Sterne Kessler Promotes Eight Attorneys to Counsel

Washington, D.C. (March 25, 2024) – Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox is proud to announce that eight attorneys have been promoted to counsel. The associates promoted to counsel are: Alexander R. Covington, Roozbeh Gorgin, Bryan K. Hsu, Shoshana G. Marvin, Shana L. Olson, Sasha S. Rao, Matthew A. Smith, Ph.D., and Yuke Wang, Ph.D.

“We congratulate this talented group of attorneys for reaching this significant achievement in their careers. Their promotion to counsel follows years of hard work and commitment to providing client service with excellence and integrity. As they embark on this new chapter, we look forward to their ongoing, invaluable contributions,” said managing director Michael B. Ray.

Read more about Sterne Kessler’s new counsel:

• Alexander R. Covington
  Alexander R. Covington is counsel in Sterne Kessler’s Mechanical & Design Practice Group. His work focuses on the preparation and prosecution of utility applications in the U.S. and abroad, as well as technical support for litigation matters in various forums, including ITC, PTAB, and district court. Alex has experience preparing and prosecuting applications in a variety of arts, including consumer products and processes, food and beverage making processes, industrial equipment and processes, physiological sensor systems, polymer chemistry, material science, chemical processes, and numerous clean technologies. Alex is experienced with conducting patent landscape, patentability, and freedom-to-operate analyses to counsel clients on offensive and defensive patent strategies. Alex received his J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law and his B.S. in chemical engineering, magna cum laude, from North Carolina State University.

• Roozbeh Gorgin is counsel in Sterne Kessler’s Electronics Practice Group. Roozbeh’s practice focuses on: patent prosecution; patent strategy and portfolio development; intellectual property licensing; preparation of patent infringement and invalidity opinions; post-grant proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); intellectual property due diligence; and pre-litigation counseling. Roozbeh’s technical areas of expertise include mechanical devices, electronics, computer hardware and software, Internet technologies, cybersecurity, semiconductors, and wireless technologies. In addition, Roozbeh works with Sterne Kessler’s Trademark & Brand Protection Practice on trademark clearance and prosecution. He also has experience obtaining copyright protection for creative works and representing clients in copyright disputes and litigation. Roozbeh received his B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles and his J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law.
• Bryan K. Hsu is counsel in Sterne Kessler’s Biotechnology & Chemical Practice Group. His practice focuses on the preparation and prosecution of U.S. and foreign patent applications and preparation of opinions of counsel. His areas of technical expertise include medical devices, small molecule organic chemistry, pharmaceutical formulations, food science, polymer chemistry, material science, and related chemical technologies. Prior to joining Sterne Kessler, Bryan was an associate in the intellectual property group of a large global law firm and an associate at an IP firm based in the DC metro area. Bryan has extensive experience working with a wide variety of technologies in the mechanical and chemical arts, including medical devices, small molecules, steel sheets, polyurethane chemicals and products, fibers and textiles, batteries, and gas turbine engines. Bryan earned his J.D., from Rutgers Law School and his B.S. in Chemistry, from the University of Maryland.

• Shoshana G. Marvin is counsel in Sterne Kessler’s Biotechnology & Chemical Practice Group. She focuses her practice on the preparation and prosecution of U.S. and foreign patent applications, as well as the preparation of opinions of counsel. She has drafted a wide array of invalidity, non-infringement, freedom-to-operate, and patentability opinions for pharmaceutical patents, including patents that claim active pharmaceutical ingredients, polymorphs, chemical synthesis, pharmaceutical formulations, and methods of treatment. Further, Shoshana has extensive experience preparing and prosecuting patents related to a broad range of technologies, including molecular biology, cancer biology, therapeutic antibodies, virology, and vaccines. Shoshana earned her J.D. from the George Washington University Law School, her M.S. in biology with a concentration in biotechnology from the Illinois Institute of Technology, and her B.S. in biological sciences with a specialization in biotechnology from Florida Atlantic University.
• Shana L. Olson Shana L. Olson is counsel in Sterne Kessler’s Trademark & Brand Protection Practice and is a member of the Mechanical & Design Practice Group, where her work focuses on U.S. and international trademark clearance, prosecution, enforcement, and portfolio management, and design patent prosecution. She has significant experience in trademark prosecution before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, inter partes proceedings before the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, and domain name enforcement pursuant to the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy. She uses her deep knowledge of trademark and design patent rights to inform her multi-disciplinary approach to brand protection to create effective solutions for clients. Shana represents a diverse group of large and small clients in the biotech, pharmaceutical, entertainment, telecom, consumer products, media, food and beverage, and manufacturing fields. She has extensive experience in managing large domestic and international trademark portfolios, and has organized and implemented large-scale trademark enforcement campaigns. Presently, Shana serves on the International Trademark Association’s (INTA) Publications Committee for the 2024-2025 term. Shana received her J.D. from The George Washington University Law School and her B.A. in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia.
• Sasha S. Rao is counsel in Sterne Kessler’s Trial & Appellate Practice Group. He has been involved in numerous matters before federal district courts, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Sasha’s experience spans all phases of a dispute, from initial fact investigation through trial and appeal. Sasha has extensive experience representing large, mid-size, and small innovator and generic clients in patent matters related to the Hatch-Waxman Act and the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation (BPCIA) Act. Sasha has also represented clients in patent disputes involving consumer electronics, biocatalytic processes, chemical manufacturing processes, and automotive technologies. In addition, Sasha counsels clients on intellectual property strategy, including licensing, infringement, validity, and freedom to operate opinions. Additionally, Sasha is a published author on topics covering artificial intelligence, the gig economy, and the BPCIA. Sasha received his J.D. from Boston University and B.S.E. in chemical engineering from Princeton University.

• Matthew A. Smith, Ph.D., is counsel in Sterne Kessler’s Biotechnology & Chemical Practice Group. He prepares and prosecutes U.S. and foreign patent applications. Further, his practice also includes client counseling and the preparation of validity, infringement, freedom to operate, and patentability opinions. Matthew has technical expertise in molecular biology and biochemistry. Of particular note, while earning his Ph.D., Matthew discovered the degradation mechanism of renal calpain 10. Additionally, he determined that in vitro loss of renal calpain 10 caused mitochondrial dysfunction, increased mitophagy, and increased cell death, while in vivo loss of renal calpain 10 caused increased mitophagy and renal dysfunction. Matthew also has experience in bacteriology, as well as the preservation of eukaryotic cells using freeze-drying techniques. He received a National Institutes of Health Environmental Stress Signaling Pre-doctoral training grant for his work in this area. Matthew has been named a Washington DC “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers for five consecutive years since 2019.  Matthew received his J.D., Patent Law Track, cum laude, from the George Mason University School of Law and his Ph.D. in pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences from the Medical University of South Carolina. He earned a B.S., magna cum laude, in biochemistry and a B.A. in Chemistry from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
• Yuke Wang, Ph.D., is counsel in Sterne Kessler’s Electronics Practice Group. He prepares and prosecutes patent applications, performs research and patentability analysis, prepares patent infringement opinion letters, re-examines patents, and provides patent litigation support. Yuke’s patent practice covers an exceptionally wide range of technical areas, including wireless communication devices, electrical circuits, fabrication, processors, memory devices, aeronautical control and navigation systems, multimedia, data communications, networks, MEMS, software, design automation, databases, computer networks, computer graphics, Internet and web, cloud computing, computer security, and e-commerce. Yuke received his J.D., cum laude, from the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University and his M.B.A. from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. He earned both his Ph.D. in Computer Science and M.Sc. in Mathematics from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada and received his B.Sc. in Mathematics from the University of Science and Technology of China.