Jun 5 2009
Berenato, White + Stavish, LLC, Maryland's leading patent firm, providing counseling and litigation services to clients in the U.S. and around the world, providing counseling and litigation services to clients in the U.S. and around the world, today announced that Steven Kelber and Kyle Hepner had joined the team.
Berenato, White & Stavish provides full-service IP technology and product coverage, ranging from consumer goods, electronics, and manufacturing to the Internet, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. Their practice includes all aspects of patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret law, including counseling, prosecution, licensing and litigation. Kelber and Hepner will expand the firm's vast resources for private, federal and state clients.
"Adding Steve and Kyle to our team will enhance our ability to meet clients' intellectual property needs," says Joseph W. Berenato, III, Member of Berenato, White & Stavish, LLC. "With almost 30 years dedication to patent prosecution, patent interference and trade secret law, we are excited to have Steve on board. He brings a unique ability to work with organizations securing affordable patent protection for University premised technology. We are also thrilled to have Kyle on the team as he brings an intense focus on preparation and prosecution of U.S. and international patent applications."
Amplifying the firm's depth of knowledge in the technology sector, Kelber will work on patent interferences, patentability, validity and infringement opinions, procurement of both domestic and foreign patents, client counseling, licensing, agreement negotiations, portfolio assessments and corporate intellectual property development, including mergers/acquisitions. Prior to joining Berenato, White & Stavish, Kelber served as partner at Jagtiani+Guttag. He has spent his career working with start-up enterprises, technology transfer offices, and Fortune 500 corporations in the private sector. Kelber is a frequent lecturer on a variety of topics involving patent law and an adjunct professor at George Mason Law. Steve is internationally recognized for his expertise in Interference Practice, an inter partes proceeding unique to the United States to resolve rights between parties claiming the same invention. Steve has been lead counsel on nearly two hundred interferences, as well as teaching and speaking on interference matters widely.
He received his Bachelor of Arts with majors in Biochemistry and Political Science from the University of Maryland in 1978 where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. Mr. Kelber received his Juris Doctor, With Honors, from the National Law Center, George Washington University in 1981.
"Berenato, White & Stavish is nationally known for its commitment to a 'hands-on' approach to all cases," says Kelber. "I look forward to working with large corporations, start-ups and academic clients continuing the trend of offering a personal touch to each of our client relationships."
A 2008 graduate of The George Washington University Law School, Hepner joins Berenato, White & Stavish to concentrate on patentability, validity, and infringement research as well as opinion writing. Prior to law school Hepner received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from The George Washington University in 2005 and during his academic years he worked at an intellectual property firm in Alexandria, Virginia.
"I am eager to join one of the most trusted names in IP law, and to bring my education in nanotechnology and computer-integrated manufacturing to the firm," says Hepner.