Banner & Witcoff, Ltd., a national intellectual property law firm that procures, enforces and litigates intellectual property rights throughout the world, welcomes four new associates who were sworn in during Illinois’ Nov. 10 bar admission ceremony.
Kimberly S. Devine, Chicago, focuses her practice on a variety of intellectual property areas, including patent prosecution as well as litigation involving patent, trademark, and trade dress disputes. Her patent practice involves a range of fields, including matters related to mechanical and electrical devices, design patents, athletic equipment, graphical user interfaces, and software.
Prior to joining Banner & Witcoff, she worked as a systems engineer for Raytheon on missile defense systems.
She earned her B.S. in electrical engineering, summa cum laude, from Valparaiso University, and her J.D., cum laude, from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.
Kevin B. Liu, Washington, D.C., focuses his practice on the preparation and prosecution of patent applications in various technological areas, including mobile devices, wireless systems, user interfaces, and computer software.
Prior to attending law school, he was an engineer and manager at General Mills, where he designed, tested, and optimized food processing equipment in their Snack Bars department. Additionally, while in school, he interned at Kimberly-Clark in the research and development department.
He earned his B.S. in electrical engineering and his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Illinois.
Surendra K. Ravula, Chicago, focuses his practice on intellectual property litigation and patent procurement in a variety of areas, including medical devices, electronic systems, telecommunications platforms, and Internet technologies.
Prior to joining Banner & Witcoff, he worked as a research engineer at several engineering companies in the public and private sectors, including Agilent Technologies in Palo Alto, California, and Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
He earned his B.S. degree in electrical engineering, magna cum laude, from Duke University, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical and computer engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he was a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow and a President’s Fellow. He earned his J.D. from the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, where he graduated cum laude.
Kurt C. Riester, Chicago, focuses his practice on patent and trademark litigation and prosecution in a variety of technical fields including the mechanical and electrical arts, medical devices, graphical user interfaces, software, and sporting goods. He has worked with teams litigating in federal court and in adversarial proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the United States International Trade Commission.
Prior to joining Banner & Witcoff, he worked as a mechanical engineer designing material handling systems for coal power plants.
He earned his B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Notre Dame, and his J.D., cum laude, from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.
About Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.
A national intellectual property law firm with more than 100 attorneys and 96 years of practice, Banner & Witcoff, Ltd., provides legal counsel and representation to the world’s most innovative companies. Our attorneys are known for having the breadth of experience and insight needed to handle complex patent applications as well as handle and resolve difficult disputes and business challenges for clients across all industries and geographic boundaries. For more information, please visit http://www.bannerwitcoff.com/.
Please direct all media inquiries to Amanda Robert at (312) 463-5465 or arobert@bannerwitcoff.com.
Posted: November 10, 2016
