Flaster Greenberg is pleased to announce an active hiring season for its patent practice during the summer of 2024. Since June, the firm has welcomed seven new attorneys plus a technical advisor to its team.
Patent attorneys James I. Burris, John Harrelson, Ph.D., Kent C. Hess, Stephanie H. Lim, Mark R. Luderer, Ph.D., Sherif Mahmoud, Gregory A. Melnick, and Technical Advisor, Alexander “Xander” Krohannon, have joined Flaster Greenberg’s Intellectual Property Department and Patent Practice Group.
Jordan LaVine, co-managing shareholder and trademark attorney, said: “Our ever-growing bench of patent attorneys reinforces the firm’s core value of providing high quality legal services to our clients. Expanding this specific practice area is all about the firm staying ahead of innovation, building trust with clients, and turning our client’s ideas and inventions into valuable assets."
The Patent Practice Group is a team of experienced patent lawyers composed of former patent examiners and sophisticated attorneys with industry experience and advanced technical degrees. They concentrate their practices on all aspects of patent law, including patent prosecution, counseling and opinions, due diligence, post-issuance proceedings, litigation, and licensing in a multitude of sectors including, but not limited to, artificial intelligence, Internet and IoT, life sciences, material sciences, wireless communications, semiconductors, electrical circuits, computer processing, data security, telecommunications, medical devices, and more.
Michael Piscitelli, chair of the Intellectual Property Department, added: “Our diverse team of attorneys really allows us to offer clients in-depth knowledge across a variety of technologies. We’re excited to integrate the new members into the team and look forward to continued success as a group.”
Flaster Greenberg’s Patent Practice Group maintains over 8,000 active U.S. and foreign patent properties and litigates cases throughout the United States. The deep bench of attorneys works with a wide variety of clients with global portfolios, including some of the largest companies in the United States and the world. The firm’s client base includes well-known, innovative, and tech-forward companies in diverse technological areas such as telecommunication systems, solid state devices such as light-emitting device, load control electronics and power systems, medical devices, genome sequencing equipment, and drug delivery.
Brief biographies follow:
James Burris, associate, brings more than two decades of engineering experience including almost ten years serving as president and CEO of an engineering design and consulting company he started. Prior to joining Flaster Greenberg, Burris was a patent examiner for the United States Patent and Trademark Office where he assessed the patentability of inventions claimed in patent applications. He received his J.D. from Temple University Beasley School of Law, a M.B.A. from LaSalle University, and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Drexel University. He joined the firm in June of 2024.
John Harrelson, Ph.D., associate, has more than 20 years of experience in worldwide patent portfolio management, drafting, and prosecuting patent applications across various technical fields, including chemical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and nanotechnology. Prior to becoming an attorney, Harrelson developed an intimate understanding of a company's business as an in-house intellectual property manager and senior research chemist at DuPont. He started at the firm in August 2024
Kent C. Hess, associate, obtained his J.D. from George Mason University – Antonin Scalia Law School. He received his bachelor’s degree from Towson University in physics and successfully completed Flaster Greenberg’s Summer Associate Program in 2023. He started at the firm in September 2024.
Alexander “Xander” Krohannon, M.S., is a technical advisor who plays an integral role in our Patent Practice Group. Krohannon started his career as a biochemist, has been a graduate student researcher, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in bioinformatics. His research over the last 10 years has focused on the execution next generation sequencing (NGS), including the use of machine learning algorithms, deep learning, and other high-performance computing in utilizing bioinformatics tools to perform comprehensive research. Krohannon received a master’s degree in bioinformatics from Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis and a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. He started at the firm in June 2024.
Stephanie H. Lim, associate, is a trial attorney who focuses her practice on patent litigation, most notably including wireless communications. Lim has represented leading consumer electronics, pharmaceutical, medical device, and automotive companies in both asserting and defending intellectual property before U.S. District Courts, the International Trade Commission, and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. She received her J.D. from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law received her bachelor’s degree. in neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania. Lim started at the firm in September 2024.
Mark R. Luderer, Ph.D., of counsel, has substantial experience in the pharmaceutical, life sciences, and biotech industries. He focuses his practice on prosecuting and litigating patent assets involving pharmaceutical small molecules and compositions, organic synthesis, methods of treatment, polymers, green chemistry, and dietary foodstuffs. Prior to joining Flaster Greenberg, Luderer was a solo practitioner. He received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Connecticut and obtained his J.D. from the Boston University School of Law. Luderer started at the firm in September 2024.
Sherif Mahmoud, associate, focuses his practice on drafting and prosecuting patents in the field of electrical and software technologies. Prior to his patent practice, Mahmoud spent almost a decade in the field of electrical engineering. He developed, maintained, and documented hardware and software for an unmanned aerial vehicle and for semiconductor test equipment. He received his J.D. from Illinois Institute of Technology – Kent College of Law and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering with a minor in computer science from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He started at the firm in August 2024.
Gregory A. Melnick, associate, is a patent attorney with more than ten years of experience and a strong background in computer science. Melnick focuses his practice on patent application drafting and prosecution across diverse technological domains, including artificial intelligence (machine learning, neural networks), computing systems and software, electronics, speech recognition, blockchain, telecommunications, and more. He received his J.D. and bachelor’s degree in computer science from John’s University. Melnick started at the firm in August 2024.
ABOUT FLASTER GREENBERG PC
Flaster Greenberg, a midsize business law firm with offices throughout the Mid-Atlantic and in Florida, has been providing legal services to publicly traded corporations, privately held and family owned businesses, entrepreneurs, and individuals for more than 50 years. With locations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and Florida, Flaster Greenberg serves a broad range of clients in dozens of industries and practice areas including aviation law, bankruptcy, business & corporate, cannabis, commercial litigation, environmental, family law, healthcare, insurance recovery, intellectual property, labor and employment, real estate, taxation, transportation, and trusts and estates.
