Derek Benke

Derek P. Benke is a skilled patent attorney with more than 15 years of experience in the patent field. Prior to joining Xsensus, Mr. Benke worked at a national general practice law firm as well as at one of the largest intellectual property firms in the country.

Mr. Benke has conducted hundreds of in-person Examiner Interviews at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to advance the prosecution of patent applications; his experience interfacing directly with patent examiners has provided him with the unique tools and perspectives needed to efficiently and effectively advance prosecution of patent applications to achieve his clients’ goals. Mr. Benke prides himself on being very responsive to his client’s requests and their needs, and presents the client with all options for responding to a particular issue.

Mr. Benke focuses on various intellectual property matters, including:

• Patent prosecution
• Drafting validity and infringement opinions
• Client counseling
• IP due diligence
• Design patents

Mr. Benke has extensive experience in prosecuting and drafting patent applications in a range of diversified technologies, including:

• Consumer electronics
• Semiconductor devices and fabrication systems
• Signal compression and encoding schemes
• Computer hardware and software
• Communications systems
• Audio and video processing
• Display technologies
• Medical devices
• Aerospace, automotive, and watercraft components and propulsion systems
• Gas turbines
• Electric trains
• Cargo ships
• Air-conditioning systems
• Power production and storage systems
• Internet-of-things (IoT)
• Cybersecurity
• Business methods

Mr. Benke also has comprehensive automotive technology experience, having handled the vast majority of the electrical patent applications for an automobile manufacturer for approximately five years, in addition to experience with other companies in the automotive space.

These technologies include:

• Hybrid vehicle systems
• Regenerative braking systems
• Vehicle charging systems
• Navigation systems
• Continuously variable transmissions
• Anti-hacking systems

Mr. Benke’s expertise also includes the aerospace industry, where he has collaborated with a leading aircraft manufacturer and an aircraft engine manufacturer. Mr. Benke also has extensive experience with companies in the marine industry.

During his career, Mr. Benke:

• Represented a wide assortment of clients, ranging from individual inventors to Fortune 50 companies
• Was named a 2018 BTI Client Service All-Star, becoming one of only 27 IP lawyers in the U.S. to receive this honor
• Assisted a Fortune 200 ‘Tech Innovator of the Year’ award nominee in obtaining several patents
• Obtained over 20 patents for a large consumer electronics company in the high-definition DVD format space using the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Program
• Successfully appealed several final Office Action rejections to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, including presenting oral arguments before the Board