Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox Announces Election Of Three New Directors

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C., an intellectual property law firm based in Washington, DC, recently announced the election of three new Directors – Jason D. Eisenberg, Kenley K. Hoover, Ph.D., and Deborah Sterling, Ph.D. – effective January 1, 2013.

"2013 is our 35th year of practice and also marks a year of great opportunity as U.S. patent law evolves following passage of the America Invents Act," said Sterne Kessler Managing Director Michael B. Ray.  "The election of these three accomplished attorneys to our directorship comes at a most exciting time."

• Jason D. Eisenberg is a Director in the Electronics Group. He provides strategic counsel with regard to opinions, due diligence, complex international prosecution, complex reissue prosecution, ex parte and inter partes reexamination, and patent office litigation (i.e., inter partes review) across a wide spectrum of electrical, mechanical, and optical technologies worldwide. He began his career in intellectual property in 1991, serving as a patent searcher and then patent examiner before attending law school.  He applies more than 20 years of patent experience to craft creative solutions for the companies he represents. Mr. Eisenberg holds his J.D. and B.S. in Electrical Engineering from The Ohio State University, along with a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Maryland University College.
  
  
• Kenley K. Hoover, Ph.D. is a Director in the Biotechnology/Chemical Practice Group. He specializes in corporate intellectual property and provides counsel on matters relating to: product driven portfolio, lifecycle, and risk management; IP asset transfer and licensing; preparing for, conducting, and defending IP-related due diligence inquiries; and patentability, freedom to operate, validity, and infringement issues.  Dr. Hoover also has extensive domestic and foreign patent prosecution experience and has prosecuted over 500 U.S. patents to issuance. He holds a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law, a Ph.D. in Developmental Biology from The Johns Hopkins University, a M.S. in Cell Biology from the University of Michigan, and a B.S. in Plant Biology from Duke University.
  
  
• Deborah Sterling, Ph.D. is a Director in the Biotechnology/Chemical Group. She holds significant experience representing clients in patent reexaminations and in interferences before the Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and has been involved in multiple pharmaceutical and biotechnology patent litigations, including those brought under the Hatch-Waxman Act.  She also has extensive experience in evaluating patent portfolios, e.g., for invalidity, non-infringement, freedom-to-operate and due diligence analyses, frequently assisting clients in devising design-around strategies for issued patents. Dr. Sterling holds her J.D. from George Mason University, along with a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Physiology from the University of Alberta and a B.Sc. with first class honors in Biochemistry from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C. is one of the largest Washington, DC-based law firms specializing in the protection, transfer and enforcement of intellectual property rights. Sterne Kessler's 150 patent attorneys, agents and technical specialists represent a broad range of entities, including emerging and established companies, venture capital firms, universities and select individuals.  The firm was named to The National Law Journal's 2012 Intellectual Property Hot List, Washington Business Journal's 2012 Best Places to Work list, and won the Constance L. Belfiore Quality of Life Award from the Bar Association of the District of Columbia.  In 2013, Sterne Kessler celebrates its 35th year of practice.

SOURCE Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.