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.