Intellectual Property Consultants: 38

Durand R. Begault received a PhD in Computer Audio from UC San Diego in 1988 and an MFA from Mills College in 1981. He has been associated with the Audio Forensic Center and Charles M. Salter Associates, Inc. since 1996 and has worked as an expert witness, legal consultant, and acoustical consultant on a variety of audio-related cases since 1988. Dr. Begault also holds a research position at NASA Ames Research Center and is an adjunct faculty member at McGill University. He is the author of several U.S. patents and is qualified as an expert witness in both Federal and State Courts. Dr. Begault has testified in over 40 cases on a variety of audio technology and forensic audio-related cases.

Areas of Expertise:

• Audio Technology Patent / Intellectual Property Analyses
• Forensic Audio and Video Tape Examination / Authentication
• Analysis of Speech, Alarms, Warning Signal Audibility
• Voice Identification and Elimination
• Analysis of ‘Ear Witness’ Testimony
• Enhancement of Speech from Noisy Audio / Video Tape Recordings
• Music Copyright Infringement and Musicological Analysis
• Gunshots
• Acoustical Test and Measurement - Environmental Sound
• Noise Exposure
• Software / Hardware Black Box Testing for Infringement
• Videotape Image Enhancement
• Analysis of Digital Recordings

Please contact the Marketing Department at Charles M. Salter Associates, Inc./Audio Forensic Center for Dr. Begault’s current CV.

View Expert Witness Profile.

BTI Appraisal is a broad-based appraisal company which provides a consistently high level of Real Estate Appraisals, Business Valuations, and Machinery and Equipment Appraisals for Business, Professional, Public and Private Sectors. When you choose BTI Appraisal, you benefit from a strong tradition of experience and accuracy. 

A corporate philosophy stressing efficiency and attentive service has made BTI a leader among independent appraisers. They are proud of our reputation for stability, responsiveness, and accomplishment in and out of the courtroom. At BTI, their seasoned staff of success-oriented professionals treats each assignment with precise attention to detail, providing needed research and responsive service on a wide range of appraisal needs.

Appraisal Services:

• Real Estate:  Valuation, Research, and  Technical Capabilities from homes to high rise office buildings of all sizes and in most locations. BTI can determine value for either “as is” or “as proposed” construction as well as Market Analysis and Feasibility Studies, Construction Defects, Lost Profits Analysis, Property Tax Reductions, Lack of Disclosure or Misrepresentation
• Personal Property: Residential Contents, Automobiles, Works of Art or Collectibles, Private Planes, Yachts, Inventory for Insurance Coverage, Loans, Sales, Donations, and Litigation Purposes
• Business Valuation: BTI is often called upon to appraise business entities for a variety of purposes Bankruptcy, Eminent Domain, Estate Planning, Dispute Resolution, Loan Support, Marital or Corporate Dissolutions, Mergers, Purchase or Sale
• Machinery and Equipment: BTI's diverse experience in appraising all types of machinery and equipment extends to leasehold improvements, furniture, fixtures and other tangible assets, and a wide range of specialized machinery and equipment including Lasers, Food Processing & Packaging Assembly lines, Cranes, Medical Equipment, Agricultural Equipment, Photography Equipment, Telecommunications Equipment
• Financial Analysis: Sales, profits and expenses often need to be projected, or analyzed, based on external events that trigger losses or gains. BTI regularly performs this type of work for a wide variety of business types.They also analyze contract disputes that financially impact the parties.Commercial creditors even use BTI’s services to analyze and value accounts receivable and related assets that secure their loans to operating businesses.

BTI’s Founder and Chairman, Ben F. Tunnell III, has headed the firm since 1974. Previously, he spent eight years with First Interstate Bank of California as vice president at their corporate headquarters in Los Angeles. He served on the board of arbitrators for both the American Arbitration Association and the Better Business Bureau. He has also been a Registered Investment Advisor and Broker/Dealer with the Securities and Exchange Commission and a licensed, California Real Estate Broker. Mr. Tunnell is an ASA, the senior designation of the American Society of Appraisers, and a California Certified General Real Estate Appraiser #AG-6964. 

View Ben Tunnell's Expert Witness Profile.

Blue Silk Consulting specializes in Global Supply Chain Processes and Technology Enablement. We are a consulting firm, with 80+ clients and over 35 years of consulting experience in Supply Chain Management, Project Management, Systems Consulting, and Expert Witness Services. With global and domestic clients, Rosemary Coates has extensive knowledge and experience in manufacturing and outsourcing to China, and in global manufacturing strategies such as reshoring production. Rosemary Coates' experience spans a broad range of industries including:

High Technology Software Chemicals Health Care Consumer Products Industrial Products Apparel and Footwear

Counterfeit Imports Food Distribution Transportation Publishing Retail Oil and Gas Automotive

Rosemary Coates, President of Blue Silk Consulting and the Executive Director of the Reshoring Institute. She is a seasoned executive with an MBA and 25+ years of experience in Chinese Sourcing and Manufacturing, Global Supply Chain Management, Reshoring, Procurement, Manufacturing and ERP Systems Consulting. Background Experience. 

Prior to BSC, Ms. Coates was a Senior Director at SAP, the Supply Chain Practice Leader at KPMG Peat Marwick and at Answerthink, and a Regional Manager at Hewlett-Packard. Ms. Coates has consulted with global and domestic clients, VCs, and PE firms on operations systems and processes. She has considerable international experience and has worked for extended periods in Asia and Europe. 

Ms. Coates' experience spans a broad range of industries including High Technology, Software, Chemicals, Health Care, Consumer Products, Industrial Products, Food Distribution, Transportation, Publishing, Retail, and Oil and Gas. She has extensive knowledge and experience in manufacturing and outsourcing in Asia, Europe, and the US. She has written five Amazon.com books including Best Seller 42 Rules for Sourcing and Manufacturing in China, and Legal Blacksmith: How to Avoid and Defend Supply Chain Disputes, and  42 Rules for Superior Field Service, and Negotiation Blueprint for Buyers, and The Reshoring Guidebook. 

Ms. Coates is also the Executive Director of the Reshoring Institute and a member of the Board of Directors at the University of San Diego Supply Chain Management Institute, and a Member of the Board at Kinectic River. She teaches Global Supply Chain Strategy at UC Berkeley. She is a Licensed U.S. Customs Broker. She earned a BS in Business at Arizona State University and an MBA at the University of San Diego. She resides in Silicon Valley.

Rosemary Coates: Supply Chain Management Overview

Areas of Expertise:

Chinese Products / Chinese Imports Counterfeit Imports Chinese Manufacturing Importing and Exporting Electronics Purchasing Operations Planning

Inventory Warehousing Supply Chain Distribution Channel Manufacturing Operations Field Service Supply Contracts ERP Systems Implementations

View Rosemary Coates' Expert Witness Profile.

Peter Crosby has over 45 years experience in the medical device industry. He has served as CEO of six medical device companies in four countries (public and private), and brought many products to the world market through clinical trials and regulatory approval.

Through Biomedical Business Resources LLC, he provides many services including:

• Advisory - helping clients with strategy, operations, execution, and business building\
• Mentoring, especially first time CEOs
• Expert Witness - assisting attorneys with multiple expert reports, depositions, and testimony at trial and arbitration. Cases include disputes about intellectual property , product liability, and commercial contracts
• Board Services - offering Independent Board Member services for companies, public or private, with experience in building companies, and helping management teams in times of high growth and rapid change

Mr. Crosby's product experience includes implantable devices (cochlear implants, cardiac pacemakers, implantable defibrillators, artificial heart, neurostimulation), in vitro diagnostics, imaging (ultrasound and X-ray), software, AEDs, and patient monitoring. His clinical domain experience includes ophthalmology, otolaryngology, cardiac surgery, cardiology, orthopedics, pain management, anesthesia and intensive care.

View Peter Crosby's Expert Witness Profile.

Biernath Consulting helps small to midsized companies envision how AI and other advanced science & technology can help grow their business. He helps them create and implement innovative solutions to achieve success.

Rolf Biernath, PhD in Chemical Engineering, has over 30 years in the Chemicals and Electronics Industries with a concentration on AI advanced technology new product development. He developed new products and product lines at 3M for 31 years in senior technical roles. His 58 issued US patents span a broad range of scientific and engineering disciplines. 

Rolf has a strong drive to find the simplest and most effective solutions that meet customer needs and business objectives. His broad technical background and his resourceful ability to learn new fields quickly make him an ideal partner to help turn product's into fully realized new products and services. If it can be done, he'll find the way. If not, he'll tell you why, and let you know what advances might enable it in the future.

Rolf also works with VC and Angel Investors to assess a startup's new technology odds of technical and business success. He is known for his ability to break down complex technical problems and find the critical aspects that will make or break a new product. This helps investors ensure that financial investments are used to target the highest risks first, thereby reducing the money and time wasted chasing after products that may likely never see the light of day.

Consultant Specialties:

New Product Innovation Manufacturing Innovation Adhesives and Tapes Generative AI Prompt Engineering Root Cause Identification Chemical Engineering

Smart Devices IoT Devices IIoT Sensors Electromechanical Assemblies

Background Experience - Dr. Biernath has 58 Issued US Patents on New Products, including:

• Industrial Adhesives and Tapes – 3D printing materials, development, automation, and tape application processes
• Electronic Displays and optical display films, outdoor digital displays, backlights, LED color mixing
• Electronic Materials, epoxy thermoset adhesives, application process, elastomeric, high speed electronic connectors
• Signage, retroreflective signage, license plate recognition, ADAS, Human Invisible, Machine-Readable Coding System
• IoT and IIoT, Automatic and predictive selection and replacement of controllers, novel low-cost oil-detection sensor
• Microreplication, microfluidics, textured adhesives and processes

View Dr. Rolf Biernath's Expert Witness Profile.

Rob Wallace has unique expertise in Trademark, Trade Dress, Copyright, Brand Identity and Package Design Infringement. For 30+ years, Rob ran one of the nation's top Brand Identity Strategy and Package Design Resources providing global branding expertise to Fortune 500 companies in virtually all CPG categories. His clients include P&G, Nestle, Pepsico, Unilever, Kraft, Colgate, The Home Depot, Brown-Foreman, Novartis, J&J and more than 30 market leading companies. Manhattan-based, Rob has been an expert witness for important litigation involving:

• Likelihood of Consumer Confusion, Brand Valuation & Dilution
• Innovation/Ideation Copyright
• Package Graphic/Structural Design
• Product Design
• Branding Industry Best Practices
• False Advertising
• Corrective Advertising
• and all brand related issues.

Rob has commissioned literally hundreds of consumer surveys and is uniquely qualified to determine the results of all research. He has worked for attorneys on both the plaintiff and defense sides of his cases. He is effective and efficient with the average project report requiring between 10 and 12 hours.

Michael Nranian, JD, MBA, MS has over 30 years experience focusing in Product Development, Intellectual Property, Patent Litigation, Legal and Technical Compliance, and Product Liability Litigation. He is a licensed attorney in Michigan, Texas, & the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Mr. Nranian is a Six Sigma Black Belt, Professional Engineer, & Certified Project Management Professional. He has an in-depth background and education in Law, IP, Electrical, Chemical & Computer Engineering, & Business. He has testified extensively as an expert witness in depositions, hearings, and trials in state & federal courts.

Mr. Nranian conducts Product and Technology Analysis, Patentability & Prior Art Research,and provides Technology & Litigation Support for Intellectual Property. His litigation background includes patent infringement / non-infringement under literal infringement and the doctrine of equivalents, patent validity / invalidity, prior art, & file-wrapper estoppel, for both ITC and Federal cases, including Inter Partes reviews. He conducts analysis of patents and products, prepares claim charts, & expert witness reports. This includes testimony and document preparation for cases before state, and federal court jurisdictions, and the International Trade Commission and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

Mr. Nranian is thoroughly familiar with all 101, 102, 103, 112, and other enablement and prior art arguments. His experience includes Technology Standards Boards and Licensing Authorities, Antitrust / DOJ, Technology Development and Transfer, Patents, Trademarks, Trade Secrets, and Copyrights, Licensing, Unfair Competition/Trade, False/Deceptive Advertising, & Lanham Act Actions, & Class Actions.

His Product Liability Expert Witness litigation background includes all types of Safety Systems, Electrical Systems, Fires, Accident Reconstruction, and Evaluation of Alternative Designs for Automotive, Medical and other industries. He has over 29 years of experience in Automotive Safety Systems, Sensors, Seatbelts, Airbags / Curtains, Seats, Diagnostic Systems, Crash Recorders, Crash Pulse Analysis, System Diagnostic, Fault Codes, Structure (including roof-crush and door) and front, side & roll-over systems (including sensing and algorithm development) for domestic and international corporations. He is thoroughly familiar with all regulatory (including FMVSS), and corporate due-care requirements, & preemption arguments, occupant kinematics, & injury causation.

Argent Media™ is a full-service Search Engine Marketing Agency that offers website optimization, search engine marketing strategies, and online reputation management. Founded by Chris Silver Smith and based in Dallas-Fort Worth, Argent Media has been provided high-quality, custom services to large and small companies, both domestic and international. 

Argent Media offers a broad range of bespoke web marketing services including:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Local Search Optimization Image SEO and Video SEO

Social Media Management Online Reputation Management SEO Expert Witness Consulting

Chris Silver Smith, the President and CEO of Argent Media™, has an extensive background in search engine optimization and online marketing. He has worked for some of the top agencies in the SEO industry, researching and developing search optimization and providing search marketing strategies for Fortune 500 and Internet Retailer 500 companies. 

Mr. Smith worked at Verizon/Idearc for over ten years, serving as the Head of Technology & Advanced Development for their Superpages.com sites. His projects there included R&D, local search development, user interface design, map-based search, mobile applications, and more. He was awarded the Verizon Individual Excellence Award in 2004 for his innovations, which increased site traffic (and click-through revenues) for the company. 

In 2006, Mr. Smith founded and chaired the Idearc SEO Council, which brought together individuals from across the company to focus on natural search optimization. 

Mr. Smith currently has five patents pending. His work has been featured in several publications, and he regularly contributes articles to Natural Search Blog, Nodal Bits, and Search Engine Land (which is the leading online publication dealing with paid and natural search marketing). Mr. Smith is a regular speaker at a number of technology and marketing conferences, and he also previously served on the Board of Advisors for Thomas-Reuters FindLaw's SEO Advisory Board, and on the Board of Advisors for Universal Business Listing (UBL).

View Chris Silver Smith's Expert Witness Profile.