David J. Kenealy

David Kenealy is a partner with Kenealy Vaidya LLP. His experience includes assisting various technology firms with the development and protection of intellectual property portfolios, including prosecution of patent applications, patent licensing, patent infringement and validity opinion drafting, diligence/transaction work, litigation, and counseling in all areas of intellectual property law. His current concentration is primarily in patent and trademark prosecution and opinion work.

Mr. Kenealy’s background includes over five years of experience as a Patent Examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in the Surgical and Medical Device Examining Group. Mr. Kenealy also served as a clerk for Judge Abrams at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences. His technical experience includes one and one-half years as a co-op engineer at General Electric’s high intensity discharge lamp production and research facilities in Cleveland, Ohio.

As an attorney, Mr. Kenealy has counseled organizations in various fields of endeavor, including semiconductor devices, automobile, automobile supplies, medical devices and methods, electrical switches and connectors, juvenile products, electrical power generation plants and methods, internet and computer software, and business methods.

Mr. Kenealy graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Cincinnati in 1990 and received his law degree from American University in 1995. He is admitted to practice in Virginia, Ohio and the District of Columbia, and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He is also a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association. Mr. Kenealy is active as a volunteer attorney for the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. Mr. Kenealy previously worked with the Washington, DC office of an international law firm.

Ajit Vaidya is a partner with Kenealy Vaidya LLP. His practice includes prosecuting, licensing, litigating, and counseling clients on intellectual property matters. He has extensive experience with prosecuting patents, preparing patent opinions, and counseling clients on developing intellectual property portfolios. Mr. Vaidya has also represented clients in patent infringement actions before a variety of federal district courts and has experience in all phases of litigation including discovery and motion practice and trial preparation. Additionally, he has in-depth technical experience in such areas as semiconductor devices, chip fabrication, image processing, telecommunications, electronic materials, medical devices and computer software.

Mr. Vaidya graduated with a bachelor’s degree in materials science engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1991 and received his law degree from the University of Dayton School of Law in 1995. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, Illinois and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Mr. Vaidya was previously a partner with the international law firm of Hogan and Hartson LLP (now Hogan Lovells LLP). Mr. Vaidya has lectured both domestically and internationally on intellectual property matters, most recently at the India IP Rights Summit in Mumbai, India.

James Miner is Of Counsel to Kenealy Vaidya LLP. Mr. Miner is an Intellectual Property attorney whose practice focuses on generating, developing and protecting patent portfolios. He provides counsel on a wide variety of intellectual property matters including the preparation of patent applications, patent prosecution, strategic patent portfolio development and management, patent assessments, patentability and validity opinions, freedom to operate opinions, and related work. His technical background includes preparing patent applications in business method, data processing, and mechanical fields of endeavor. Mr. Miner has been in private practice for over 20 years including practicing law with two of Virginia’s largest firms, as well as with Northern Virginia intellectual property boutique law firms. Mr. Miner started his career as a Patent Examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and worked as an Examiner from 1989-1996.

Mr. Miner graduated in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY. He received his law degree in 1994 from American University (Washington College of Law), while working at the US Patent and Trademark Office. He is admitted to practice in Virginia and the District of Columbia, and is registered to practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office. He is a member of the Virginia State Bar, Virginia Bar Association (Intellectual Property Law Section), and the District of Columbia Bar.

Mr. Miner has extensive experience working with a wide range of clients including individuals, startups, early stage ventures, Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 corporations. His background includes experience with numerous technologies including electro-mechanical and mechanical; consumer devices; computer software/computer networks; telecommunications; data processing and data transfer; financial transaction processing; authentication processing; image processing; target marketing technology; business process systems and methods; data compression technology; electrical connectors; medical devices; casting technologies; automotive technology including drive systems; Internet based processing; system and process applications of mathematical concepts including Pareto analysis, Pareto-best (and worst) subset based processing, outlier based processing, dominance theory processing, and confidence factor analysis.

Anthony Mercaldi has over ten years trademark and copyright experience. A former Trademark Examining Attorney at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Mr. Mercaldi concentrates his practice on trademark and copyright clearance, prosecution, licensing, and litigation, as well as matters involving right of publicity and entertainment law. Mr. Mercaldi assists clients in all aspects of U.S. trademark clearance and prosecution, including advising clients on the availability of new trademarks in addition to handling all matters before the USPTO, including matters before the USPTO Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Mr. Mercaldi also has extensive experience handling trademark disputes, as well as negotiating and drafting settlement and coexistence agreements.

Mr. Mercaldi manages trademark portfolios in all fields, including but not limited to medical devices, computers and computer software, cosmetics, clothing and apparel, foods, beverages and nutritional supplements.

Mr. Mercaldi graduated with a bachelor’s degree in U.S. History (with Honors) at Stony Brook University in 1991 and received his law degree from the University of Dayton School of Law in 1995. He is admitted to practice law in New York.

Richard Parke is Co-Chair, Electro-Mechanical Litigation for Kenealy Vaidya LLP. His practice includes litigating complex intellectual property cases, counseling clients in maximizing their intellectual property assets and opportunities through procurement, negotiation, enforcement, or acquisition, and conducting intellectual property due diligence for various corporate transactions. Mr. Parke’s patent litigation experience encompasses a wide range of technologies, including medical devices, semiconductor manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, industrial equipment, telecommunications, data encryption, assay methods, food chemistry, and consumer products.

Mr. Parke graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point with a bachelor of science degree in general engineering in 1984. He received a Regular Army commission upon graduating from West Point and served as a combat arms officer. Mr. Parke received his law degree from New York Law School in 1990. He is admitted to practice in New York, New Jersey, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Eastern, and Northern Districts of New York, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Before joining Kenealy Vaidya LLP, Mr. Parke was a partner at a major New York intellectual property law firm for over fifteen years. He has been named, for the past five years, as a Super Lawyer® for Intellectual Property Litigation. Mr. Parke served on the New York Intellectual Property Law Association’s Board of Directors, after chairing the Association’s Continuing Legal Education Committee. He is currently President of the West Point Society of New York and an officer in the West Point Chapter of the Association of the United States Army.

William Battista is a patent agent with Kenealy Vaidya LLP. Mr. Battista’s practice includes prosecuting and counseling clients on patent prosecution matters. Mr. Battista has significant experience with prosecuting patents and served as a Patent Examiner for over four years at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Mr. Battista has in-depth technical experience in such areas as automotive technologies, pump and fluid control systems, semiconductor devices, and medical devices. Mr. Battista previously worked as a patent agent with Honda R&D Americas near Columbus, Ohio.

Mr. Battista has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Ms. Smith has over twenty years of intellectual property experience, with a concentration in patent prosecution, licensing and opinion matters. She has worked with a broad range of chemical, biological and mechanical technologies, developing particular expertise in the fields of biotechnology, drug discovery and development, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices.

Ms. Smith’s background includes seven years with the USPTO where she served as a Patent Examiner in the surgical and medical arts, acquiring a unique expertise in mechanical, chemical and bio-technical disciplines. Ms. Smith also served as chief patent counsel for the Office of Research and Development at the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus, where she advised faculty inventors from the Schools of Pharmacy, Medicine, and Dentistry, the Center for Vaccine Development and the Institute of Human Virology. In addition, she served as a law clerk with the International Trade Commission Office of Unfair Import Investigations.

In addition to preparing and prosecuting domestic, international and foreign national patent applications, Ms. Smith has counseled start-up and small corporate clients on patent portfolio management and development, trademark, copyright and branding issues, licensing strategies, and infringement avoidance. She has negotiated, drafted and monitored the execution of contracts such as joint venture, license and research agreements for government agencies and private sector organizations.

Ms. Smith received her undergraduate degree in Biochemical Engineering from Duke University and her J.D. in the Intellectual Property Track from the George Mason School of Law. She is a member of the Virginia State Bar and is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

David Wallace is Senior Counsel with Kenealy Vaidya LLP. His experience includes assisting domestic and international companies on all aspects of intellectual property, with an emphasis on patent prosecution, counseling and litigation in pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, foods, organic and inorganic chemistry, polymers, medical devices and biotechnology.

Mr. Wallace advises clients in the life sciences sector on obtaining, enforcing and designing around patents. This includes preparing and prosecuting patent applications, providing opinions relating to the infringement or validity of patents (including clearance, freedom-to-operate and PIV opinions), licensing and due diligence investigations of third-party intellectual property portfolios. Mr. Wallace is well-versed in representing pharmaceutical companies in connection with strategies for filing and defending against Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs) under the Hatch-Waxman Act, including the important pre-litigation work that goes into a successful challenge or defense of patents listed in the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) “Orange Book.”

Mr. Wallace comes to Kenealy Vaidya LLP with over 20 years of IP experience, including a number of years as a partner at one of Washington’s largest general practice law firms. He is a frequent lecturer and author on topics such as prosecution tips and strategies, invalidation strategies before the Patent Office, case law developments in the Federal Circuit, prosecution history estoppel, claim construction, and Patent Office interviewing strategies.

Mr. Wallace graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Cornell University in 1990, received a master’s degree in natural science/biochemistry in 1992 from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and received his law degree, with honors, from Case Western Reserve University in 1996. He is admitted to practice in Virginia, District of Columbia, Ohio and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Robert Miller is Of Counsel with Kenealy Vaidya LLP.  Mr. Miller has extensive experience in strategic patent portfolio development and management, and his practice includes assisting domestic and overseas corporations and technology firms with regard to patent application preparation, all levels of patent prosecution, and counseling clients on a variety of intellectual property matters.  He has in-depth experience with numerous technologies, including aerospace, automotive, image processing, armaments, electronics, and computer software.

Mr. Miller graduated with a bachelor of science degree in chemistry from the Virginia Military Institute in 1962, received a master’s of science degree in operations research from the United States Naval Post-Graduate School in 1973, and received his law degree from George Mason University School of Law in 1986.  He is admitted to practice in Virginia, and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.  Mr. Miller is also a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and the American Bar Association.

Mr. Miller spent more than a decade as a partner with a large Northern Virginia based intellectual property boutique law firm where he managed the patent portfolios of various large corporations and performed all levels of patent prosecution.  He also lectured and trained clients, attorneys and interns on a variety of aspects of patent practice.