Banner & Witcoff, Ltd., a national intellectual property law firm that procures, enforces and litigates intellectual property rights throughout the world, announces the election of nine shareholders.
Michael S. Cuviello, Elected Principal Shareholder, Washington, D.C., joined the firm in 2008. Mr. Cuviello focuses his practice on post-grant trials at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, patent counseling, and preparation and prosecution of patent applications. His technical areas of expertise include semiconductor devices, electromechanical devices and renewable energy technologies. Prior to joining Banner & Witcoff, Mr. Cuviello spent 15 years working as an electrical hardware and semiconductor design engineer. He earned his B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park, and M.S. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California, San Diego. He earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.
Azuka C. Dike, Elected Principal Shareholder, Chicago, joined the firm in 2010. Mr. Dike focuses his practice on a range of intellectual property matters, with an emphasis on patent infringement litigation, patent prosecution, patent monetization and opinion counseling. He has significant experience in an expansive range of fields, including computer hardware and software, business methods, design patents and mechanical devices. Mr. Dike also has a significant post-issuance practice, including IPRs. He earned his B.S. degree in computer engineering and finance from Washington University in St. Louis, and his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law.
Craig W. Kronenthal, Elected Principal Shareholder, Washington, D.C., joined the firm in 2011. Mr. Kronenthal concentrates his practice on the preparation and prosecution of patent applications in various fields, and particularly in the computer and electronic device areas. He also has extensive experience with inter partes review proceedings, where he has represented both petitioners and patent owners. In addition, he counsels clients on various patent-related matters and prepares patentability, freedom-to-operate, and infringement/non-infringement opinions, and has experience in patent litigation and reexamination matters. Prior to joining Banner & Witcoff, Mr. Kronenthal was a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, focusing on image processing related to watermark, biomedical and object tracking applications. He earned a B.S. degree in electrical engineering and a certificate of entrepreneurship from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law.
Aaron Bowling, Elected Shareholder, Chicago, joined the firm in 2013. Mr. Bowling focuses his practice on intellectual property litigation in a variety of industries, including biotechnology, athletic footwear, sporting goods, construction hardware and consumer products. He provides strategic advice on matters involving utility patents, design patents, trademarks, trade dress, copyrights and antitrust. Prior to joining Banner & Witcoff, Mr. Bowling served in the Chambers of the Honorable Jimmie V. Reyna at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He earned his B.S. degree in molecular and cellular biology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and M.S. degree in bioengineering and biotechnology from Northwestern University. He earned his J.D. from the George Washington University Law School.
Jeffrey Chang, Elected Shareholder, Washington, D.C., joined the firm in 2011 as a law clerk. Mr. Chang focuses his practice on patent procurement, opinions, counseling and post-issuance proceedings. He has experience in many technical areas, such as medical imaging and devices, wireless communications, television, autonomous vehicles, software and data security, Internet and financial services. Prior to joining Banner & Witcoff, Mr. Chang worked as a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, examining medical device applications. He also previously worked at a Fortune 500 medical device company and a Midwest electric power cooperative. He earned his B.S. degree in electrical engineering, summa cum laude, with a minor in statistics from the University of Minnesota. He earned his J.D., with honors, from the George Washington University Law School.
Gregory Israelsen, Elected Shareholder, Washington, D.C., joined the firm in 2013. Mr. Israelsen focuses on intellectual property litigation, representing clients in patent disputes and inter partes review proceedings related to electrical, computer hardware, computer software and mechanical arts. He also represents clients in copyright- and trademark-infringement actions. Before joining Banner & Witcoff, Mr. Israelsen developed smartphone apps for mobile platforms. He earned his B.S., with University Honors, in electrical engineering from Brigham Young University, and his J.D., cum laude, from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University.
Maurine L. Knutsson, Elected Shareholder, Chicago, joined the firm in 2015. Ms. Knutsson focuses her practice on protecting, enforcing and managing clients’ trademarks, copyrights, designs and cyber rights. She helps clients develop effective strategies for establishing and enforcing U.S. and global trademark rights, and also represents clients in opposition and cancellation proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and in federal courts. She earned her B.S. in engineering mechanics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and her J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School.
Shambhavi Patel, Elected Shareholder, Washington, D.C., joined the firm in 2014. Ms. Patel focuses her practice on a variety of intellectual property matters, including patent prosecution, post-grant proceedings and patent litigation. She has experience handling technology related to integrated circuits, cloud computing, user interfaces, telecommunications, business methods, software and signal processing. Prior to joining Banner & Witcoff, Ms. Patel was a patent examiner with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, examining applications related to simulation and modeling of various technologies, including integrated circuits, automation, vehicular systems, oil and gas, software, graphical user interfaces and virtual/augmented reality. She earned her B.S. in electrical and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. She earned her J.D. from George Washington University Law School.
Justin M. Philpott, Elected Shareholder, Chicago, joined the firm in 2016. Mr. Philpott focuses his practice on patent prosecution, litigation, transactions and opinion counseling. During his more than 15-year career in intellectual property law, he has examined, prosecuted, acquired, licensed, and litigated countless patents in areas such as mobile phones, digital televisions and HDTV coding, semiconductors, liquid crystal displays and digital still cameras. Prior to joining Banner & Witcoff, Mr. Philpott counseled clients in the intellectual property group of a global general practice law firm. He also previously worked as a patent examiner with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, examining and conducting searches for patent and PCT applications in multiplex communications. He earned his B.S. in electrical and computer engineering, with high honors, from Rutgers University. He earned his J.D. from Georgetown University.
About Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.
A national intellectual property law firm with more than 100 attorneys and nearly 100 years of practice, Banner & Witcoff 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 www.bannerwitcoff.com.
Please direct all media inquiries to Amanda Robert at (312) 463-5465 or arobert@bannerwitcoff.com.
Posted: January 31, 2018
