Ben works collaboratively with his clients, including large and small companies, University clients, and individual inventors, on patent preparation, prosecution, and lifecycle management to protect their inventions. He focuses his practice in four key areas:
- Pharmaceuticals and Biotech, including pharmaceutical development, second generation filings (i.e., methods of treatment, formulations, salt and crystal forms, prodrugs, and combination therapies), and late-stage prosecution strategies to optimize patent term and protect against potential infringers/generic filers;
- Alternative Therapeutics, including nutraceuticals, food products, and Cannabis;
- Polymers and Commodity Chemicals, including plastics, natural and artificial rubbers, hydrogels, agrochemicals, and catalysts and processes for their production; and
- Fuels and Alternative Energy, including petrochemicals, natural gas, petroleum derivatives, biofuels, sustainable aviation fuel, fuel cells, batteries, and methods/processes for their production, purification, and optimization.
Ben is actively involved in DE&I work. He is a member of Foley Hoag's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, a member and former co-chair of Foley Hoag's PRISM (LGBTQ) Affinity Group, Chair of the Legal Advisory Council for LGBT+VC, and an active member of a number of LGBTQ Bar Associations.
Ben’s doctoral studies focused on the development of transition-metal catalysts for the conversion of natural gas and petrochemicals to higher-value commodity chemicals, such as plastics and liquid fuels in the laboratory of Professor T. Brent Gunnoe at the University of Virginia. Ben’s undergraduate research focused on the synthesis and characterization of phosphorus- and silicon-containing polymers and oligomers using early-metal catalysts in the laboratory of Professor Rory Waterman at the University of Vermont.
