The IP Strategy Summit: Palo Alto

Kristopher B. Kastens advises and represents clients on issues at the intersection of law and technology. Kris represents clients in patent litigation across multiple technology areas, including computer security, cryptography, artificial intelligence, distributed systems, and network infrastructure. He also advises on the various legal issues intertwined with the development of blockchain technologies and has been a frequent author on blockchain-based technologies and the law.

 Jim is the Senior Manager of the Patent Program at Autodesk, Inc. a producer of CAD and 3D design software used for product and building design as well as the motion picture industry.  He’s worked with product teams, researchers and software engineers helping them to articulate and characterize their innovations then developing a strategy for protecting those assets.  He started his IP career as a software engineer and got more interested in patentable work at Phone.com, where he worked on several of his own inventions, now issued patents.  Jim has several other issued patents and enjoys every aspect of the patent process.  Jim earned his B.A. in Russian and Eastern European Studies from the University of Michigan.

Andrew Borja is a Senior Patent Portfolio Architect at pSemi, a Murata Company, where he leads global IP strategy for advanced power electronics, with over a decade of experience in patent development and prosecution.  At Power Integrations, he transformed the company’s approach to intellectual property by establishing its first in-house patent program, laying the foundation for strategic filings and long-term portfolio growth.

Andrew is a Senior Member of IEEE and a registered Patent Agent. He holds a B.S. in Computer Engineering from UC Santa Cruz and is listed as an inventor on a pending U.S. patent. His work spans cross-functional collaboration, innovation enablement, and enforcement readiness in high-stakes environments.

Thomas George is an Associate General Counsel and Head of the Patent Group at Samsung Research America (SRA). His responsibilites include managing invention evaluations, managing the preparation and prosecution of patent applications, patent analysis, publication clearance, export compliance, copyrights, and open source. He manages a team of patent attorneys, patent agents, and paralegals. He has worked at SRA for 12 years and prior to that worked in-house at Xilinx and Siemens and also worked at various law firms in Silicon Valley and New York.

Tao Zhang is Vice President, Deputy General Counsel of IP and Product at Juniper Networks. Her responsibilities include patent portfolio development and optimization, product risk management, security/privacy/open-source compliances, IP transactions, supply chain and procurement contract negotiations. Prior to Juniper, she was Associate General Counsel of IP and Technology, at Ansys, and senior director of IP strategy, at Huawei Device USA, respectively. Before Huawei, she was with Hewlett-Packard for 23 years. She obtained a JD from Concord Law School and a PhD in Physics from Stanford University.

Dr. Zhang is a member of the California Bar and a registered patent attorney with the US Patent and Trademark Office. She is co-author of the book “Mining Ideas for Diamonds – Comparing China and US IP Practices from Invention Selection to Patent Monetization”. She also co-authored several IP articles, including “Call for Standardization in Patent Claim Drafting” (Santa Clara High Tech Law Journal, Volume 34, Issue 3, April 2018), “Making Trademark Decisions Based on Cost Considerations: A Model for Action” (World Trademark Review, April 2020). Dr, Zhang was recognized by the IAM Strategy 300 in 2015, 2017 and 2018.

Subroto Bose is Head of IP at Astera Labs, where he manages Astera’s patent and trademark portfolio, domain names, customs enforcement, invention harvesting, and patent strategy.  Prior to joining Astera Labs, he was Assistant General Counsel, IP Strategy and Development at Marvell Semiconductor, and Senior Director, Global Patent Strategy and IP Operations at Dolby Laboratories.

Subroto’s in-house experience includes global patent and trademark portfolio strategy, European patent prosecution, patent acquisitions, and global IP operations.  He also advises on patent issues in licensing transactions, open source issues, and issues related to standard setting organizations and standard essential patents.  His prior experience also includes working at several law firms, where he represented both plaintiffs and defendants before the International Trade Commission (ITC) and federal district courts.

Peter Jovanovic is a Legal Director, IP at Dell Technologies, providing support for several business units.  At Dell, he is responsible for patent portfolio development, patent litigation, open source management, and license drafting and negotiation.  Before joining Dell, he was an associate patent attorney providing prosecution, litigation, and licensing services.  Prior to becoming an attorney, Peter was a software engineer, having experience in computer security, satellite communications, and logistic planning software.

Peter has bachelor’s degrees in computer science and mathematics from UC San Diego, a master’s degree in computer science from San Diego State, and a juris doctorate from UC Hastings College of the Law.  He is registered to practice before the USPTO and is a member of the California Bar.

Peter has taught as an adjunct law professor, instructing on the primary legal and procedural requirements for preparing and prosecuting patent applications under US federal law.

Gail Su is a Senior Counsel on the Patent Transactions Team at Google. She is an IP attorney and United States registered patent attorney with experience in all forms of patent-related and intellectual property-related transactions, including inbound and outbound licensing, standard essential patent licensing, video and audio patent pools, complex technology transactions, cross-border transactions, and M&A. Prior to joining Google, she was IP counsel for Hewlett Packard Company and then, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, where she supported HP and HPE’s global supply chain, partnerships, emerging technologies, tax, and M&A teams.

Gail is also a co-founder of ADAPT.legal, a nonprofit organization that supports existing IP professionals and works to give every person the opportunity and support to be part of the next generation of IP professionals. ADAPT was founded by a community of friends who hope that every person in the IP profession can find success.

Caity Ross received her JD from Harvard Law School and her BA from Colorado College in Biochemistry & Classics-History-Politics. After working for the start-up Gamblit Gaming, Caity joined SharkNinja in 2019 as a Senior Patent Counsel.  She has focused on international patent portfolio management for the Shark brand, now holding the Associate General Counsel, Global IP & Robotics position at SharkNinja.

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.

Stan Gibson, Chairman of JMBM’s Patent Litigation Group, is a nationally recognized trial lawyer with over 30 years of experience handling high-stakes technology and trade secrets disputes. He secured a $24.8 million jury verdict in a Bluetooth trade secrets case and led Medtronic v. Michelson to a $570 million verdict, resulting in a historic $1.35 billion patent portfolio acquisition. His expertise spans satellite technology, medical devices, software, and LCD manufacturing. Recognized in Best Lawyers in America® and leading a U.S. News & World Report First-Tier ranked practice, Gibson is frequently quoted by The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times on key IP issues. He also publishes the Patent Lawyer Blog, offering insights on patent and trade secrets litigation.

Brett Sandford represents clients in high-stakes intellectual property cases, with a focus on trial.

Brett draws on experience — in more than a dozen trials and at every stage of the litigation process — to help clients pursue and defend a range of intellectual property claims, including patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation.

Brett has had success representing both plaintiffs and defendants in all of the patent-heavy districts. He has a highly developed team ethos, informed by a prior career in professional baseball, and an ability to play the long game to achieve success for his clients. Brett has developed expertise in the trial phase and handling intellectual property damages. He has successfully led damages cases for clients on the plaintiff and defense side, including achieving a unique result of zero damages for established direct infringement that was affirmed by the Federal Circuit on appeal.

Brett represents clients in every forum, including in district court and before the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, the International Trade Commission (ITC), and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). He also serves as Co-Chair on Latham’s Artificial Intelligence committee for the IP group and maintains an active pro bono practice, with a focus on helping clients win at trial.

Prior to joining Latham, Brett was a judicial extern for Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Corley of the Northern District of California. He also served as a judicial intern for Judge Thomas P. Anderle and Judge Brian E. Hill in the Santa Barbara Superior Court.

During law school, Brett was a member of the Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial Moot Court Competition and an executive editor of the Berkeley Business Law Journal. He received the Prosser Award for trial advocacy.

Jonathan Tuminaro, Ph.D. is a director in Sterne Kessler’s Trial & Appellate and Electronics Practice Groups. Jonathan is an experienced trial lawyer who focuses his practice on complex electronics litigation in the U.S. district courts, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). He has represented some of the leading high-tech companies in patent litigation matters relating to telecommunications, network security, LCD flat-panel displays, computer graphics, automotive technologies, GPS location-based service, and wireless power transfer. Jonathan is particularly well known for his extensive experience handling economics issues in patent litigation—including damages in district court, domestic industry at the ITC, and objective considerations of non-obviousness at the PTAB. He has defended patents that have led to judgments worth nearly $25M and has defended against patents where the damages were alleged to exceed $100M.

Brian P. Johnson is a Partner in the Washington, D.C. office at Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP, specializing in intellectual property litigation. With over 15 years of experience, he serves as first-chair counsel in cases before the International Trade Commission (ITC) and federal district courts, often handling high-stakes disputes for major telecom clients and arguing appeals before the Federal Circuit. Brian has litigated standard-essential patents under FRAND obligations across ETSI cellular, IEEE Wi-Fi, and JEDEC memory standards, and has guided clients through complex ITC investigations and multijurisdictional strategy, including interactions with U.S. Customs. Before joining Axinn, he was a partner at a prominent D.C. firm and began his career as a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He earned his J.D. from George Washington University Law School and holds a B.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Kathryn Bi is a Partner in the firm’s Litigation Department and is a member of its Patent Litigation practice. Ms. Bi focuses on complex technology disputes, with an emphasis on patent and trade-secret cases. She has extensive experience devising and executing winning strategies from case inception through trial and has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in successful jury and bench trials, including two as lead counsel. She has also secured numerous early, dispositive victories that allowed clients to avoid trial. Her technical experience spans a wide variety of industries, including computer hardware, software, telecommunications, video streaming, medical devices, consumer products, pharmaceuticals, and biologics. Ms. Bi received her B.E. in chemical engineering from Dartmouth College, and J.D., with honors, from the University of Chicago Law School.

Blair Hoyt is a Principal of Harness IP, bringing over 20 years of experience in patent prosecution and portfolio management. Serving clients from major corporations to individual inventors, he excels at aligning IP strategies with business goals and delivering customized, actionable counsel. Blair stays abreast of evolving IP trends through his involvement in legal organizations and internal firm committees, transforming those insights into value-added guidance. With deep expertise across a broad range of technologies – including AI, telecommunications and wireless technology, medical technology, agrifood tech and heavy machinery – he crafts efficient prosecution strategies and expert opinions that mitigate exposure and risk while maximizing the long-term value of intellectual property assets.

Derek Foran represents public and private companies in complex civil litigation in state and federal courts. Considered a litigation “heavy weight,” his practice focuses on high stakes trials and commercial litigation. Derek has extensive experience representing clients in complex commercial matters in state and federal trial courts and in private arbitration. Most recently, Derek secured a complete defense verdict on behalf of Lattice Semiconductor in a case seeking over $82 million in compensatory damages. After an 11-day trial the jury returned a verdict for Lattice in less than two hours. Among other awards, Derek has been recognized as a Northern California Super Lawyer on multiple occasions, named as a Top 100 High Stakes Litigator in Northern California, as well as a Recommended Lawyer in the 2022 edition of Legal 500 US. Clients turn to Derek because he is a “stand out” litigator who provides “excellent and strategic litigation advice.”

Derek also maintains an active pro bono practice. In 2016, he was awarded the Christopher Tietze Humanitarian Award for significant, lifetime contributions in the field of reproductive rights. Prior winners of this award include Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, the ACLU, and three US Senators. His work has been written about in The New York Times, TheWashington Post, and The Los Angeles Times.

Derek is a member of the Board of Governors of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, Northern California Chapter. He is also a former member of the Board of Directors of Bay Area Legal Aid and the Executive Committee of the Civil Litigation Section of the San Francisco Bar Association.

Derek is originally from Ireland.

Shankar Krithivasan is a Patent Counsel, Senior at Qualcomm, Inc., Santa Clara, where he strategically manages a patent portfolio for innovations in wireless and telecommunications technologies, with a significant focus on artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques. He also serves as a co-chair of IPO’s AI, Data, and Emerging Technologies subcommittee. Prior to joining Qualcomm’s in-house legal team, he was in private practice as a patent attorney, and has prior industry experience as a processor design engineer.. He has a JD from the University of Texas, Austin; Masters in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Madison; and Bachelors in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.

Doug Robinson is a Principal at Harness IP with extensive experience helping organizations build and leverage patent portfolios as strategic assets, including serving as lead counsel in patent cases throughout the country. He advises in-house teams on enforcement readiness and portfolio optimization, using data-driven insights to identify strengths and mitigate risks. Doug focuses on creating resilient IP strategies that align with business goals and position companies for success in a complex, fast-moving innovation landscape. He was recently named Lawyer of the Year for Litigation – Intellectual Property (2026) in St. Louis by Best Lawyers in America.

Ganga Venkateswaran is an Intellectual Property Project Manager at Ahlstrom, a global leader in sustainable fiber-based materials. With a Master’s in Chemical Engineering and over a decade of experience in nonwovens, filtration, and polymer science, Ganga specializes in identifying and protecting high-value innovations through patents, trade secrets and defensive publications. Her work spans invention harvesting, experimental design guidance, and cross-functional collaboration to align IP strategy with business goals Ganga has contributed technical input to managing multiple patent applications and disclosures, and is also named a co-inventor of patents on advanced fuel–water separation media design. Ganga brings a practical, business-aligned approach to IP strategy in fast-paced and innovation-driven environments.

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.

Kiran K. Patel is a Senior Intellectual Property Counsel with General Licensing at Koninklijke Philips N.V., where he is part of a team responsible for creating, developing, and leading licensing programs to obtain financial value for patent portfolios.  Kiran holds a Juris Doctor from Duquesne University School of Law, a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Drexel University, a Master of Laws in Intellectual Property Law from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a Master of Science in Computer Science/Engineering from John Hopkins University School of Engineering. He is admitted to practice law in the State of New York and the USPTO.  Prior to joining Philips, Kiran worked for over eight years in private practice.  He also worked on transactional work including negotiating license agreements and litigation work.  Kiran is also an Adjunct Professor at Drexel University School of Law where he enjoys lecturing on patent law topics.

Phil Hartstein is an executive and investor with more than two decades of experience in the intellectual property industry. Prior to founding Soryn IP Capital, Phil was the President and CEO of Finjan Holdings (formerly NASDAQ: FNJN, now owned by Fortress), where he oversaw the licensing and enforcement of the Company’s pioneering cybersecurity patents, and established a number of IP industry best practices for patent licensing. During his tenure as CEO, Finjan generated more than $300 million in licensing income both through negotiated deals and trial victories. Prior to Finjan, Phil’s career focused on IP investments and monetization, in industries ranging from medical devices to cybersecurity technologies. Phil is active in several industry organizations, and has worked diligently to establish standards for patent licensing through the Licensing Executives Society, where is a founding Board member of the Standards Development Organization. A named inventor and patent holder, Phil has more than two dozen pending and issued patents. Phil is regularly invited to speak on patent and policy related topics, and has been twice recognized as a Top 40 Global IP Dealmaker by IAM Magazine. Phil graduated with a BS in Industrial Technology from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Malgorzata “Gosia” Kulczycka is an experienced attorney in the firm’s San Jose office with a broad-based IP law practice. With more than 15 years of legal experience, Gosia works to protect and support her client’s intellectual property through patent preparation and prosecution and by employing trademark and brand protection strategies for and against infringement claims.

Inventor herself, Gosia practices in various IP areas and technologies, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, communication technologies, complex software, and more.

Gosia also has extensive experience in computer graphics and computer networks. She has procured and managed large IP client accounts in computer graphics and AI.