Our People - Da Vinci Partners LLC
Da Vinci Partners LLC is a Swiss-based international patent firm specializing in US patent, trademark and copyright law as well as European and international registration of such rights.
Da Vinci Partners is among the first intellectual property firms to be established in Europe with a primary focus on US intellectual property law.
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| left-right: Sharon Gobat, John Moetteli, Sherman D. Pernia, Novella Moetteli-Mantelli |
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 John Moetteli Esq.
Founder
For about twenty years, John Moetteli has been a practicing patent practitioner/attorney-at-law, licensed before the US and Swiss Patent Offices. He's also admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the District of Columbia Bar (Washington DC). Further, he's a registered Professional Engineer, currently on inactive status. Since 1997, Mr. Moetteli has been based in Europe and has represented individuals as well as U.S., European and Asian corporations, both small and large, before the US, Swiss and International patent and trademark authorities. He holds an Engineering degree, a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree, and a Masters in International Management (with emphasis on Doing Business in China). In addition, he’s followed courses on Chinese Patent Law, including co-editing a well-known manual on industrial property. He is also trained in mediation and arbitration through WIPO courses.
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His technical specialty is mechanical, IT, software, medical devices, and sports products. He is particularly specialized
in preparing freedom to operate, invalidity and unenforceability opinions on US patents, as well as preparing US and
International patent and trademark applications. His experience preparing legal opinions has trained him in the ability
to objectively assess infringement and validity, all helpful to fair and thoughtful determination in arbitration as well
as in providing strategic litigation advice. Knowing where the strengths and weaknesses of a case lie help in mediation
efforts as well.
Mr. Moetteli is a member of the Association of International Business Lawyers (AIBL), the American Intellectual
Property Law Association (AIPLA), and the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI).
He's been inducted into the
Order of the Barons and Order of the Coif,
well-known honorary legal fraternities.
He's also the founder of the North American Attorney's Association in Geneva and a former member of the managing
committee for the Association of International Business Lawyers. He's lectured for the Da Vinci School of
Intellectual Property, the Swiss Patent Office, WIPO (as a WIPO Patent Expert) and the European Commission, and
has served as IMD faculty for the Program for Executive Development (PED). He's published several articles on the
subject of intellectual property law as well.
Prior to moving to Switzerland, Mr. Moetteli worked in the intellectual property section of Haynes &
Boone LLP, a large general litigation firm with offices in Texas, Washington D.C. and Mexico City. He
earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence magna cum laude from the University of Houston Law Center, a
highly ranked law school. Prior to his experience with Haynes & Boone, Mr. Moetteli
worked at NASA
where his responsibilities included technology management. During this time, his work was featured on the
Discovery Channel's Invention Series cable television program.
Mr. Moetteli speaks fluent English, French and German.
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 Dr. Walter Maiwald
We are pleased to announce that the renowned Dr. Walter Maiwald, is a visionary leader in European Patent Opposition and Revocation Practice, has joined our firm. His tenacity in patent oppositions is a hallmark of his practice. "We have been working with him for over 15 years and we have always been extremely pleased with his work," says one of Walter's clients. "He is cost effective; never overstaffing and often dealing with matters himself, and he's sensitive to a client's needs." Dr. Maiwald has retired from the Munich firm that bears his name and is currently working with Da Vinci Partners LLC based in Arbon, Switzerland, just 2 hours' drive from the EPO and 15 minutes from the Swiss patent court.
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Dr. Maiwald has initiated, managed, organized and argued European Patent Office Oppositions in several technology fields ranging from cardiac stents, pharmaceuticals, to sensor and signal processing technologies, and organized and conducted German national and international litigation for major clients. He has successfully represented clients before the European Patent Office, and at all judicial levels in Germany, and before the European Patent Office's Enlarged Board of Appeal.
He has earned degrees in Chemistry and English literature at the University of Hamburg and at Imperial College, London. In 1985, he passed the German patent bar examination and has been practicing as a registered European Patent Attorney since 1987.
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 Novella Moetteli-Mantelli
Ms. Moetteli - Mantelli is a licensed Swiss attorney-at-law registered as a legal representative before the European Patent Office. She earned her Law degree from the University of Geneva. Prior to joining the firm, she worked for the Swiss Federal Banking Commission in Berne, in the department for the authorization of banks, securities dealers and investment funds. She has litigation experience and spent several months as a clerk for the Court of Appeals in Geneva. Her keen interest in Trademark Law, particularly International trademark law, English and German language skills, as well as the fact that French is her mother-tongue, make her a valuable firm asset, particularly for international trademark prosecution that must be conducted in French for our Swiss clients.
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 Sherman D. Pernia, Ph.D., J.D
Sherman Pernia is a licensed attorney-at-law (Texas), and registered as a Patent Agent before the US Patent & Trademark Office. Dr. Pernia specializes in the biomed and electronic patent filings handled by the firm. He has experience working with academic departments and small businesses to identify programs or products embodying technologies ripe for commercial development and in the development and implementation of mechanisms for the protection, further R&D and commercialization of these properties. His work has facilitated transferring technologies out of the laboratory and into the commercial arena, and has thus involved patenting, funding development, marketing and negotiating proprietary rights, joint ventures and preparing licensing agreements to commercialize proprietary technologies.
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From 1991 to 1993, Dr. Pernia worked as a Patent Agent with Fulbright & Jaworski, L.L.P. in Houston, Texas, providing patent prosecution support to the firm’s intellectual property section, particularly in the biomed/biotechnology and related fields.
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 Sharon Gobat, M.S., J.D.
We are proud to announce that Sharon Gobat, has joined our firm, of counsel. Ms. Gobat earned a Doctor of Jurisprudence and M.A. and B.A. in Biology (University of California and Wellesley College), is registered to practice before the US Patent & Trademark Office and is a member of the Massachusetts Bar. She specializes in international trademark strategies, particularly in the fields of pharmaceuticals, healthcare and life sciences. She is also active in supporting our biomedical patent clients. Previously, Ms. Gobat served as director of legal services for a global branding agency, assisting clients in the selection, clearance and exploitation of trademarks worldwide.
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Sylvain Roy - IP Valuation and Licensing Specialist |
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 Sylvain Roy
Working for Da Vinci Partners of counsel, Sylvain Roy is a Canadian attorney (Quebec Bar) and strategy consultant that specializes in licensing, IP valuation, product valuation and business development. Through positions such as COO, CEO and legal counsel of technology companies, Sylvain has gained a diversified experience of licensing and of exploiting intellectual property (IP) in a transnational environment. An initiator and problem solver, Sylvain can leverage an holistic know-how of technology, IP law, marketing and finance to assess the economic value of products, technologies and patent rights. He also focuses on designing and implementing workable business strategies to optimize the valuation & value realization of IP and other intangible assets, in harmony with financing and exit strategies. Sylvain's experience of local markets covers Canada, China, France, Italy, Scandinavia, S-E Asia, Switzerland and USA.
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 Hans von Känel, Ph.D.
Hans von Känel obtained his Ph.D. in natural sciences from the ETH in Zürich, Switzerland, in 1978. His major fields of study have been low-dimensional magnetism, liquid crystals, semiconductor photoelectro-chemistry, epitaxial interfaces and surfaces, scanning probe techniques, and epitaxial growth. He was a Post-doctoral Associate at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, from 1979 to 1981, and the leader of the semiconductor electrochemistry and Si heterostructures groups at the ETH in Zürich from 1981 to 2002, where he invented the technique of low-energy plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (LEPECVD). From 2002 to 2007 he was ordinary professor of physics at the Politecnico di Milano. During this time he built up and directed the laboratory for semiconductor hetero- and nanostructures at L-NESS located in Como. L-NESS is a joint research center of the Politecnico di Milano and the University of Milano Bicocca founded in 2002. From 2003-2010 he was the CTO of the ETH spin-off company EpiSpeed. He has co-authored more than 350 scientific publications and 15 patent applications.
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 Jasmin Hug
Jasmin Hug has been with Da Vinci Partners since 2005 and handles correspondence and administrative matters with clients and intellectual property offices. She also supervises deadlines and is responsible for our payments. She is Swiss, born and raised near Zurich. She speaks fluent English, French, Spanish and Portuguese and is currently learning Chinese.
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 Sonja Hodel
Sonja Hodel has been with Da Vinci Partners since our founding and helps management ensure that the books are properly maintained and that accounts receivable and payable function well.
She is Swiss, born and raised in Basel, and speaks fluent German, French and English.
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 Nathan Martyn
Nathan Martyn, an Australian software developer, is responsible for the online presence of Da Vinci Partners. As the company expands, use of the Internet to promote services and attract new clients is becoming an important goal for the firm. Nathan is a honors computer science graduate of La Trobe University (Bendigo) with years of experience working as a software developer, web master and business manager. He brings great value to the firm.
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