Judge David Nuffer
Judge David Nuffer was appointed as a United States District Judge in the District of Utah on March 23, 2012 and became Chief Judge on September 1, 2014. He resigned that position September 30, 2018 but continues as an active district judge. Most recently, he has directed the establishment of a Southern Region of the Central Division of the District of Utah to provide better services to citizens living over 300 miles from Salt Lake City, the location of Utah’s only federal courthouse.
David R. Todd
Shareholder at the intellectual property law firm of Workman Nydegger. His practice focuses on intellectual property litigation, including patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret litigation, and on client counseling matters requiring expertise in intellectual property law, including analyses of patent infringement and validity. He has participated as counsel in over 25 appeals at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and in a number of intellectual property actions in federal trial courts and at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
Mr. Todd served from 1997-1998 as a law clerk to the Honorable Randall R. Rader at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which resolves patent appeals from all U.S. district courts as well as all appeals from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Mr. Todd has participated in authoring a number of publications on patent law issues, has lectured on intellectual property issues, and currently serves as an adjunct professor of law at Brigham Young University where he has taught courses in patent law and intellectual property litigation. He has also served as an author of amicus briefs filed on behalf of the American Intellectual Property Law Association in cases pending before the United States Supreme Court and the Federal Circuit.
Dr. Angela L. Silvers
Associate at Workman Nydegger. She served from 2016-2017 as a law clerk to the Honorable Alan D. Lourie at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and from 2015-2016 as an extern to the Honorable Dee Benson at the United States District Court for the District of Utah.
Dr. Silvers possesses a Ph.D. in Organic/Inorganic Chemistry from Princeton University and has completed postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Georgia (Chemistry Department) and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (Dept. of Polymer Science and Engineering). Dr. Silvers was previously on the faculty of Western New England University and Susquehanna University. Her past research includes the development of organic-inorganic hybrid materials as nanoscale devices, as well as polymer “pro-drugs,” specifically biodegradable polymer scaffolds for the targeted delivery of cancer therapeutics. Dr. Silvers has published her research in a variety of peer-reviewed journals and presented her findings at universities and scientific conferences nationwide. As such, her technical experience includes all aspects of chemistry, biotechnology, life sciences, medical devices, and related processes.
Kristin Cleveland
Kristin Cleveland is a partner at Klarquist Sparkman. 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, serves on the firm’s management committee, 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 was a past 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.
Brett Foster
Brett helps his clients protect and enforce their intellectual property rights, and defends them against improper attacks. He has extensive experience in patent, trademark, trade secret, and false advertising cases in Federal District Courts throughout the county.
Brett is a partner in Dorsey’s Salt Lake City office. Brett is a leading national patent and intellectual property trial lawyer. He has served as lead counsel in cases throughout the Country (in 23 different states, mostly via pro hac vice admissions), and has taken many intellectual property cases to verdict. Brett and his trial teams are renowned for their success in high-stakes — often bet the company — complex cases.
Valerie Lozano
Partner in the Los Angeles office. Her practice focuses on complex business litigation, with an emphasis on intellectual property disputes. She has significant experience representing plaintiffs and defendants in patent, trade secret and trademark litigation. Valerie holds an undergraduate degree in finance and has substantial experience developing damages strategies, particularly in patent infringement cases. While her practice focuses on intellectual property litigation, Valerie has experience in numerous other areas, including securities litigation, products liability, contract, employment and negligence actions.
Valerie has extensive trial experience in state and federal courts throughout the country and has spent hundreds of days in trial trying some of the largest intellectual property cases of the last decade. As trial counsel, Valerie has always obtained a complete victory – receiving every dollar sought when representing plaintiffs and a complete defense verdict when representing defendants. Most recently, she was co-lead trial counsel in a three-month negligence and trespass case in the summer of 2021 in California state court in which the jury awarded her oil producer client $120 million in damages and prejudgment interest, and rejected all of defendant’s counterclaims.
David Wright
David (Dave) Wright is an intellectual property litigation lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP and managing partner of the firm’s Salt Lake City office. He is a member of the Innovative Technology and Health Care & Life Sciences Sectors.
Dave’s practice focuses on complex and intellectual property litigation, including false advertising, unfair competition, theft of trade secret, and copyright, patent, and trademark infringement cases. He offers experience in transactional matters, such as licensing and contracts, as well as providing strategic counseling on implementing corporate IP policies and procedures. Dave has successfully represented clients at the appellate and trial court stages in federal and state courts, including before the U.S. Supreme Court, and before the International Trade Commission.
Dawn M. David
Dawn David is an associate in Quinn Emanuel’s Salt Lake City office. Her practice focuses on complex intellectual property litigation. Dawn represents clients in all aspects and stages of offensive and defensive litigation matters. Dawn has represented clients in intellectual property disputes involving a wide range of technologies including, among others, telecommunications, graphics processing/architecture, central processors, mobile device technologies, ridesharing technologies, computer networking, video streaming, digital rights management, network security, content delivery networks and systems, video compression, graphical user interfaces, medical equipment, bar code readers, transportation and traffic safety equipment, food processing equipment, hunting equipment, construction equipment, and household appliances. She also has represented clients in cases involving trade secrets, trademarks, trade dress, and copyrights, as well as employment and contract disputes. Dawn’s experience also includes representing clients before the International Trade Commission.
Rachel Free
Rachel is a partner at International Law Firm CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP in London. Rachel is one of a group of patent attorney partners running the patent filing and prosecution team which looks after UK and European patent drafting, prosecution and opposition work for a large range of clients. Rachel qualified as a UK and European patent attorney in the last century and helps clients protect their technology through patents in a wide variety of fields, including AI, software, construction, infrastructure and telecommunications. She is vice chair of the CIPA computer technology committee, a member of the advisory board of the All Party Parliamentary group on AI, and an independent advisory board member of the University of Bath AI centre for doctoral training.
Alfred Spigarelli
Alfred is well known as one of the best experts of the European patent system and of the PCT. Alfred Spigarelli graduated in 1995 from the “Centre d’Étude International de la Propriété Intellectuelle” in Strasbourg and from the “École Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Metz” in 1985. He also passed the European Qualifying examination in 1996 and is registered in France as qualified person in industrial property (specialization patent of invention).
Before joining the other side of the bench, Alfred was director at the European Patent Office. He was, among other things, responsible for updating the EPO Guidelines, and for implementing legal changes. Then he managed quality at EPO which he got recertified under the ISO 9001 standard in 2017. Over the last 15 years, Alfred has inspired and implemented at European level most of the major procedural and legal changes in the EPC and PCT framework.
Paul N. Taylor
Paul N. Taylor’s expertise extends to preparation and prosecution of domestic and foreign patent applications related to a variety of technological areas, including medical devices, hydrocarbon exploration equipment and methods, consumer electronics, automotive safety devices, exercise equipment, software, optics, embedded devices, and clean-room technologies. He has experience in obtaining copyright and trademark registrations and preparing intellectual property-related employment agreements. He has also assisted clients in defending against patent infringement suits and has provided opinions including patentability and patent infringement opinions.
Molly Kocialski
As the Director of the Rocky Mountain Regional United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), since January 2016, Mollybeth (Molly) Kocialski carries out the strategic direction of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, and is responsible for leading the Rocky Mountain regional office. Focusing on the nine states within this region and actively engaging with the community, Ms. Kocialski ensures the USPTO’s initiatives and programs are tailored to the region’s unique ecosystem of industries and stakeholders.
Jorge Contreras
Jorge Contreras is a Presidential Scholar and Professor at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, where his research focuses on intellectual property, technical standards, antitrust law and science policy. He has written or edited eleven books and published more than one hundred book chapters and scholarly articles on these topics. His most recent book, The Genome Defense: Inside the Epic Legal Battle to Determine Who Owns Your DNA (2021) tells the story of the litigation that ended gene patenting in America. His work on standards and standardization has received numerous awards and has been cited by government agencies and courts in the United States, Europe and Asia. His 2-volume Cambridge Handbook of Technical Standardization Law (2017, 2019) is the leading reference work in the field. Professor Contreras is a frequent lecturer and speaker, and teaches an annual course on patent litigation, standards and pools at East China University of Political Science and Law (ECUPL). Prior to entering academic he was a partner at the international law firm Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr LLP, where he practiced international technology transfer law in Boston, London and Washington, DC. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School (JD) and Rice University (BSEE, BA).
Catherine Parrish Lake
Catherine Parrish Lake is a partner practicing in the Technology and Intellectual Property group. She offers pragmatic and strategic advice to help businesses and individuals develop, protect and utilize intellectual property rights. Catherine advises clients on acquiring, registering, maintaining and enforcing trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. In addition, her practice includes drafting and negotiating complex intellectual property and technology agreements. She also counsels clients on branding strategies, ecommerce and internet issues as well as intellectual property infringement problems. For many years, Catherine has led a team that serves as the designated agent for a mid-sized ecommerce platform, handling all of its takedown requests. Catherine also advises clients on alcohol licensing issues.
Before joining Stoel Rives, Catherine was an associate at Callister Nebeker & McCullough in Salt Lake City, 2006–2007; an associate at Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett LLP in New York City, 2004–2006; and a law clerk for Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, Southern District of New York, 2003–2004.
Bradley Hulbert
Bradley Hulbert is a partner in McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff, a 50-lawyer patent law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois, and Mountain View, California. He is also an adjunct professor of law at the Chicago-Kent Law School, where he teaches courses in patent law. He frequently give talks on US intellectual property law.
Erika Arner
Erika Harmon Arner
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP
Erika Harmon Arner is a well-known expert on practice before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and has been named PTAB Litigator of the Year by Managing IP. She has led more than 200 PTAB trials and is regularly counted in the top 3 women appearing before the PTAB. She argued and won the first PTAB trial ever filed and has won several other high profile PTAB challenges. She has argued and won appeals at the Federal Circuit, many involving issues of first impression, and represented the petitioner before the Supreme Court of the United States in the landmark patent case Bilski v. Kappos.
Erika is a champion for women in IP and served as the first female president of PTAB Bar Association. She co-founded the DC chapter of Women in IP Network (WIN) and currently co-leads the women’s committees of the Intellectual Property Owners’ Association. She is regularly listed among the Top 250 Women in IP and was honored as a Working Mother of the Year by Working Mother Magazine.
Salvador Bezos
Salvador M. Bezos is a director in Sterne Kessler’s Electronics Practice Group. Sal helps clients develop enforceable patent portfolios in a wide range of technical areas, including user interfaces, financial software products, cloud computing, parallel and distributed computer architectures, computer graphics, networking, automotive technology, databases, and computer architectures. His extensive experience representing patent owners and petitioners alike in trials before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) allows him to help inventors secure patents that can withstand validity challenges, including statutory subject matter issues in the business method and software areas.
Joseph Paunovich
Joe Paunovich is a partner based at the firm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP with offices in Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. His practice area spans a wide variety of complex and high stakes matters in both state and federal courts, including high stakes intellectual property litigation, licensing, and antitrust disputes. He is also a registered patent attorney and provides client counseling on strategic prosecution, post-grant and reexam proceedings and product design in connection with litigation.
Mr. Paunovich works with Fortune and early stage companies, including, for example, Pfizer, MannKind, Brink Biologics, NantKwest, Olaplex, Neurovision Medical Products, OCO Biomedical, Peel Technologies, Wolverine World Wide, IBM, IQAir, Uber, Ansun Biopharma, Moldex-Metric, and Pokerstars, involving complex technologies such as cyclooxygenase selective inhibitors, viral vaccines and delivery systems, recombinant DNA, respirator and hearing safety equipment, computer operating systems, cell phone applications and user interfaces. He has tried numerous cases to verdict and obtained other pretrial victories and positive resolutions for his clients throughout the world, including two Top 100 verdicts in the U.S. Mr. Paunovich has been repeatedly recognized as a top trial lawyer by Managing Intellectual Property, Law360 and Super Lawyers. He also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of California Irvine Law School, teaching patent litigation, and has for several years sat on the charitable board of the Los Angeles Legal Aid Foundation.
Mr. Paunovich was a member of the University of Michigan Inteflex Program (a combined B.S./M.D. program) where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology and graduated from the University of Michigan Law School.
Jeff Stephens
Jeff Stephens is the founder of Stephens IP Law and a former Administrative Patent Judge at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Brigham Young University and his J.D. from Harvard Law School. Jeff began his legal career at Knobbe Martens Olsen & Bear in Irvine, California, and then served as a law clerk to The Honorable Pauline Newman at the Federal Circuit. Following his clerkship, Jeff practiced with Durham Jones & Pinegar in Salt Lake City, and later accepted the appointment to serve as an APJ in the Dallas, Texas regional office of the USPTO.
At PTAB, Jeff authored 350 decisions on ex parte appeals in electrical and mechanical art groups, and also served on additional panels deciding ex parte appeals and IPR trials. After five years at PTAB, he returned to private practice and founded Stephens Law, PLLC, where he primarily worked with another firm representing patent owners in IPRs before PTAB and in appeals to the Federal Circuit. Jeff formed Stephens IP Law in 2022 to expand his PTAB practice to additional clients. Jeff lives in Sunnyvale, Texas with his wife and children, and enjoys wakesurfing, longboarding, and Texas BBQ.
Harper Batts
Harper has a decade and a half of experience as an intellectual property litigator and client counselor. Numerous Fortune 500 clients have relied upon his experience to represent them in highly contentious patent disputes in venues across the country. He has been selected as a Top IP Attorney in California by the Daily Journal, and IAM Patent 1000 noted that Harper “performs adroitly in post-grant proceedings on both the patent owner and petitioner sides.” In 2020, he obtained institution of numerous petitions for inter partes review, obtained numerous final written decisions finding all claim unpatentable, and obtained an exceptional case finding and an award of attorney’s fees in the Central District of California.
Theodore Nittis
tnittis@geminiriskpartners.com
Theo is one of the founding principals of Gemini Risk Partners, a professional liability insurance brokerage that limits its practice to insuring law firms. He is a nationally-known risk management and claims advocacy resource, as well as a former professional liability and insurance coverage litigator. Theo works closely with Gemini’s larger law firm clients and is responsible for claims handling, and risk management consulting.
Theo received his undergraduate degree from Albion College, and his J.D. from Wayne State University. After leaving the private practice of law in 2003, he worked for national and regional insurance brokerages as a professional liability broker, claims advocate, and risk management resource.
In addition to presenting to numerous law firms around the country, He has lectured or been on discussion panels at dozens of legal malpractice and ethics conferences. He maintains active membership in the State Bar of Michigan, the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers, and the Council on Litigation Management