Grit and Business Development in IP Law

Shruti Costales is the Owner & Founder at Shruti Law PLLC®. Shruti is a licensed US patent attorney and has worked in private practice, in-house, and with the Federal Government. She has 20+ years of deep legal experience in handling patent and trademark application drafting and prosecution, patent counseling, patent litigation, IP transactions, complex commercial transactions including drafting and negotiating XaaS agreements and handling FED/SLED agreements, supply chain agreements, product counseling, and due diligence and mergers & acquisitions related assessments. Her experience includes working in the chemicals/materials technologies (e.g., microelectronics including semiconductors, integrated circuits/chips, microprocessors, and memory devices; batteries and fuel cells; catalysts; polymers; additive manufacturing; food/nutrition; nanotechnology; oil and gas; tire and rubber; building materials/composites; water treatment/purification; tobacco/nicotine products; filtration solutions; performance materials; and consumer goods), life sciences/healthcare technologies (e.g., biotechnology & diagnostics; pharmaceutical – small molecule and large molecule; medical surgical products; dental & ophthalmological solutions; and purification and filtration technologies), electrical & computer technologies (e.g., electronic devices and components; consumer electronics; microelectronics including semiconductors; and financial, business, and fintech services), and mechanical technologies (e.g., automotive and smart mobility technology; mechanical components; and medical devices). Shruti has a BS in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University and a JD from Franklin Pierce Law Center (now the University of New Hampshire School of Law). She is a member of the Patent Pathways® Board of Directors. Shruti is currently Vice-Chair of IPO's Small/Micro Company & Law Firm Committee. Over the last decade, Shruti has co-led IPO's DEI and Women in IP committees where she co-authored many white papers, guides, and toolkits. Recently, Shruti led and co-authored a collaboration between ADAPT and IPO for a Practical Guide on Allyship, Mentorship, & Sponsorship. 

Heather Molleur has over 15 years of large corporate and start-up tech company legal experience advising executive leadership team (incl. CEO, CTO, CFO, COO, Exec. VP of Sales, Chief Product Officer), technical teams (both software and hardware), and sales and marketing teams. She successfully supported product and R&D teams in technology areas including smart devices, cloud software and cloud architecture, automation software, sensors, big data, machine learning and AI, cybersecurity, and data management (including backup and storage management). Her IP experience includes patents, trademarks, trade secret protection, worldwide patent portfolio management and strategy, IP licensing, freedom to operate (FTO), M&A, patentability and validity searching, patent litigation/enforcement, pre- and post-grant proceedings (IPR, Opposition, Reexamination), international patent prosecution (incl. Europe, China, Korea, Japan), Inventor outreach and training.

Elaine Spector is a patent attorney with over 20 years of experience in intellectual property law.  Her current practice consists primarily of prosecuting patent applications with a focus on electromechanical technologies. Prior to joining Harrity & Harrity, Elaine worked in private practice for over 15 years handling various intellectual property matters, including patent application drafting and prosecution, trademark prosecution and enforcement, as well as litigating complex patent cases in federal courts. Elaine’s extensive litigation experience provides her with a unique perspective in prosecuting patent applications. Most recently, Elaine worked in-house for 6 years at Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures, where she managed over 500 matters in medical and software related technologies. As an avid believer in giving-back, Elaine serves a Board Member at No More Stolen Childhoods. She is also dedicated to improving diversity in the field of patent law through her numerous diversity leadership roles. Elaine hosts Driving Diversity, a weekly vlog sharing diversity-related tips and FAQ’s, as well as quarterly webinars in a series called Diversity Dialogue as part of Harrity’s Diversity Channel.

Claudia Stangle is a partner at Leydig, Voit & Mayer in Chicago with over 25 years of experience and specializes in trademarks, trade dress, copyrights, false and comparative advertising, Internet law, trade secrets, licensing, and right of publicity. Ms. Stangle has significant experience in complex inter partes proceedings before the TTAB, has represented clients in federal courts around the U.S. including in the Ninth Circuit, and has won numerous UDRP proceedings. She also has experience in patent infringement and trade secret litigation. She represents clients in a wide variety of industries including in the life sciences, automotive, insurance, reinsurance, financial, car rental, commercial real estate, software, AI, consumer and luxury goods, entertainment, cannabis, alcoholic beverages, and industrial products space. Ms. Stangle currently serves as the Chair of the Recruiting Committee and was previously Chair of the DEI committee and a member of her firm’s Board of Directors. She is also Vice-Chair of IPO’s D&I Committee. Ms. Stangle is a frequent guest lecturer speaking about a variety of intellectual property topics, has been a regional oral argument judge for the Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition and has served as an Adjunct Professor at Widener Law School teaching law students about copyrights and trademarks.  She has three boys and loves to run and bike in her spare time.