PATENTS Advisory Board

Brad Groff is a shareholder with the Atlanta intellectual property boutique Gardner Groff Greenwald & Villanueva, PC. His practice is primarily devoted to the procurement of patent and trademark rights and counseling clients to avoid IP problems. Brad has been recognized as one of the top attorneys in his practice area, repeatedly selected as a Georgia “Super Lawyer” in intellectual property law, named to Georgia Trend’s “Legal Elite,” and receiving Martindale-Hubbell’s highest “AV” peer-evaluated certification. He has served as Chair of both the Atlanta Bar and State Bar of Georgia Intellectual Property Sections and is active in the Atlanta IP Inn of Court.

Brad is a frequent speaker at professional programs and law schools as well as a mentor to many younger attorneys. Prior to his legal career, Brad was a mechanical engineer in the nuclear materials field. He is a named inventor on two patents and a published author. Brad devotes considerable time and resources to his community, serving in several civic organizations. His pro bono efforts include the legal representation of a faith-based youth leadership organization, trademark work for churches and church programs, and legal work for a clean drinking water initiative in Haiti.

Charlie is Deputy IP Counsel for NCR Corporation, a global leader in transformational transaction technologies including online banking, point-of-sale, mobile payments, and omni-channel retailing. His practice focuses on a broad array of intellectual property related matters including IP development, protection, and monetization; sales and procurement contracting; collaboration; mergers and acquisitions; and intellectual property defense. Prior to his work at NCR, Charlie was the Technical Manager for Combustion Systems at Alstom Power where he was responsible for the worldwide development of combustion technology, focusing on NOx emissions reduction systems for pulverized coal fired utility power boilers.

In addition to a JD from the Western New England University School of Law, Charlie has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. When he’s not working, Charlie enjoys spending time with his friends and family on Martha’s Vineyard or wherever else he may find them.

Charles has well-rounded intellectual property experience, including successfully asserting infringement in arbitration against a multinational electronics manufacturing company and obtaining a dismissal on behalf of a semiconductor manufacturer in an Investigation before the International Trade Commission. He has drafted and prosecuted patents as well as aided companies analyzing intellectual property assets in various transactions. Charles is also a registered Georgia neutral. Additionally, Charles has taken an active role in the Atlanta legal community, beyond serving on the Georgia PATENTS Board, by working as the Troutman Sanders Fellow at Atlanta Legal Aid and serving as chair of the National Moot Court Competition.

In law school, Charles worked full time at the International Trade Commission for Chief Administrative Law Judge Charles E. Bullock. He gained additional experience working in-house at Eastman Chemical Company. His scholastic achievements include the Georgia Law Review and Moot Court Board. He graduated magna cum laude and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. Prior to law school, Charles worked in pharmaceutical drug development after studying biochemistry.

A graduate of Berry College, Cheryl is a former high school teacher and began her legal career as a reference librarian. She is now the Director of Pro Bono and Community Service for the law firm of Alston & Bird and has served in her current role for over a decade. In addition to her work on the GA PATENTS Advisory Board, Cheryl is one of the co-founders of GAIN, the Georgia Asylum & Immigration Network, where she serves as the chair of the Advisory Board. She is an active member of the Atlanta Pro Bono Roundtable, the Atlanta Immigration Group, and recently joined the board of re:Imagine/ATL. She is actively involved with the Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta, Center for Civic Innovation, and serves on the GO Team for Paul H. Dunbar Elementary School. Cheryl is also a Past-President of the Corporate Volunteer Council of Atlanta and a proud graduate of the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Regional Leadership Institute’s Class of 2016.

Armed with technical experience as a mechanical engineer on an industry-leading company’s missile defense program, Chris knows how to find creative and cost-sensitive solutions to his clients’ issues. His attention to detail, thoughtful counsel, and leadership in the local legal community have helped him form long-standing relationships with some of the world’s most recognizable companies, resulting in a thriving IP practice at Alston & Bird LLP.

Chris is active not only on the Georgia PATENTS Advisory Board, but also in leadership in the Intellectual Property Owners Association, on the Board of Directors for the Atlanta Bar Association, and in the IP Section of The State Bar of Georgia. For his ongoing local bar association and community service leadership efforts, Chris has been awarded the Georgia PATENTS Program’s Volunteer of the Year Award (2015 and 2016), and the Atlanta Bar Association’s Celebrating Service Award (2015). He will also in October 2017 receive Georgia State University College of Law’s IP Community Service Award. Chris routinely speaks as a panelist at local and state bar association CLE events; in his free time he goes to the park, swimming, camping, or the Tellus Museum with his seven children.

Ellen was born in Memphis, Tennessee. She graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism (A.B.J) and later completed her Masters Degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology (M.S.) at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Ellen is currently the Regional Sales Director of Sales, Southeast U.S., Pure Storage, Inc. Pure Storage is a Silicon Valley-based market leader in independent solid-state arrays. Ellen joined Pure to build the Southeastern sales and engineering team, producing sales of $2.8M in her first year. Three years later, her team produced sales of $77M, marking 2,650% growth. This achievement earned her District the title of #1 Sales District Worldwide in 2015. Since then, Ellen and her team have continued to show sales growth.

Prior to joining Pure Storage, Ellen held various sales leadership, business development and alliance roles at Cisco and BellSouth Business Systems. She also and led the Mid-Atlantic/Southeast and Federal Teams as Divisional Vice President of sales for VCE (Virtual Computing Environment). In addition to her position on the Georgia PATENTS advisory board, Ellen enjoys volunteering as mentor for both Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), Women Unlimited, a Women’s Leadership Development Organization and serving on the Open Doors and Red Carpet committees of Saint Mark United Methodist Church’s membership outreach programs.

Ellen and her husband, Mike, reside in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia where they enjoy all the city of Atlanta has to offer from it’s fabulous restaurants, music venues and museums to its beautiful weather where they enjoy biking, hiking and tennis.

Karen is the founding member of the women-owned boutique law firm Mills Law, LLC, specializing in contracts, corporate transactional/business law and mediation. She provides practical advice on issues related to entity formations, contract terms and conditions, corporate acquisitions and divestitures, equity and debt financing, corporate governance and other general corporate matters. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Emory University School of Law.

Earlier in her career, Karen was an electrical engineer with an electric utility corporation where she designed electrical distribution systems and later managed the organization’s Transmission Line Lightning Reliability Improvement Program. She is also a registered Professional Engineer, the profession’s highest designation.

Karen is also founder of KVM Enterprises, LLC (dba Miss Jenny’s Treats), a food products company which was launched in June 2016.

She graduated with a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Kim is the Small Business Outreach Specialist for the state of Georgia’s Department of Economic Development. She assists small businesses and entrepreneurs by guiding them to state and partner resources to meet their business needs and objectives. A 16-year veteran of Georgia state government, Kimberly’s experience ranges from marketing and communications to research and business development. Prior to joining state government, Kim worked in communications with TSYS in Columbus, Georgia. A graduate of Auburn University, Kim resides in Douglasville, Georgia.

Laura serves as the Director of Patent and License and Chief IP Counsel for the Office of Tech Transfer at Emory University. She oversees Emory’s in-house patent group, provides contracting advice to the licensing team, and ensures that licensees comply with the terms of their licenses.

Before joining Emory, Laura represented branded and generic pharmaceutical companies in Abbreviated New Drug Application (“ANDA”) litigation arising under the Hatch-Waxman Act. She has been recognized by Chambers USA, by Managing IP in the “Top 250 Women in IP” and as an “IP Star,” and by LMG Life Sciences as a “Life Sciences Star.”

Matt is a Partner in the Intellectual Property Practice Group of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP, practicing in all areas of IP. In addition to his focus on patent prosecution and litigation, Matt counsels clients on copyright issues and assists with obtaining, maintaining, and enforcing their trademarks. He has successfully represented and assisted clients of various sizes, from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies, while also providing pro bono legal services for the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership. Matt received his B.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Prior to receiving his J.D. from the University of Georgia’s (UGA) School of Law, he worked for Caterpillar.

Matt is an active member of the Intellectual Property section of the Georgia Bar and the Atlanta IP Inns of Court. In addition to his full-time legal practice, Matt is an Adjunct Professor of patent law at the UGA School of Law. He is also recognized as one of the top attorneys in his practice area, repeatedly selected as a Georgia “Super Lawyers’ Rising Star” in intellectual property law and named to Georgia Trend’s “Legal Elite.”

Matt is also very active in his local community. He is a recent graduate of Leadership Buckhead, and an active supporter of the arts in Atlanta. In his free time, Matt enjoys spending time with his wife Tori and their son Cal, reading, biking through the city, and cheering on his local professional and collegiate sports teams.

Nicole Morris is a Professor in Practice and Director of the TI:GER (Technological Innovation: Generating Economic Results) program at Emory University School of Law. TI:GER is an innovative partnership between Emory and Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) that brings together graduate students in law, business, science, and engineering to work on ways to take innovative ideas from the lab to the marketplace. As a Professor in Practice, her areas of expertise include patent law, patent litigation, patent prosecution, IP licensing, and strategy.

Prior to joining the Emory faculty, Nicole was the former Managing Patent Counsel at The Coca-Cola Company and was responsible for the development and implementation of the Company’s global patent strategy and providing day-to-day advice and counseling to business stakeholders.

Nicole received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern, her M.S. in Chemistry from University of Michigan, her law degree from the University of Minnesota, and is a registered patent attorney. She has over twelve years of experience practicing patent law in large and mid-sized law firms and has represented clients in patent and trademark litigation matters, as well as patent prosecution matters. She also worked as an engineer for six years with 3M and Eli Lilly and has over twenty years of experience working with consumer products and technology commercialization.

Nicole is a frequent speaker on innovation, technology commercialization, and patent law topics including patent strategy, IP licensing, and the role of corporate counsel in patent transactions. She is heavily involved in the IP community as a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), Atlanta IP Inn of Court, Atlanta Bar Association, National Bar Association IP Section, a board member of Georgia Lawyers for the Arts, and Minority In-House Counsel Association. In 2013, Professor Morris was awarded the 2013 “Rising Star Corporate Counsel Award from the Atlanta Business Chronicle and featured in the August 2013 issue of Corporate Counsel magazine.

Scott is the President of AT&T Intellectual Property. He is responsible for the identification, development, protection, management, marketing, licensing, and sale of all company-wide intellectual property. Scott was named President of AT&T Intellectual Property in March of 2007 following the December 2006 merger of AT&T and BellSouth, where he had previously been the President of Intellectual Property since 1998. During his 9 years at BellSouth before the merger, Scott grew their patent portfolio from less than 50 patents to more than 1000 patents, exponentially expanded their IP marketing and greatly added to their bottom line, and gained recognition from BusinessWeek for the significant value of their patent portfolio. Since joining AT&T, Scott has grown their patent portfolio to approximately 15,000 patents worldwide, been recognized by the Wall Street Journal as the #2 most valuable patent portfolio in telecom behind only Qualcomm, and has successfully licensed and sold patents, trademarks, and copyrighted technology to add significant dollars to AT&T’s bottom line.

Scott received his Bachelors in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech, and his Law Degree and Masters in Business from Georgia State University. He is heavily involved in many IP groups, including the being Chair for Georgia State University’s Intellectual Property Advisory Board.

Scott lives in Atlanta, Georgia and is married with four children.

Sharad is a registered patent attorney and focuses his practice on patent litigation and post-grant proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He has drafted and filed multiple inter partes review petitions before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, serving as lead and backup counsel. Additionally, Sharad actively assists clients in evaluating patent portfolios and procuring issued patents related to the chemical and life sciences industries. Sharad also has a range of experience with other IP and civil litigation matters, including copyright infringement, business contract disputes, and unfair competition claims under the Lanham Act.

Prior to joining Parker Poe, Sharad served as an out-of-chambers clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. While earning his law degree at the University of Iowa College of Law, he was president of the Intellectual Property Law Society and was awarded the ABA/BNA Award for Excellence in the Study of IP. In addition to serving on the Georgia PATENTS Advisory Board, Sharad also has an active pro bono practice representing clients with civil legal disputes through the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation.

Stephen is a registered patent attorney and an experienced engineer. As an associate at Kilpatrick Townsend, he counsels inventors and high-tech companies in protecting their intellectual property rights. Stephen regularly drafts and prosecutes patent applications in technical areas such as artificial intelligence and signal processing. Stephen’s experience also includes open source licensing and intellectual property diligence.

Before becoming an attorney, Stephen worked for over a decade in various engineering roles at small and large organizations. In those roles, he enjoyed traveling abroad to diverse places such as Korea, Japan, Israel, and Europe to provide technical training and assist with sales efforts.

Stephen is committed to protecting the rights of innovators and artists. In 2017, he received a USPTO Patent Pro Bono certificate for his work with solo inventors. Stephen is also active in education-related causes. During the 2017-2018 school year, he co-taught advanced placement computer science at a high school in Atlanta. As a naturalized U.S. Citizen, Stephen is passionate about immigration policy and focuses his pro-bono practice on immigration matters. Stephen is also an Eagle Scout.

Stephen received his law degree from the University of North Carolina, a M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a B. Eng. from the University of Leeds, United Kingdom. Stephen and his wife live in Decatur with their three children.