Our People
Phone: (858) 481-1883
Email: heather@mlo-ip.com
Education:
BSEE from Kettering University
J.D. from University of Michigan Law School
Phone: (650) 346-5242
Email: grace@mlo-ip.com
Education:
BSME from Purdue University
MSME from University of California at Berkeley
Phone: (858) 481-1883
Email: julianne@mlo-ip.com
Education:
BA in Economics from the University of San Diego
Phone: (281) 753-7916
Email: jon@mlo-ip.com
Education:
BSEE from the University of Houston
BSCE from Texas A&M University
J.D. from University of Texas at Austin School of Law
Phone: (858) 481-1883
Email: steve@mlo-ip.com
Education:
BSEE from the University of Notre Dame
JD from Cornell Law School
Phone: (858) 481-1883
Email: nicole@mlo-ip.com
Education:
BA from California State University
J.D. from Southwestern Law School
Phone: (858) 481-1883
Email: david@mlo-ip.com
Education:
Ph.D. from Stanford University
M.S. from Stanford University
B.S. from Cornell University
Phone: (858) 481-1883
Email: haley@mlo-ip.com
Education:
California Teaching Credential from San Diego State University
BA from The University of California, Santa Cruz
Heather Slotnick
Firm Managing Partner
Heather Slotnick has over twenty-five years of experience working collaboratively with clients to develop high quality intellectual property (IP) portfolios while reducing legal risks. Drawing on her past in-house experiences, Heather brings an entrepreneurial, client-side perspective to the services of protecting IP rights. She is more than a lawyer offering legal solutions because Heather works with clients to develop a plan to achieve IP goals which are in line with their business goals. Heather also assists with negotiating and preparing agreements, IP analysis (including freedom-to-operate projects) and IP due diligence.
Prior to founding MLO, Heather was Associate Chief IP Counsel at Siemens Corporation where she handled complex IP issues and managed Siemens’ West Coast IP Office. She obtained broad legal experience including leading patent license negotiations, handling due diligence matters (for both acquisitions and venture capital investments), providing IP portfolio strategy and overseeing IP prosecution efforts. Her primary technical areas included telecommunications, semiconductors, medical systems, solar and software.
Heather began her legal career at Townsend and Townsend (now Kilpatrick Townsend) as a member of the Electrical and Electronics Patent Prosecution Group. While at Townsend, she specialized in drafting patent applications, and assisting with large patent cross license negotiations.
Heather holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering with a Minor in Management (Cum Laude) from Kettering University in Flint, Michigan, and a JD from the University of Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Heather is a member of the California State Bar and registered to practice with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Heather supports her local community by serving on the Board of Directors of the Nufund Venture Group and organizing Nufund Ladies’ events. She also volunteers at the Community Resource Center (CRC) which creates paths to healthy food, stable homes and safe relationships in San Diego county.
Grace Schulz
Operations Manager and Patent Agent
Grace Schulz has over 20 years of patent experience including prosecuting patents from provisional applications through appeals, performing prior art searches, providing freedom-to-operate analyses, conducting design-arounds, and analyzing claim coverage. Her primary technical areas include medical devices, semiconductors, e-beam lithography, additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence/machine learning, solar energy systems, solar cells, and consumer products.
Before entering the patent field, Grace served as Director of Research and Development for VNUS Medical Technologies. She was also a project development engineer for Guidant. Her R&D career included developing cardiovascular catheters from concept through market launch, being involved with regulatory filings, managing the patent portfolio, and participating in animal studies and clinical trials. Grace is a named inventor on eight patents.
Grace holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and a Master of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in Berkeley, California. Her honors include being named Purdue Outstanding Senior Engineer and being awarded a National Science Foundation Fellowship. Grace is registered to practice with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Grace supports her community by serving in leadership roles at her church and serving meals to the homeless.
Paul Stuart
Business Development Manager and Patent Agent
Paul Stuart has spent over 20 years providing professional services as an electrical engineer and technical expert. He has extensive experience drafting patent applications, prosecuting patent applications, and conducting patentability searches. Currently, his primary technical areas include semiconductor devices, software applications, networking, and terrestrial navigation systems.
Prior to joining MLO, Paul worked as a Technical Analyst for P&T Law and at Greenhaus & Pendergrass, LLP in San Diego, where his primary technical areas included spread-spectrum terrestrial positioning systems and sensor-fusion. Paul is registered to practice with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Paul holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington and has over 15 years of engineering R&D experience in digital signal processing, circuit design, software development, communications, medical devices, and autonomous robotics.
Paul has worked as a senior embedded systems engineer and group manager at a product development and manufacturing company, and has also worked as a software engineer for the Autonomous Robotics Group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Through his career, he has developed and released multiple successful products using microcontrollers, multi-core processors, analog and digital video processors, codecs, compression algorithms, custom digital video muxing/demuxing schemes, embedded Linux, Android, wireless data streaming protocols, and GPS.
Julianne Francis
Office Manager
Julianne Francis has over 16 years of IP law firm experience providing all levels of staff support from her current position as Office Manager to past support roles as an IP paralegal, docket administrator, foreign filing specialist and administrative assistant.
Julianne holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, with Minors in Mathematics and International Business from The University of San Diego. Her honors include memberships in Phi Beta Kappa Society for liberal arts and sciences, Beta Gama Sigma for honors in Business, Omicron Delta Epsilon for honors in Economics, Order of Omega Honor Society, and National Society of Collegiate Scholars. She received the Academic Excellence award from the University of San Diego for having the Highest Scholastic Standing in the Economics Major.
Julianne supports her community by serving in leadership roles at her church and working with a local non-profit organization that brings people together to take action and build support for projects advancing social justice.
L. Jon Lindsay
Partner
Jon has over thirty years of patent experience including preparing and prosecuting patent applications, appealing cases to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board, managing a corporate patent portfolio, developing corporate IP strategy, evaluating patentability of inventions, supporting IP licensing, performing patentability and validity searches and analyses, preparing infringement and validity opinions, investigating alleged patent infringements, and mentoring junior patent practitioners. Jon has extensive patent experience with electrical devices, mechanical devices, computer hardware, software, artificial intelligence/machine learning, location systems, enterprise communications, software defined networks, unified communications, telecommunications, semiconductor devices, semiconductor processes and systems, RF devices/systems, power supplies, battery management systems, mixed-signal systems, online financial transaction systems, smartphone apps, storage devices, printers, digital and analog circuitry, medical electronics and devices, and civil/structural engineering, among other technologies.
Jon began his patent career with Compaq Computer Corporation in Houston, Texas, where he was a Group Intellectual Property Counsel. However, Jon has been in private practice for most of his patent career. Before entering the patent law field, Jon was an attorney in general litigation.
Jon holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Houston, Texas; a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas; and a J.D. from The University of Texas at Austin School of Law. He is a member of both the Colorado and Texas State Bars and a Registered Patent Attorney before the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Stephen Durant
Of Counsel
Steve is a registered patent attorney with deep experience guiding technology companies in developing durable patent portfolios to further their business objectives. He specializes in developing U.S. and international filing strategies, as well as creating and managing internal processes for invention identification and procurement. Steve's practice focuses on patent preparation and prosecution, IP strategy, opinions, licensing, and IP due diligence supporting transactions and litigation.
Before joining MLO, Steve was the founding partner of the patent prosecution practice at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosatti. He later headed the San Francisco patent prosecution practice as a partner at Morrison & Foerster. Following his work at major general practice law firms, he was a principal in the San Jose office of the patent boutique Schwegman, Lundberg, Woessner. Earlier in his career, Steve worked as an in-house patent attorney at the Hughes Aircraft Company, Space & Communications Group. He also assisted with licensing negotiations and supported litigation at AMD as a seconded employee for two years while working as a partner at a Bay Area patent boutique.
Steve received a BSEE from the University of Notre Dame and a JD from the Cornell Law School. Steve is a member of the State Bar of California and is registered to practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Steve is an advisor to the Silicon Catalyst incubator and a member of the Silicon Catalyst Angels.
Nicole Oden
Of Counsel
Nicole provides strategic intellectual property and business advice to clients in various industries. She handles trademark clearance, registration, prosecution, filing, maintenance and enforcement of rights. In addition to her trademark experience, Nicole has extensive experience in contract negotiation, drafting and review.
Nicole studied English at California State University, Long Beach as a President’s Scholar (with a full scholarship) and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Minor in Sociology. She is also a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Nicole graduated from Southwestern Law School and was the recipient of the Dean’s Scholar and Dean’s Merit Scholarships. Nicole externed for the Honorable Scott M. Gordon, the former Presiding Judge of Los Angeles County Superior Court – Family Law Division and obtained valuable knowledge and insight regarding court proceedings and strategies. Nicole holds a license to practice law in California, including state and federal courts.
In her free time, Nicole is an avid reader and loves spending time with her daughter and husband.
Kathy Wojtalewicz
Patent Agent
Kathy Wojtalewicz has over thirteen years of patent experience including drafting and prosecuting utility and design patent applications, performing prior art searches, analyzing claim coverage and validity, and drafting other patent related documents. Currently, her primary technical areas include cyber security systems, malware protection software, validation software, smartphone apps, various business methods, solar cells, medical devices and mechanical devices.
Prior to entering the patent field, Kathy gained over 12 years of extensive experience in the automotive industry including vehicle design, development and testing. She held various positions with General Motors Corporation spanning the engineering process from computer simulation to hardware demonstration. Her career included finite element analysis, full vehicle durability testing, fuel storage and delivery including regulatory compliance and chassis subsystem development.
Kathy holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, with a concentration in Machine Design, from Kettering University in Flint, Michigan. Her honors include Pi Tau Sigma Mechanical Engineering Honor Society and Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society. Kathy is registered to practice with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
David Jackrel, PHD
Patent Agent
David Jackrel has over 15 years of professional experience as an engineer and intellectual property technical expert. His experience includes prior art landscape analysis, application drafting, and prosecution, as well as developing IP strategies, analyzing and valuing IP portfolios, and as an expert witness in IP litigation. David’s primary technical areas of expertise include Materials Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Chemical Engineering. He has worked with companies in a wide range of technologies including optoelectronics, semiconductors, nanotechnology, AI and ML image recognition, fibers and textiles materials, additive manufacturing, consumer electronics, medical devices, and industrial chemical processing.
Before entering the patent field, David was Vice President of Research and Development at Nanosolar, developing thin-film solar cells using nanoparticle ink. While at Nanosolar, he also led the growth of Nanosolar’s IP portfolio, which provided valuable experience as an in-house IP manager. This role included developing U.S. and international patent strategies, managing inside and outside counsel, and serving as a technical lead working closely with outside attorneys to develop a defensive litigation strategy. David is registered to practice with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
David holds Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University. His doctoral and post-doctoral research at Stanford was in novel materials for solar cells and photodetectors. He also holds a B.S. degree in Textiles and Apparel/Fibers Science from Cornell University, where his undergraduate honors thesis focused on the crystalline structure of high-strength spider silk.
Kelly Etcheson
Senior Administrative Assistant
Kelly Etcheson has a background in public relations and marketing, and she has over 20 years of experience providing administrative and accounting support services. Prior to joining MLO, Kelly held a variety of positions throughout San Diego including Account Manager, Marketing Coordinator and Administrative Assistant.
Kelly earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Advertising with an Emphasis in Psychology at Pepperdine University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude, was on the Dean’s List for six semesters, and was a member of the Alpha Chi Honor Society.
Haley Etcheson
Administrative Assistant
Haley Etcheson is a recent graduate of San Diego State University where she earned her California Teaching Credential. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from The University of California, Santa Cruz, where she worked as an admissions assistant. Her previous experience includes providing social media and administrative support services as an independent contractor.