IP consulting firm ThinkFire, Inc. nabbed veteran management consultant and business executive Steven Hoffman from Bain & Company. Hoffman, who was a partner and the head of Bain’s 450-person office in Boston, has been tapped by ThinkFire to manage the firm’s operations and expansion moves. He assumes the title of president and will help the Warren, New Jersey?based firm, which is known for its IP valuation services, to establish a professional services unit that will help businesses to manage and combat the threats posed by patent trolls. “Many businesses receive demand letters from these so-called trolls, and yet they don’t usually know who is financing their licensing efforts,” Hoffman says. “We hope to help clients learn more about the universe of patent trolls by providing market intelligence” that will let them better strategize their response. Hoffman has an MBA in finance from the University of Chicago and an economics degree from Wesleyan University.
WHO; MOVED TO Patent attorney James Conte, a partner at Barnes & Thornburg; Welsh & Katz in Chicago International Trade Commission practitioner Barbara Murphy, partner at Adduci, Mastriani & Schaumberg; Miller & Chevalier?s? Washington, D.C. office Litigation partner Christian Samay, of McCarter & English; The New York office of Reed Smith IP litigator Kenneth Korea, partner at Greenberg Traurig; Dechert?s Silicon Valley office Litigation partner Robert Graham Gibbons, of? Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; Mannatt, Phelps & Philipp?s New York office Stephen Lobbin, of Foley & Lardner; Mannatt, Phelps & Philipp?s in Los Angeles Michael Brayer, senior IP associate at Foley & Lardner; IP boutique Boyle Fredrickson in Milwaukee Parker, Poe, Adams & Bernstein partner James Thomas, of counsel Sheldon Pontaoe and associate Eileen Pontaoe; Troutman Sanders in Raleigh, North Carolina Patent associate Donald Min, of Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner; ? ?Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear?s new Washington, D.C. office Don Boreman, executive vice president of ThinkFire, Inc.; ?ICAP North America, Inc. as vice president? Patent Brokerage
