Intellectual Property Expert Witnesses

FORENSIC EXPERT WITNESS - PHOTOGRAPHY

Professor Jeff Sedlik has decades of experience at the highest level of professional photography including advertising, corporate, editorial and stock. He is a respected and acknowledged authority on photography having served as Past National President of professional photography's leading trade organization,  "Advertising Photographers of America". Professor Sedlik is also an experienced Expert Witness. 

Areas of Expertise:

Contracts Copyright Licensing Publicity Rights Model Releases

Lost/Damaged Film Stock Photography Business Practices Forensic Scene Recreation Forensic Image Analysis

For over 25 years, Alpine Engineering and Design, Inc. has provided expert witness services in the fields of patents, Intellectual property, product liability, mechanical design, human factors, industrial safety, accident reconstruction, failure analysis, DOT compliance, compliance with standards, hydraulic systems. We specialize in the development of hydraulically operated equipment, trucks and related equipment, aerial lifts, industrial equipment, mobile equipment,amusement rides, aerial lifts, material handling, forklifts, boom trucks, suspension systems, man lifts, garbage trucks, front loaders, side loaders, automated loaders, rear loaders, roll-offs, and liftgates. Our engineers have over been retained on over 500 cases and hold 75 U.S. Patents.
 
Alpine Engineering and Design experts use resources such as a model shop, computer graphics and animations, full-size prototypes and written descriptions to communicate their ideas to their customers. They use these same resources to explain their opinions in a clear, concise manner in reports and when testifying.

EDUCATION & LICENSES

BSME, MSME, MBA (Product Development), PE, CSP

Expert Witness Services Professional Expert Reports Testing Forensic/Failure Analysis Accident Reconstruction Demonstratives Inspections/Measurements Compliance with Standards Expert Testimony Patent & Patent Related Issues Patent Searches Provisional Patent Complete with Illustrations Patent Infringement Review Product Development Innovative Concept Multi-Industry Experience Powerful Design Tools Full Service Fabricating Materials Design Analysis Finite Element Analysis (FEA) Hydraulics, Pneumatics, Electrical Structural Integrity Tests Value Analysis

Jennifer Vanderhart is a PhD Economist responsible for providing a range of services, including litigation support services, and economic consulting. She specializes in applied Econometrics and Microeconomic Analysis, including theoretical and empirical analysis in the areas of intellectual property, antitrust, breach of contract, international arbitration proceedings, and commercial damages.

Dr. Vanderhart's clients include companies in wide range of industries and retail sectors including education, computer hardware and software, retail merchandising, durable goods manufacturing, mining, tobacco, and financial services.

Prior to joining Analytics Research Group, Dr. Vanderhart was a Managing Director at FTI Consulting. She has also held positions at Exponent, Invotex Group, Navigant Consulting and LECG, and was an instructor at Texas A&M University in the departments of Economics and Management. She has published on valuation, damages and intellectual property and is a frequent speaker on these topics at conferences and lectures.

Litigation Support: Dr. Vanderhart has more than 20 years of experience in the evaluation and quantification of Economic Damages including claims arising from patent, copyright or trademark infringement, trade secret misappropriation, contract disputes, employment discrimination, and claims of expropriation by foreign governments. She has testified in federal and state courts and in domestic and international arbitration proceedings.

Dr. Vanderhart has assisted companies in patent and trademark licensing negotiations, royalty investigations and calculations, and intellectual property and asset valuations. She has also testified in class action proceedings and as to the appropriate data cost-sharing compensation under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).

Areas of Expertise:

Damages Calculations & Rebuttal Design Patent Infringement Breach of Contract Damages Statistical Regression Analysis Theft of Intellectual Property Economic Damage Measures Economic Damage Models Trade Dress Infringement Trademark Infringement Lost Earnings (Economics)

IP Damages & Valuation Theft of Trade Secrets Telecommunications Damage Calculations Business Damage Damage Analysis Patent Damages Trade Dress (IP) Lost Profits Valuation

View Analytics Research Group, LLC's Consulting Profile.

Gabriele Goldaper has over 45 years experience in the Fashion, Garment, Textile Industry, as a retailer, manufacturer, consultant, and college instructor. Ms. Goldaper is a perceptive and articulate Expert Witness who has been involved in more than150+ Apparel Industry Legal Disputes. She has been deposed and testified in bench and jury trials and arbitrations, for both defendants and plaintiffs.

Ms. Goldaper has owned her own clothing manufacturing company and has held key executive positions in major public and private companies in Southern California. She has been a Management Consultant to over 200 new, failing or growing apparel companies, and completed assignments for USAID in Romania, Egypt, El Salvador, Moscow, Thailand and Bulgaria as an apparel expert.

Ms. Goldaper is a 30-year member of the faculty at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.

Areas of Expertise Include:

• Copyright Infringement and Trademark Cases
• Opinions on Originality and Substantial Similarity
• Fabric/Print Design, and Origin Issues
• Garment Construction and Design issues
• Customs, Practices and Operations of Clothing Business
• Financial Conditions, Valuations and Financial Matters
• Issues with Manufacturing Contractors/Factories: Domestic and Off-Shore
• Wholesale Distribution to Retailers and Internet Sales
• Quality Standards/Specifications used in Production of Garments

View Consulting Profile.

Karl R. Leinsing, MSME, PE, President of ATech Designs, Inc., is a Professional Mechanical Engineer who specializes in Medical Device Product Development from concept to production. Mr. Leinsing has been granted over 32 patents (needle free IV valves, laparoscopic devices, needlescopic devices, suture lockers, catheters, mitral valve repair devices, knitting machines) and excels in solving the most complicated problems and design challenges. His company has a fully equipped medical lab with calibrated measurement and test equipment and all is fully documented with high quality reports with pictures and video to provide credible results and easy to understand compelling data. The winner of five design awards, Mr. Leinsing is recognized as one of the top 100 medical device professionals in the nation by MD&DI. For dedication to his industry, he was made the 2014 Chairman of the Medical Device and Manufacturing Conference in Anaheim, CA. Mr. Leinsing has also been acknowledged for his work in a publication by Life Magazine. Mr. Leinsing offers litigation support services to the legal community. He has extensive experience with Patent and Product Liability cases including report writing, depositions, and testimony. Areas of Expertise:

Intravenous (IV) Systems & Disposables Hernia Repair Endometrial Ablation Laparoscopic Instruments Injection Ports Catheters Heart Valve Repair / Replacement Subcutaneous Ports

Bed Rails Cervical Screws Syringes, pen injectors, auto-injectors IV / Insulin Pumps Glucose Monitors Peritoneal Dialysis Pumps Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) Repair Sleep Apnea Devices (CPAP)

View Karl Leinsing's Consulting Profile.

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.

Rob Wallace has unique expertise in Trademark, Trade Dress, Copyright, Brand Identity and Package Design Infringement. For 35+ 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 50 market leading companies. Manhattan-based, Rob has been an expert witness for important litigation involving:

• Likelihood of Consumer Confusion
• Secondary Meaning
• Brand Valuation & Dilution
• Package Graphic/Structural Design
• Product Design
• Branding Industry Best Practices
• False/ Deceptive 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.

Peter A. Crosby has over 35 years experience in the Medical Devices Industry. He has been the CEO of six medical device companies (public and private) in four countries, and has been a member of the board (including chairman of the board) of over 10 companies.

Mr. Crosby is an accomplished entrepreneur and company builder, and has brought many medical device products to the world market. In 2017, he retired as CEO from Mainstay Medical, after spending over 8 years as the founding CEO, doing several rounds of financing, taking the company public in Europe, and bringing Mainstay’s ReActiv8 to market in Europe. Although he continues to work with the company on a consulting basis, he has shifted his focus to helping other companies grow, as a board member, advisor, and in interim management.

With a university education in Biomedical Engineering, Mr. Crosby is the inventor on over 30 US patents and applications pending. He has managed the intellectual property portfolio of several companies. His clinical domain experience includes ophthalmology, otolaryngology, cardiology, cardiac surgery, orthopedics, pain management, anesthesia, and intensive care.

Litigation Support - Mr. Crosby has served as an expert witness in many cases including product liability, intellectual property (patent disputes), and commercial contracts disputes. He has testified in three cases in which the outcome hinged on interpretation of “commercially reasonable efforts.” Mr. Crosby's services are available to attorneys representing plaintiff and defendant.

Product Expertise:

Implantable Devices Cochlear Implants Cardiac Pacemakers Implantable Defibrillators Artificial Hearts and LVADs

Neurostimulation Devices In Vitro Diagnostics Medical Device Software Patient Monitoring Imaging / Ultrasound and X-Ray)

View Peter Crosby's Consulting Profile.

Mark A. Jackson, PE, has over 35 Years of experience as a Mechanical Engineer. For clients around the world, he has successfully solved design challenges, analyzed designs, intelligently and quickly developed prototypes, and tested the designs for achievement of design intent.

Prior to starting Blue Dolphin, Mr. Jackson spent 17 years as an engineer at various companies in a variety of industries including: Abex Aerospace Division where he developed Hydraulic Axial Piston Pumps and Actuators for the Space Shuttle, the Stealth bomber and Boeing aircraft; Sunrise Medical® (Quickie®) where he designed the industry's first Titanium Alpha Alloy wheelchair and the world's first composite wheelchair; and Keiser® Sports where he designed one of the world's bestselling Aerobic Fitness bikes: the Power Pacer®.

Mr. Jackson's innovative thinking has led to several patents and many new products including: Rex EMS, LLC RexONE™ – patented design and winner of the 2010 EMS World Expo Innovation of the Year award; Sunrise Medical® Quickie® Pulse™ – patented suspension for the Pulse™ power wheelchair; Raindrip® – Simple Drip™ products – the original Clamp and Pierce system, and the In-line Hose Thread Filter / Regulator; and McLellan Industries – Control by Wire Roll/Pitch/Yaw Hydraulic Manipulator for Mill Liner Handlers.

Litigation Support: Mark A. Jackson provides expert witness services to attorneys or insurance companies involved in Machine Failure/ Machine Injury litigation, Product Liability, Vehicular Accidents, and Patent Opinions. He has participated in hundreds of projects involving machine design and product development. Mr. Jackson has provided numerous depositions and is qualified in Los Angeles and Fresno County superior court.

Areas of Expertise:

Product Design Machine Design Evaluation Machine Retrofit / Redesign Product Development Project Management

Rapid Prototyping Additive Manufacturing Testing and Evaluation CAD / FEA / CFD Analysis Patent Assistance

Rosemary Coates, President of Blue Silk Consulting, is a seasoned executive with an MBA and 25+ years of experience in Chinese Sourcing and Manufacturing, Supply Chain Management, 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. She teaches Global Supply Chain Strategy at UC Berkeley. 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

Litigation Support - As an Expert Witness, Ms. Coates has assisted attorneys in their understanding of relevant Supply Chain Operations and Practices in sourcing, logistics, distribution, manufacturing, inventory, and Chinese Imports. She has worked on legal cases for the past 10 years, writing reports, giving depositions, and testifying at trial.

Case Opinions:

• Chinese Products
• Import / Export Management
• Counterfeit Imports
• Project Management for Enterprise Software
• ERP Software Consulting Implementation Failures and Runaway Projects
• China Sourcing and Manufacturing
• Securities
• Sales Channel Distribution and Compensation
• Supply Contracts
• Inventory Tax
• Global Manufacturing Operations, Contract Manufacturing, CMS, EMS
• Transportation and logistics, 3PLs and Freight Forwarders, Freight Shipping

Areas of Expertise:

Chinese Products / Chinese Imports Chinese Manufacturing Chinese Toys Chinese Plastics Chinese Drywall Electronics Purchasing Operations Planning

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

View Rosemary Coates' Consulting 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 us a leader among independent appraisers. We are proud of our reputation for stability, responsiveness, and accomplishment in and out of the courtroom.

At BTI, our 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.

Expert Profile: 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. He has qualified and testified in Federal and Superior Courts, as well as in arbitration proceedings as an expert witness in business valuations, real estate, and machinery and equipment appraisals.

Brooks Hilliard, CMC, CCP is the only actively practicing expert witness in the world who is both a Certified Management Consultant and a Certified Computing Professional specializing in computer system selection and problem resolution. He has testified more than 30 times as a computer expert witness and has been engaged on more than 90 such matters for both plaintiffs and defendants. Mr. Hillard has done expert witness and consulting assignments in 25 states, and has qualified as an expert witness on computer software and hardware (including ERP, SCM and CRM systems) in both state and federal litigation. His expert witness engagements have included courtroom and deposition testimony in lawsuits, arbitrations, mediations and formal governmental hearings. 

Areas of Expertise:

• Allegations of ERP and CRM system failures and/or defective business software/systems
• Computer Forensics
• Intellectual property
• Valuation of computer hardware, software and services
• Regulatory, Procurement and Tax matters

David Crowe has worked in the Telecommunications / Wireless Communications industry for almost 35 years. Internationally renown, he was lead software designer on an early cellular switch, and went on to develop industry standards for core networks, emergency services, smart cards, security, location services, international roaming, numbering systems and more. He continues to make technical contributions, and has received several awards for his work.

Mr. Crowe has consulted for leading telecom organizations including Alcatel, ATIS, AT&T Wireless, Compaq, CTIA, HP, Neustar, Qualcomm, Telcordia, Rural Cellular Association, Syniverse, and TIA.  He has extensive experience in the development and implementation of wireless telecom standards, telecom protocols and also in real-time software development, particularly software related to wireless telecommunications. 

Litigation Support - As an expert witness, David Crowe has testified in a variety of environments, from District Court in Chicago to County Court in Maryland to Federal Court in Australia, working in cases covering patents, other intellectual property, and business disputes. He is currently serving as an Expert Witness in US, Canadian, and Australian courts. Mr. Crowe's  writing and debating skills are a big advantage both for testifying, and for report writing. 

 Areas of Expertise:

Telecommunications Wireless Technology Numbering / Number Portability / Priority Calling Device Identifiers  Software Core Networks Emergency Communication Services / 911

Radio Interface Protocols Smart Cards GPS Location Services Roaming / International Roaming Safety Telecom Patent Infringement

View David R. Crowe's Consulting Profile.

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 Consulting Profile.

Howard J. Cohen, PhD, has over 30 years of experience in Software Engineering, Architecture and Implementation. He possesses particular expertise in Algorithms, Relational Databases, Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) and Software Applications in general. His experience has been in a broad spectrum of technology, in several languages, in a wide variety of applications, and on multiple platforms. Dr. Cohen's background includes Electronic Design Automation, Bioinformatics, Digital Cartography, Banking Systems for Foreign Exchange Traders, and many more. He is the co-inventor on approximately 120 patents.

Dr. Cohen has over 15 years of experience as an Expert Witness. He possesses excellent written and verbal communications skills, including the ability to express himself well in interpersonal contacts, make presentations to large audiences, explain complex concepts clearly, and write well on levels ranging from the scientific to end user documentation. He is available to analyze complex systems, to write clearly about technical issues, and communicate face-to-face in a manner appropriate for any audience to understand the issues, the technology and the point of view. Dr. Cohen has been deposed and testified at arbitration hearings and in Federal Court.

Expert Witness Projects Include:

• Trade Secrets
• Copyright
• DMCA - Digital Millennium Copyright Act
• Patent Infringement
• Source Code Analysis
• Business Practices
• Damages Analysis
• Computer Software Security / Forensics

View Consulting Profile.