Flaster Greenberg PC announced today that its Intellectual Property Department and Philadelphia office continues to grow with the addition of seven more patent members who have joined the firm this week. The additions include four associates and three paralegals. The vast majority of this second wave that was welcomed to Flaster’s Philadelphia office hail from the same boutique intellectual property law firm that previously employed the four IP shareholders who joined the firm last week. The new patent associates include Benjamin Chalfin, Aakash Patel, Ryan Peddle and Nicholas Rogillio, all of whom represent clients primarily in the telecommunications, electrical devices, software, medical device, pharmaceutical, and manufacturing industries. In total, 11 new team members, including the four shareholders, four associates, and three paralegals have joined Flaster Greenberg since the beginning of 2020, expanding the firm’s Philadelphia office and Intellectual Property Department. Last week, the firm announced the addition of shareholders Ross Alexander, Michael Bonella, Joseph Klinicki, and Michael Piscitelli to the firm, bringing with them a robust international patent procurement and litigation practice and more than 60 years of combined legal experience.
“I am excited to continue growing my patent prosecution practice with my partners at Flaster Greenberg,” said Ross Alexander, patent shareholder who joined the firm last week. “We have been impressed with the support that Flaster Greenberg has in place for maintaining our current patent prosecution clients, as well as the resources to help us grow this part of the practice. It is obviously a great benefit to have our litigators joining us, as we see being a full-service patent practice as benefitting both the prosecutors and litigators to provide the highest value services to our clients.”
“We’re extremely happy to welcome the associates and paralegals this week to complement and support the firm’s booming IP practice and increase our footprint in Center City,” said Jordan LaVine, Chair of Flaster Greenberg’s Intellectual Property Department and Lateral Hiring Committee.
The addition of the 11-member patent group is part of Flaster Greenberg’s ongoing growth strategy. Over the last two years, Flaster Greenberg has added 25 new attorneys and opened offices in Conshohocken, PA; Jenkintown, PA; Princeton, NJ; and Boca Raton, FL. In January 2019, the firm announced that the attorneys and staff of estate planning boutique law firm Plotnick & Ellis joined Flaster Greenberg, bringing with them a team of six attorneys, two paralegals, and five administrative staff members and a new office location. Additionally, the firm recently welcomed litigation attorney Daniel Epstein. Last December, the firm announced the addition of shareholder Daniel Markind to the Philadelphia office, bringing with him a nationally known Aviation Practice, and business and aviation law attorney Lauren Schwimmer, both formerly of Weir & Partners LLP. Tax attorney Eric Loi and Trusts and Estates attorney Courtney Dolaway also joined the Flaster Greenberg team last fall. Last year, the firm welcomed Elder & Disability Law shareholder Jane Fearn-Zimmer, formerly of Rothkoff Law Group, and Tax shareholder David Neufeld, former name partner at The Law Office of David Neufeld, to the firm’s Cherry Hill office. In 2017, the firm brought on Corporate and Tax shareholder Joseph Hayes, former Principal at Offit Kurman. The firm most recently launched a Cannabis Practice, an Elder & Disability Law Practice, a PFAS practice, an Aviation Law Industry Group, and formalized its Pharmaceutical Industry Group. The firm was also named one of the Best Places to Work in New Jersey by NJBiz in 2018. Most recently, the firm announced the election of Courtney Dolaway, Angie Gambone, Lauren Schwimmer and Damien Tancredi to shareholders effective January 1, 2020.
As stated in last week’s announcement welcoming the four shareholders:
“We are excited to begin 2020 by welcoming this accomplished and well-respected group of attorneys and staffers,” said Zuckerman. “We truly believe that this will be a great partnership due in part to the similarities and synergies among our strategic paths and values, and also our overall approach to the practice of law. We look forward to the group taking part in the evolution of not only our Intellectual Property Department, but our firm as a whole.”
“The team’s extremely sophisticated practice adds a highly sought after specialty that complements perfectly our existing IP Practice and that will add many blue chip clients to our existing roster of valued clients,” said LaVine.
“We are extremely impressed by Flaster Greenberg’s existing capabilities and their commitment to growth moving forward,” said Joseph Klinicki, Chair of Flaster Greenberg’s Patent Practice Group. “It is clear that the firm’s emphasis on transparency, fairness, and strong advocacy for their clients has driven their success, and we are all very excited about the possibilities that this opportunity creates for both us and our clients.”
“We saw early on that Flaster would provide the perfect platform from which to serve our existing clients and to grow our practices,” commented Michael Bonella, Shareholder and member of the firm’s Board of Directors. “The firm understands both patent prosecution and litigation and we believe being at a general practice commercial law firm will allow us to eventually provide non-IP legal services to our valued and longstanding clients. Flaster’s leadership has been great through our transition and we are excited to hit the ground running.”
Brief biographies for all of our new attorneys follow:
Ross Alexander is a shareholder focusing his practice in patent procurement, trademark procurement and defense, patent licensing, and patent litigation. His clients range from large financial service corporations and medical device manufacturers to small tech startups. Alexander has a special understanding of the technological, legal, and business aspects of inventions that leverage electrical and computer systems. He also has valuable experience formulating and executing post-grant strategy and has a demonstrated track record of litigating his clients’ position in court. Alexander has additional experience in both foreign and domestic prosecution, having successfully prosecuted design patent applications, utility patent applications, and trademark applications for his clients. Alexander earned a B.S. in Computer Science and Political Science, cum laude, from the University of Indianapolis and his J.D., cum laude, from Syracuse University School of Law.
Michael Bonella is a shareholder and member of the firm’s Board of Directors where he focuses his practice on complex patent litigation in diverse technology areas including, electrical hardware and software, medical device, consumer products, and telecommunications. With over 23 years of intellectual property experience, he has argued before the Federal Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and first-chaired multimillion-dollar patent cases. He has also been the lead attorney on a number of district court litigations, representing both the plaintiffs and defendants and is well-versed in all aspects of district court litigation as well as post-grant proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. A registered patent attorney, Bonella earned his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Villanova University, graduated magna cum laude with his J.D. from Duke University School of Law, and received his LL.M. in Trial Advocacy from Temple University, James E. Beasley School of Law. He is also certified by the U.S. Navy as a nuclear engineer and served five years in the U.S. Navy Submarine Force.
Benjamin Chalfin is an associate focusing his practice on patent prosecution in the electrical, computer, life sciences, and electro-mechanical fields. He earned his J.D. from Duke University School of Law, and holds an M.S. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Duke University and a B.S. in Neuroscience and History from the College of William & Mary, cum laude.
Joseph Klinicki is chair of the firm’s Patent Practice Group, and is focused on helping companies develop and secure their intellectual property rights with experience in every stage of the patent life cycle. From initial strategic counseling to enforcement and post‐grant proceedings, he recognizes the value of how IP can be used to advance the business goals of his clients. Klinicki’s patent procurement practice includes global portfolio management responsibilities that have garnered him substantial interaction with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and all major foreign patent offices. His practice also includes transactional support related to IP transfers and licensing as well as representing clients in commercial litigation. Klinicki earned his J.D. from the University of Texas Law School, with honors, and his B.S. from The Pennsylvania State University in electrical engineering with honors and high distinction.
Aakash Patel is an associate focusing his practice on intellectual property litigation and patent procurement in the electrical and computer fields. His practice also includes protecting innovations in electrical systems, telecommunications, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and medical devices. Patel earned his J.D. from Temple University, James E. Beasley School of Law, and his B.S. in Computer Engineering from Villanova University. Prior to his legal career, he worked as a computer engineer at one of the largest broadcasting and cable television companies in the world.
Ryan Peddle is an associate working on matters involving patent procurement, patent due diligence, intellectual property strategy, and portfolio development/management. He earned his J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law – Camden, an M.E. in Systems Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University and his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Drexel University. Prior to his legal career, Peddle worked as a systems engineer and mechanical engineer for the U.S. Department of Defense.
Michael Piscitelli is a shareholder focusing his practice on patent procurement within the electrical, computer, and electro‐mechanical fields, with an emphasis on a wide range of technologies such as wireless communications (HSPA, LTE, 5G, IoT, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Thread), power control systems, video compression and delivery protocols (H.264 (AVC), H.265 (HEVC), VVC, DASH), artificial intelligence (machine learning, neural networks, and deep learning), blockchain, and complex medical devices. He works with businesses and inventors throughout the entire patent procurement process from invention disclosure to patent issuance for both domestic and foreign applications. Prior to his legal career, Piscitelli worked at a large electrical utility company, where he was responsible for performing circuit analysis on the distribution and transmission systems. At a major semiconductor company, he supported the creation of large-scale printed circuit boards for use in the testing of semiconductor devices. While pursuing his undergraduate degree, he gained valuable engineering experience in both the electrical utility and the semiconductor industries. Piscitelli earned his J.D. from Villanova University School of Law and his B.S. from Northeastern University in Electrical Engineering.
Nicholas Rogillio is an associate focusing his practice on patent preparation, patent prosecution and patent litigation. He earned his J.D. from the University of Alabama School of Law and a B.S. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Alabama.
“As Flaster Greenberg continues to grow, both regionally and with new practice areas, we are always looking for talented attorneys to join our team,” said Alan Zuckerman, Managing Shareholder of Flaster Greenberg. “Working together, we look forward to more fully serving both our existing regional and national clients with the top-notch service they’ve come to expect, with added depth and breadth of services. Our Cherry Hill office is also currently undergoing renovations to add a level of comfort and sophistication for our clients and employees as well as a state-of-the-art conference center.”
