CHARLES ELDERING, Ph.D.

Chairman & Founder

Charles has extensive experience in the electronics, telecommunications and optics industries as a researcher, engineer and inventor having close to 20 years of industrial experience prior to founding Technology, Patents & Licensing in 1998. Since founding TPL, he has been focused on helping clients obtain and utilize patents by providing services that cover the combined technical, legal and business aspects of patents. Through Charles’s leadership, TPL has created a mining methodology and proprietary software that allows for rapid and cost-effective mining of patents. Using this methodology and software, TPL has assisted numerous companies in locating patents for acquisition and subsequent use in counter-offensive patent actions, cross-licensing and revenue generation.

GERARD ELDERING

President

Gerard Eldering is responsible for business development and operations at TPL and is also a registered patent agent. Throughout his career, he has worked with research organizations on the management of technologies in the areas of electronics, software, antenna, aviation and nanotechnology. Gerard is also active in the university technology transfer community and has been responsible for the formation of more than a dozen university spinout companies. Prior to joining TPL, he founded and served as Director of the Technology Transfer Office (TTO) at The MITRE Corporation. During his eight year tenure in the MITRE TTO, he completed more than 150 licenses and facilitated the creation of four startups.

He serves on the Board of James Madison Innovations, Inc. and is a frequent speaker and moderator for organizations including the Association of University Technology Managers and Technology Transfer Tactics.

EDWARD EHRLACHER, Ph.D.

Vice President, IP Strategy

Ed is a registered Patent Agent and works closely with clients in strengthening their intellectual property positions both through patent acquisitions and patent application development. He has aided clients to enhance their patent holdings through analysis of patents identified using patent mining techniques coupled with technology assessment and market analysis. He has also developed strategic patent portfolios both by working closely with inventors to patent their original ideas and also by developing new ideas aligned with the business objectives of the client.

Prior to joining TPL, Ed was a process development engineer in the semiconductor and photonics industries. He has over ten years of experience as a member of the technical staff at Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, Agere Systems, TriQuint Optoelectronics and CyOptics working on process development for fabrication of silicon integrated circuits and indium phosphide optical components. In addition to his industry experience, Ed has taught undergraduate physics as an assistant professor and has been a consulting science advisor at Elman Technology Law.

GEOFFREY FISHER

Chief Financial Officer

Geoffrey Fisher brings over 35 years experience in Finance, Accounting, and Business Development to TPL.  He started his career with the Ford Motor Company training program and has worked in various industries from Internet start-ups to Fortune 100 companies; all of which focused on cutting edge technologies in the broadcast television, radio, telecommunications and telemetry fields.

He has been responsible for establishing numerous internal control programs as well as establishing internal policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with Sarbanes Oxley, FCPA, GAAP and FAR guidelines.

BERNARDO PARATORE

Senior Analyst

Bernardo is a registered Patent Agent and has extensive industrial experience in taking system level concepts and turning them into products. During his 25-year career in engineering, he has developed and directed the development of numerous system level and VLSI silicon solutions for telecommunications systems including satellite terminals, digital cable settops and PSTN/WAN subsystem components. He has served in executive, managerial and engineering roles at Plantronics Corporation, COMSAT CTP Inc. General Instrument Corporation, NxtWave Communications Inc. and TranSwitch Corporation.

Since joining TPL, Bernardo has combined his technical expertise with patent analysis skills to help TPL’s clients understand patent portfolios being considered for acquisition and to determine potential uses for those portfolios. Bernardo has analyzed thousands of communications, consumer electronics and microelectronics patents and performed detailed analyses on many of those patents to determine the extent to which the patents cover commercial products. His practical experience allows TPL’s clients to better understand if a patent truly holds value.

DAVID GROSSMAN

Consultant

David has over 25 years of experience as an electrical/software engineer and over 10 years of experience in patent prosecution, portfolio development and intellectual property licensing. Prior to consulting with TPL, David was with George Mason University for almost ten years where he was the Assistant Director of Technology Transfer. David still teaches a clinical patent drafting class at George Mason University School of Law as an Adjunct Professor of Law.

As an inventor, David has over 15 patents most of which have been successfully monetized. These patents are directed to various areas such as vehicle power doors, media watermarking, XML mathematics and visual copyright protection. As a patent agent, David was responsible for developing and monetizing the Digital Video Express (DIVX) George Mason University patent portfolios. As an engineer, David designed toys for Fisher-Price Toys earlier in his career and later was the lead software and avionics engineer for the Orbital/NASA X-34 rocket plane.

DONALD CARLIN,
Ph. D.

Consultant

Don has over 30 years experience in developing and commercializing lasers, optical communications, data storage, displays and medical devices as a researcher, an entrepreneur and a senior executive. In addition, he has extensive experience in engineering management, product development, defining business strategies and creating new technology ventures.

He joined RCA Laboratories (later Sarnoff Corporation) first as member of the technical staff and then as manager of an R&D group in optoelectronic devices and systems. During this period, Don was recognized for important contributions in the development of semiconductor diode lasers and optical storage. He chaired the International Conference on Optical Memory in 1993 as well as presiding over numerous other technical conferences. At Sarnoff, he also managed R&D groups and programs in displays, luminescent materials, and MEMS.

Don has also provided senior management leadership at Optex Communications which developed optical storage for video applications, Melcor, a manufacturer of thermoelectric devices and systems, CardioVascular Solutions, which developed devices for accurate placement of stents in coronary arteries, and Conversus Group, a business consultancy that improves the performance of small and mid-sized companies.

ROBERT WINSLOW

Consultant

Rob has over 13 years of experience across a variety of roles in the wireless telecommunications industry. From designing and expanding the radio frequency side of cellular networks to the engineering and long range planning of switching and adjunct platforms, Rob’s knowledge spans the entire network of a wireless service provider. His experience also includes mobile application creation and development, computer programming and database design.

Early on, Rob began his wireless career as a radio frequency engineer at AirTouch Cellular where he engineered coverage and capacity growth of the analog and digital cellular networks, designed system enhancements and optimized system performance. After gaining expertise on the cellular side, Rob changed to the switching side of the Verizon Wireless network where he designed system expansion and optimized the network performance of adjunct switching platforms. Here he led installations, software upgrades, and new feature integrations including the first enterprise launches of Mobile Originated Short Message Service and Message Delivery Service. Rob moved on to a planning team where he created usage forecasts, wrote medium to long term network expansion plans and worked with equipment manufacturers on system and application evolution. In this role, he also worked with marketing to develop customer communications and feature packages for new products and services and wrote business cases for new expansion and product plans.

Rob also has product marketing experience from a position at Verizon Communications where he designed and managed the product development, implementation, and feature enhancement of wireless products and services. Rob wrote business cases for his new products and services that included demand forecasts, capital requirements and risk assessment. In addition to his experience in the wireless industry, Rob has recent experience with online publishing, online advertising, website design and programming and merchant exchange services.

KEVIN RIEFFEL

Attorney

Kevin is an attorney with experience in patent prosecution and litigation in a wide variety of technologies and legal issues. Kevin combines his legal knowledge and his passion for technology in preparing and prosecuting patent applications, claims analysis, infringement investigation, validity inquiries and other reports in support of litigation or due diligence. Kevin is a member of the Pennsylvania state bar, has appeared in court for both civil and criminal matters and successfully combines his legal talents with his technical knowledge in his writing and analysis to help TPL’s clients. Kevin’s patent prosecution experience has enjoyed a variety of large and small inventors from various technological subject areas including inventions like business metric dashboards, rotating image displays, role playing games and methods of pad printing. Kevin is keen in understanding and discussing newly created law and precedent such as the America Invents Act and the resulting patent rules.

Since joining TPL, Kevin has continued his path of technological diversity with mechanical, electrical and computer-related projects that range from broadband cable connectors to scalable graphics to internet advertising. His inter-disciplinary skill set meshes well with small inventors, large portfolios and litigation teams alike.

SCOTT DEMAREST

Analyst

Scott brings over twenty years of diverse technical engineering experience to TPL. As a senior consultant, he contributes his technical knowledge of high speed circuit design, analog circuit design, networking and data storage protocols, closed loop control systems, biometrics, magnetics, thermal and stress analysis, mechanical and packaging design, PC board layouts, and wireless communications and protocols (3G, WCDMA, GSM, CDMA, TDMA, WiMax, WiFi, etc.). In the area of network and data storage, Scott has developed InfiniBand compliant products encompassing InfiniBand, HT, PCI, DDR memory and Fibre Channel interfaces. In the area of analog circuit design, Scott has 15 years of experience that includes the design of DC-DC converters (flyback, forward and resonant), custom magnetics, sensor interface and signal conditioning, linear and PWM motor drives, constant current/voltage sources and EL and CCFL backlighting for LCD displays. Scott has extensive experience in controls that range from high speed servos for avionics to closed loop hydraulic position and force systems for agricultural applications.

In addition to product development, Scott has successfully taken products and systems through FAA, FCC class A & B, CE and UL Safety testing and compliance certification. Scott has also functioned as the engineering liaison to a major aircraft manufacturer and had significant roles in the evaluation and selection contract manufacturers.

Before joining TPL, Scott managed engineering projects for InfiniCon Systems, Ametek Aerospace Corp., and GE Astro Space Division. As a Project and R&D manager, Scott successfully developed products for the aerospace and telecommunications markets—on both the industrial and commercial side.

SUZANNE DEPREZ

Consultant

Suzanne has extensive software development experience as a software developer, technical writer and project manager and has been involved in software process improvement initiatives. During her 30 year career in software development, she has developed software for on-board computers for the F-16, GPS receivers, life insurance underwriter and agent support, cell phone systems, and content management system and feeds for a regional newspaper. She has been involved in requirements analysis, testing, documentation, and project management for various websites and a mobile app. She has experience using Java, Javascript, PHP, HTML, XML, C, and C++.

She has also earned SUN’s Java Programmer and Developer certifications. She has served in all phases of software development at General Dynamics, Rockwell International, Guarantee Life Insurance, Compaq and the Omaha World-Herald. Since joining TPL, Suzanne has used her software expertise to analyze software to determine the extent to which a patent covers a software application.

DAN STARK

Consultant

Dan has over 30 years of VLSI design engineering experience specializing in the fields of video signal processing, computer architecture, VLSI modeling, simulation and software algorithm development. Early on, Dan joined RCA’s Astro Electronics Division where he worked as a principal independent R&D investigator developing spaceborne flight computer articles and peripheral satellite bus equipment. Dan was primarily involved in the design of radiation-hardened integrated circuits, systems, flight article certification and project management including cost, schedule and the technical proposal and design review process.

During his tenure at Intel’s Digital Video Interactive Operation, his work concentrated in the design and verification of custom Video Signal Processing IC’s that helped form the foundation of Intel’s entry into the then emerging multimedia arena. Dan managed DVI’s Architecture Verification Group and also worked as a software algorithm developer.

At Princeton Video Image, Dan developed embedded DSP software and a reprogrammable hardware platform that was used to perform real-time morphological image transformations that appeared ‘live, on-air’ using the company’s Technical Emmy Award winning LVIS® virtual insertion system. Variations of this platform hardware was used as a general purpose DSP processor stage to implement other image transformations, housekeeping functions and various signal processing tasks.

Additional experiences at AT&T’s Bell Laboratories, Sarnoff Corporation, Clique Communications and Sirius Satellite Radio continued to leverage Dan’s expertise in signal processing, VLSI architectures, system simulation and software development for numerous commercial products. Products on which Dan has worked include those within the areas of High Definition television, video signal processing, video instant messaging, end-user software application production and design library algorithm design.

KAMIL BOJANCZYK

Consultant

Kamil Bojanczyk is a researcher and consultant with experience in smart grid technologies. His work covers business analysis and technical simulations in areas including demand response, country- and sector-level market assessments, commercial and residential buildings, energy management systems, storage and distributed generation.

Kamil has recent experience researching microgrids at Goldwind Science & Technology in Beijing. He previously worked for Kinestral Technology, a stealth mode startup, where he developed an energy and economic analysis model for parametric testing of building materials for new construction office buildings and homes. Kamil worked as a research engineer in the Energy and Environment Research Lab at Cornell University where he managed smart grid projects including a real-time pricing mechanism with renewable energy, a home energy management system demonstration, and a vehicle-to-building project. He also worked at Barclays Capital as a technology analyst in equity derivatives and at Wireless Glue Networks where he worked on home area network applications.

LEONARD TAYLOR

Consultant

Len is a registered patent attorney who specializes in patent prosecution. He has over 10 years experience prosecuting domestically and internationally in areas of telecommunications, computer software, medical devices, mechanical devices and automotive devices. He has prosecuted PCT applications, trademark applications and copyright registrations. Len has been involved in commercial litigation drafted a wide variety of contracts, drafted licensing agreements and provided business advice to corporate clients in a wide variety of legal areas from corporate structure to taxation.

Additionally, Len has extensive practical software development experience as a software developer, systems analyst and project manager and has been involved with the development of large scale computer systems in the telecommunications, banking and pharmaceutical industries. During his 20 year career in software development, he has developed software for warehousing, payroll systems, inventory and stock brokerage systems. He has been involved in requirements analysis, testing, documentation and project management for various mainframe computer systems. Len has experience with CISCO network architecture, networking, Javascript, HTML, XML, DB2, CICS, IMS and COBOL. He has served in all phases of software development at AT&T, Verizon, Johnson & Johnson and ADP.