Lecturer Bios
Ann McCrackin, Esq.
Ann McCrackin is a patent attorney, law professor, and founder of AI-Enabled Attorney®, where she helps intellectual property professionals use artificial intelligence to streamline routine aspects of patent practice and focus more time on work that requires professional judgment.
With more than 25 years of experience in patent practice, Ms. McCrackin has prosecuted patents and provided intellectual property counseling to companies ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies. Her practice experience includes the day-to-day work at the core of patent practice, including office actions, claim drafting, docketing, and managing the demands of delivering high-quality work within budget.
Before founding AI-Enabled Attorney®, Ms. McCrackin served as president of an AI legal-technology company, where she spent more than a decade developing tools designed to automate patent proofreading and drafting. That experience gave her a practical understanding of both rule-based automation and generative AI, as well as how to evaluate which technology is appropriate for a particular legal workflow.
Her approach to AI is grounded in practical experience and vendor neutrality. AI-Enabled Attorney® does not sell software, and Ms. McCrackin has no vendor affiliations or commissions. Her focus is on helping firms and legal departments identify the right tools, workflows, and level of investment for their particular practice.
Ms. McCrackin is also an adjunct professor at UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law, where she teaches Patent Practice, claim drafting, and AI Skills for Legal Professionals. Her teaching emphasizes strong legal and technical fundamentals alongside the ability to critically evaluate AI-generated work. She brings that same emphasis on professional judgment to her work with law firms and legal departments.
Ms. McCrackin regularly speaks at organizations and industry events including AIPLA, IPO, ILTA, BIO, and the National Docketing Association, and conducts workshops for law firms and legal departments nationwide.
Ian Schick, Ph.D., Esq
Ian Schick is a patent practitioner, physicist, and legal technology entrepreneur with more than a decade of experience in patent preparation, prosecution, and the development of technology for drafting patent applications.
He founded Specifio in 2017, developing automated technology for generating patent content, and in 2023 co-founded Paximal, where he serves as CEO. Before focusing on legal technology, Mr. Schick spent approximately ten years practicing patent law, primarily with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.
Mr. Schick is a Stanford CodeX Fellow and serves on AIPLA’s AI Task Force. He is also a top-ten most-read guest author at Law360, where he has written on intellectual property, artificial intelligence, and legal technology.
He holds a Ph.D. from the Colorado School of Mines and a J.D. from the University of San Diego.
Lestin L. Kenton, Jr., Esq.
Lestin L. Kenton, Jr., Esq. is a patent attorney, PTAB litigator, and intellectual property strategist with extensive experience in patent litigation, portfolio development, and IP monetization. He has led more than 100 proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), including inter partes review (IPR), post-grant review (PGR), and covered business method (CBM) proceedings, representing both petitioners and patent owners across the electronics, mechanical, and life sciences industries.
Mr. Kenton has been nationally recognized for his PTAB work. Patexia ranked him among the most active and best-performing PTAB attorneys from 2018 through 2023, including among the Top 50 Best Performing Attorneys representing patent owners and the Top 100 attorneys overall.
In addition to his litigation practice, Mr. Kenton advises startups, mid-sized companies, and multinational corporations on developing, strengthening, and monetizing their intellectual property portfolios. He works with clients to align patent strategies with broader business objectives, including licensing, enforcement, strategic acquisitions, and defensive positioning. His experience allows him to evaluate IP not only as a legal asset, but also as a potential source of commercial value and competitive advantage.
Mr. Kenton also leads the firm's work in artificial intelligence and intellectual property. He advises companies on protecting AI-related innovations, managing legal and regulatory risks, and developing strategies for AI technologies and data. His experience includes machine learning, natural language processing, deep learning architectures, and AI governance, as well as emerging issues involving AI-generated content, training data and models, AI model licensing, and the protection and commercialization of AI-related intellectual property. He spearheaded the development of an AI IP Audit Program designed to help companies identify and address intellectual property risks and opportunities associated with AI.
His technical background spans sensor technologies, autonomous systems and robotics, medical technology, bioinformatics, fintech, IoT, wireless and telecommunications, computer graphics and architecture, audio and video streaming, optics, computer vision, cloud computing, cybersecurity and data protection, and defense technologies. Before practicing law, Mr. Kenton worked as a software developer specializing in ground-based air surveillance radar. This combination of technical and legal experience enables him to translate complex technologies into practical IP strategies, from patent prosecution and PTAB litigation to portfolio development and monetization.
Tammy Pennington Rhodes
Tammy Pennington Rhodes is Of Counsel at Osha Bergman Watanabe & Burton and is a registered patent attorney with more than 20 years of experience in patent litigation, drafting, and prosecution. She holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering and has practiced in areas including telecommunications and other high-technology fields. In her work at OBWB, Tammy focuses on SEP and AI and regularly speaks on the responsible and effective use of AI in intellectual property practice. She brings both hands-on patent experience and an AI ethics perspective to the symposium.
Coby Henry, Esq.
Coby brings more than 25 years of experience in intellectual property law and electrical engineering to his role as Of Counsel at Wood IP. His practice focuses on patent preparation and prosecution, licensing, portfolio management, and strategic counseling across diverse industries, including manufacturing, control systems, semiconductors, telecommunications, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) technologies.
Coby has held senior in-house and law firm roles throughout his career. As Senior Patent Attorney at Smith, Gambrell & Russell in Atlanta and Patent Counsel for Whirlpool Corporation, he provided comprehensive legal counsel on intellectual property matters, guiding patent portfolios and managing complex litigation. At Rheem Manufacturing Company, he spearheaded the company’s patent program, doubling annual patent filings in 2020 and driving 10% year-over-year portfolio growth. He also developed an enterprise-wide plan for building and protecting Rheem’s patent and trademark assets, while managing outside counsel and monetization initiatives.
Earlier in his career, Coby served as Director of Patent Licensing and Sales at AT&T Intellectual Property, where he was responsible for more than $18 million in annual licensing revenue and contributed to team efforts generating over $200 million. His experience in both monetization and enforcement provides clients with unique insight into the full lifecycle of intellectual property rights.
Beyond his corporate practice, Coby is committed to advancing the patent profession. He serves as a member of the Board of Advisors and as a lecturer for the National Council on Patent Practicum, Inc. (NCPP), where he mentors and trains aspiring patent attorneys.
Coby earned his Juris Doctor from Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School and his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from The Citadel. He is admitted to the Georgia Bar and is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He is also a Certified Patent Practitioner and a Certified Engineer-in-Training (SCLLR).
Dan Smith, Esq.
Dan Smith is the Patent and Licensing Strategist and Innovation Coach at Lenovo and Motorola Mobility, where he works on patent licensing, broader IP strategy, and Innovation Training. He previously managed his own private practice, The Patent Smith, where he focused on standard essential patents (SEPs), was the Special Attorney General for the State of Colorado managing the State’s patent portfolio, was the Director of Patents and Innovation Coach at CableLabs. Dan has experience connecting technology development with patent protection and commercialization.
As President of the National Association of Patent Practitioners, Dan also works on issues affecting the patent practitioner community. Dan is also a named inventor on over 20 patents covering satellite, optical, and wireless communications. He brings an inventor, law firm, government, in-house, and professional-association perspective to the opportunities and challenges AI presents for patent legal practice.
