magistrate Judge in the Eastern District of New York. Ben graduated from Rutgers University, College of Engineering (with highest honors) and New York University, School of Law, where he helped launch the Environmental Law Journal and served as its first Science Editor. He is also registered to practice before the United States Patent & Trademark Office.

Joe is the Assistant General Counsel for Litigation and Intellectual Property at Mitsubishi Chemical America, Inc. where he advises clients about handling disputes and litigation, compliance, and intellectual property. Before joining Mitsubishi Chemical, Joe was a Senior Associate in Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP’s Intellectual Property Group where he focused his practice on patent and trademark litigation. Joe is a 2006 graduate of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a 2000 graduate of Columbia College where he graduated with a degree in Biochemistry. He lives in New York with his wife, daughter, and son.

LAWRENCE CRUZ has been Chief Patent Counsel at Conair LLC (formerly Conair Corporation) since 2002. Conair is a privately held, multi-billion dollar, global company headquartered in Stamford‚ Connecticut that produces and sells a variety of consumer and industry appliances and products. His career started as a Patent Examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 1987‚ and he has held in-house patent counsel positions at two Fortune 500 companies and associate positions at two intellectual property law firms.  He has had broad legal and business responsibilities and works in all areas of intellectual property strategy and enforcement, product and business development, miscellaneous legal and business matters, and product design. He devotes much of his time and resources to charity events. He earned a JD from George Washington University Law School in 1992‚ and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Southern Illinois University in 1987.

Matt is a partner in the Intellectual Property and Litigation & Dispute Resolution practices, member of the Emerging Technologies and Life Sciences industry teams, and leader of the Patent Prosecution team.

Matt counsels clients on the protection and enforcement of their intellectual property assets, with a focus on strategic leverage of intellectual property assets with an eye toward favorable transactions or enforcement via litigation. Matt is an experienced commercial litigator, with an emphasis on patent litigation, including experience with district court trials, trials at the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”), and International Trade Commission (“ITC”) actions. Matt is experienced with disputes involving other governmental agencies like the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), along with district court challenges against agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration.

In his patent role, Matt advises clients on patent prosecution matters, including related regulatory issues such as those that arise at FDA and the FTC, assisting companies ranging in size from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Matt has worked with companies across a variety of sectors, including genetic technologies, diagnostic methods, therapeutic molecules and methods, medical devices and accompanying software, biomolecular engineering, prosthetics, pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements, artificial intelligence and machine learning, cannabis/CBD, nootropic and psychoactive molecules and products, nuclear reactors, software, ultracapacitors, consumer products, genetic data visualization systems, and blockchain applications.

In addition, Matt served as a patent examiner with the USPTO while in law school, examining applications related to photoelectric and thermoelectric devices, which include semiconductor, photovoltaic, and integrated circuit technologies. Matt was also a judicial intern for the Honorable Susan G. Braden at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims where he worked on a number of issues, including a patent dispute over drone technology. Prior to law school, Matt was an engineer for a manufacturing company.

Lloyd Smith focuses his practice on intellectual property litigation and enforcement matters. His case experience includes trademark infringement, false advertising, patent infringement, and unfair competition trials and litigation in venues nationwide. He litigates before numerous U.S. District Courts nationwide, the U.S. International Trade Commission, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the Third Circuit, and the Eleventh Circuit. Lloyd is the Co-Chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property section and IP Litigation group, Chair of the firm’s practice group for litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. He is recognized in IAM’s Patent 1000 list, the best-in-class listing of patent prosecution, licensing and litigation practitioners.

Ellen Smith is a Partner at Sughrue Mion PLLC. Having started her legal career with Sughrue in 1997, Ellen provides extensive patent counseling for clients ranging from large multi-national corporations to small business ventures. Her counseling includes freedom-to-operate, infringement, and validity opinions.
Ellen’s dedicated experience in the patent space for over 25 years has provided her clients with respected strategic advice for developing and protecting their intellectual property portfolios, including developing strategies for establishing, protecting, preserving and enforcing those patent rights in the U.S. and abroad.
Her practice encompasses the entire period of prosecution of a patent, from the initial drafting of the application to conducting oral hearings at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Her technical experience in the broad spectrum of mechanical arts ranges from fiber-optic connectors to athletic shoe designs to off-shore oil rigs. Examples of Ellen’s diverse technological prosecution experience includes medical devices, semiconductors, aircraft structure and operation, underground mining technologies, batteries, autonomous vehicle system management and devices, farm and construction equipment, cosmetic packaging, waste recycling management and oil/petroleum technologies.

Matt is a partner in the Intellectual Property and Litigation & Dispute Resolution practices, member of the Emerging Technologies and Life Sciences industry teams, and leader of the Patent Prosecution team.

Matt counsels clients on the protection and enforcement of their intellectual property assets, with a focus on strategic leverage of intellectual property assets with an eye toward favorable transactions or enforcement via litigation. Matt is an experienced commercial litigator, with an emphasis on patent litigation, including experience with district court trials, trials at the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”), and International Trade Commission (“ITC”) actions. Matt is experienced with disputes involving other governmental agencies like the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), along with district court challenges against agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration.

In his patent role, Matt advises clients on patent prosecution matters, including related regulatory issues such as those that arise at FDA and the FTC, assisting companies ranging in size from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Matt has worked with companies across a variety of sectors, including genetic technologies, diagnostic methods, therapeutic molecules and methods, medical devices and accompanying software, biomolecular engineering, prosthetics, pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements, artificial intelligence and machine learning, cannabis/CBD, nootropic and psychoactive molecules and products, nuclear reactors, software, ultracapacitors, consumer products, genetic data visualization systems, and blockchain applications.

In addition, Matt served as a patent examiner with the USPTO while in law school, examining applications related to photoelectric and thermoelectric devices, which include semiconductor, photovoltaic, and integrated circuit technologies. Matt was also a judicial intern for the Honorable Susan G. Braden at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims where he worked on a number of issues, including a patent dispute over drone technology. Prior to law school, Matt was an engineer for a manufacturing company.