Fish & Richardson Elevates 17 Attorneys to Principal

Fish & Richardson is proud to announce the elevation of 17 attorneys to principals at the firm, effective January 1, 2022. The new principals include: Michael Ballanco (D.C.); Caleb Bates (Silicon Valley and Southern California); Vivian Cheng (New York); Crystal Culhane (Southern California); Patrick Darno (D.C.); Will Freeman (D.C. and Boston); Ken Hoover (Austin); James Huguenin-Love (Twin Cities and Silicon Valley); Karan Jhurani (Atlanta); Jun Li (Dallas); Peng Lin (Boston and New York); John McCormick (Boston); Tim Rawson (Southern California); Ayan Roy-Chowdhury (D.C.); Jeremy Saks (New York); Lance Wyatt (Dallas); and Won Yoon (D.C.).

"We're pleased to welcome this outstanding class of new principals. These colleagues not only represent the future of Fish, they also demonstrate the best qualities of the firm today, including a genuine commitment to client service," said John Adkisson, president and chief executive officer of Fish.

"The collection of talent elevated in the 2022 principal class is notable for the variety of life experiences that each new principal brings to the firm from clerkships, academia, industry positions and elsewhere," said Kristine McKinney, chief operating officer of Fish. "They enrich our workplace and add enormous value to our client work."

Newly promoted principals for 2022 are:

Michael Ballanco focuses his practice on all aspects of patent infringement matters at the trial and appellate level. He received his J.D., magna cum laude, from George Mason University School of Law in 2014 and his B.S., cum laude, in computer science and business from Lehigh University in 2008.

Dr. Caleb Bates focuses his practice on intellectual property law, with an emphasis on patent prosecution, strategic counseling, and worldwide patent portfolio management in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology fields. He received his J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law in 2013, his Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry from the University of Michigan in 2010, and his B.S. in biochemistry and history from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in 2004.

Vivian Cheng focuses her practice on trademark and copyright litigation and also counsels clients on a broad range of issues relating to trademark, trade dress, and copyright protection and enforcement, unfair competition, and false advertising. She received her J.D. with honors from Emory University School of Law in 2014 and her B.S. in biology and society from Cornell University in 2011.

Dr. Crystal Culhane focuses her practice on U.S. and foreign patent prosecution, opinion work, due diligence studies, and client counseling in the areas of chemistry, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, nanotechnology, oil and gas, food and beverage, and medical devices. She received her J.D., cum laude, from California Western School of Law in 2014, her Ph.D. in chemistry from Johns Hopkins University in 2008, and her B.S. in chemistry from the University of St. Thomas in 2001.

Patrick Darno focuses his practice on U.S. and foreign patent prosecution and counseling in the technology areas of bioinformatics, mobile communications, e-commerce, database, and data processing. He had years of intellectual property experience before entering private practice, as he was previously a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. He received his J.D. from Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law in 2012 and his B.S. in computer engineering from Pennsylvania State University in 2005.

Will Freeman focuses his practice on patent litigation in U.S. District Courts and Section 337 Investigations at the International Trade Commission, with a technical emphasis on medical device and imaging technology patents. He received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School in 2014, and his B.S. with honors and highest distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2011, with double majors in business administration and political science.

Ken Hoover focuses his practice on U.S. and foreign patent prosecution and post-grant proceedings in the fields of software, business methods, speech recognition, networking, semiconductor technologies, wireless communications, medical devices, and heat transfer technologies. He received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2014, his M.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 2005, and his B.S. with distinction from the United States Naval Academy in 2003.

Dr. James Huguenin-Love, whose technical knowledge covers fields ranging from semiconductor device physics to quantum mechanics to information theory, has litigated matters involving standard-essential patents and patents covering bed sheets, integrated circuit design, power supply controllers, wafer polishing, video editing, and screen scraping software. He received his J.D. from New York University School of Law in 2014, his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Nebraska in 2010, and B.S. degrees with highest distinction in electrical engineering and high distinction in computer engineering from the University of Nebraska in 2005.

Karan Jhurani operates a multi-faceted practice that emphasizes complex patent litigation and pre-litigation diligence, patent prosecution and portfolio development, and post-grant proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. He assists clients in a wide range of technologies, including search engine and analytics algorithms, digital image and video processing, cellular communication standards, audio and video decoding, sports and fitness products, and consumer electronics. He received his J.D., with honors, from Emory University School of Law in 2014 and his B.S. with highest honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2009.

Jun Li, who had a successful career in the telecommunications industry prior to joining Fish, focuses his practice on patent prosecution and post-grant proceedings in areas involving software, telecommunications, database technologies, cryptology, internet and computer network security and applications, and microelectronics. He received his J.D. from the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law as the valedictorian in 2014, his M.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Dallas in 1997, and his B.S. with honors in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1995.

Dr. Peng (Paul) Lin concentrates his practice on patent prosecution and counseling, opinion work, due diligence studies, and patent portfolio development and management. He has extensive research experience and training in human genetics, molecular biology, biophysics, bioinformatics, and biostatistics. He received his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 2014, his Ph.D. in human and statistical genetics from Washington University in St. Louis in 2011, and his B.S. with high honors in biological science from Tsinghua University in 2006.

John McCormick works closely with businesses on brand adoption, protection, and enforcement in the U.S. and internationally. He received his J.D., cum laude, from the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law in 2014 and his B.A., magna cum laude, in history from St. Michael's College in 2011.

Tim Rawson operates a practice that encompasses all aspects of intellectual property litigation and advising, with an emphasis on patent litigation. He received his J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law in 2014 and his B.S., cum laude, in mechanical engineering from Texas Tech University in 2004.

Dr. Ayan Roy-Chowdhury focuses his practice on patent prosecution and counseling, opinion work, due diligence studies, patent portfolio development and management, and post-grant proceedings before the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board. He assists clients in a variety of technologies, including in electrical and computer engineering, computer science and software, mechanical engineering, and medical devices. He received his J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center in 2017, his Ph.D. and M.S. in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Maryland in 2008 and 2003, respectively, and his B.S. in electronics and telecommunications engineering from Jadavpur University in 1998.

Jeremy Saks represents clients in patent and trade secret litigation in District Court and before the International Trade Commission. He has experience litigating cases across broad technology areas, including medical devices, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, and electronics, and for clients ranging from growing tech companies to large multinational corporations. He received his J.D., cum laude, in 2014, his M.S. in biochemistry in 2014, and his B.A., cum laude, in biochemistry in 2011 from Case Western Reserve University.

Lance Wyatt focuses his practice on patent litigation and has expertise in an unusually diverse range of disciplines, including life sciences, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, software and computer technologies, and oil and natural gas. He received his J.D., magna cum laude, from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in 2014 and his B.S., magna cum laude, in biomedical engineering from Texas A&M University in 2011.

Won Yoon is dedicated to helping clients with patent prosecution, post-grant proceedings, due diligence, infringement and invalidity opinions, and freedom-to-operate analysis. He received his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 2017, his S.M. in 1998 and E.E. (Ph.D.-equivalent coursework) in 2011 in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his B.S., summa cum laude, in electrical engineering from Columbia University in 1996.