Six attorneys and a technical specialist have joined Banner Witcoff from other firms since late April, highlighting the ongoing growth of the nationally recognized intellectual property law firm.
Manav Das, Ph.D., Ben Holt, Wesley W. Jones, Robert W. Molitors, John Whelan, and Brent K. Whitlock, Ph.D., are the latest attorney additions to Banner Witcoff, which also recently welcomed Venkatram Pepakayala, Ph.D., as a technical specialist. They focus on a variety of intellectual property matters, including post-grant proceedings, appellate matters, licensing, preparation, and patent prosecution, as well as client counseling across a wide range of technologies.
“We are thrilled that Manav, Ben, Wes, Bob, Brent, John, and Venkatram have joined our growing team,” Banner Witcoff President Andy Mu said. “They each bring valuable and unique skills to the firm. Their depth of experience is going to benefit our clients, and strengthen our already highly-regarded patent practice.”
He added, “We’re proud of the growth we have experienced in the past few years, both in terms of attorneys and the services we offer clients. We have added 11 attorneys this year for a total of 17 since August 2018, and expect the growth to continue.”
Manav Das joined Banner Witcoff’s Chicago office as of counsel on May 6. He comes to the firm from global software company Micro Focus International PLC and previously worked as patent counsel at Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co, and practiced at Middleton Reutlinger in Louisville. He has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from St. Stephen’s College in New Delhi and a doctoral degree in mathematics from The Ohio State University. He earned his law degree from University of Louisville.
Ben Holt joined the firm as of counsel in Washington, D.C., on April 29. He previously practiced at Stoel Rives LLP in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton in Walnut Creek, Calif. He has two bachelor’s degrees — one in computer engineering and the other in electrical engineering — from University of Utah, and earned his law degree and a Masters of Business Administration from University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law. Ben also has experience working in the industry, handling real-time programming and wireless communications for a supplier of precision machining and electronic manufacturing services.
Wes Jones joined Banner Witcoff as of counsel in the Washington, D.C., office on April 22. He comes to the firm from Kacvinsky Daisak Bluni PLLC and previously practiced at Kenyon & Kenyon LLP, which eventually became part of Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP. While at Kenyon & Kenyon, Wes worked with John Hutchins and Shawn O’Dowd who joined Banner Witcoff in June 2018 and April 2019, respectively. Wes earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from University of Virginia, and his law degree from University of Virginia School of Law.
Bob Molitors joined the firm as of counsel in Washington, D.C., on May 21. He previously practiced at Miles & Stockbridge P.C. Bob has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Case Western Reserve University, and a master’s degree in electrical engineering and a Masters of Business Administration from Northeastern University. He earned his law degree from Capital University Law School.
Venkatram Pepakayala joined the firm in Chicago as a technical specialist on April 29. He previously worked at Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP. Venkatram has a bachelor’s degree in electronics and telecommunication engineering from Nagpur University. He earned a master’s and a doctoral degree in electrical engineering from University of Michigan.
John Whelan joined Banner Witcoff’s Chicago office as an attorney on June 19. He previously practiced at Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren P.C. John has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Iowa, and a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology. He earned his law degree from the University of Iowa.
Brent Whitlock joined Banner Witcoff’s Chicago office as an attorney on May 1. He comes to the firm from Silicon Valley-based Invoke IP P.C. Brent previously worked as a patent attorney at Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner P.A. and Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, and as a patent agent at Silicon Valley-based Carr & Ferrell LLP. While at Drinker Biddle & Reath, Brent worked with Venkatram Pepakayala who also recently joined Banner Witcoff. Prior to his legal career, Brent was a principal and director of optical systems at startup company RSoft Design Group Inc. (now part of Synopsys Inc.), where he spearheaded the development of RSoft’s suite of optical communication system simulation tools based on his doctoral research. Brent earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Posted: June 20, 2019
