MSI Expert Series | Webinar: Patent law in the United States

Anton Hopen

Shareholder, Trenam Law

Anton Hopen is a member of the firm’s Business Transactions and Intellectual Property Practice Groups. He is a registered patent attorney who counsels universities, technology companies, and founders on building, defending, and monetizing patent portfolios. With decades of experience spanning biotechnology, software, telecommunications, and engineered systems, he pairs rigorous prosecution and post‑grant strategy with practical, business‑forward advice. His capabilities include appeals and administrative litigation before the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB); he is also admitted to all federal district courts in Florida and to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Additionally, Hopen is one of only 135 attorneys to hold Board Certification in Intellectual Property by the Florida Bar. His work in intellectual property law has been recognized by The Wall Street Journal and featured in The Business Journal, Law Review, Money Magazine, and Biotechnology Law Report.

Before joining Trenam, Anton served as Managing Partner of an intellectual property firm.

Hopen earned his law degree from the University of Florida Levin College of Law and his undergraduate degree in Interdisciplinary Science from the University of South Florida.

Mark Howland

Partner, Carrington Coleman

Mark Howland is a litigator who regularly handles high-stakes intellectual property cases involving a broad range of complex technologies in federal courts around the country. In addition to his litigation practice, he provides strategic counseling to clients regarding intellectual property licensing and enforcement.

Mark has successfully represented some of the world’s leading semiconductor companies in patent cases involving semiconductor fabrication, wafer inspection, and chip packaging technologies; microprocessor and DSP architectures; memory and storage devices; network processors; graphics processors; and analog and digital circuits. He has also counseled and represented companies in litigation involving a range of technologies relating to oil and gas exploration and production—including towed array seismic data acquisition, nanoparticle tracers for downhole use, and technologies for wear mitigation and fatigue abatement in downhole tools and frack pumps. In the telecommunications space, Mark has represented a number of companies, including mobile phone manufacturers, cable and fiber optic systems manufacturers, and broadcast service providers in cases involving wireless communication technologies relating to a variety of different industry standards; audio encoding; data compression; ATM test networks; GPS monitoring devices; satellite broadcast systems; and wireless and wired network architectures. He also has represented a number of companies in patent litigation relating to software, GUIs, computer network architectures and security, encryption, and payment systems.

In addition to patent disputes, Mark has successfully defended companies accused of trade secret misappropriation and copyright infringement involving technologies relating to semiconductor wafer inspection and profilometry, online gaming, and financial portfolio management software. Prior to joining Carrington Coleman, he was a partner in the IP litigation section of a multinational law firm where he spent 15 years litigating patent disputes for a wide range of technology companies.

Mark’s engineering background allows him to get up to speed quickly and stand toe to toe with experts on complex technologies. But, well beyond his technical skills, he also cultivates a deep awareness of his client’s business goals and operations.