HOVEY WILLIAMS - Key Persons


Alaina Coughlin

Job Titles:
  • Patent Analyst

Andrew G. Colombo

Job Titles:
  • Partner

C. Blair Barbieri

Job Titles:
  • Partner

Chad A. Kyle

Job Titles:
  • Partner

Chandler Schmidt

Job Titles:
  • Associate
  • Patent Attorney

Cheryl L. Burbach

Job Titles:
  • Partner
Throughout her career, Cheryl has been a frequent speaker and presented on various trademark and copyright topics. She has actively participated in professional organizations, including serving on committees of the International Trademark Association, as well serving on the Board and chairing committees of the Association of Intellectual Property Firms.

Crissa A. Seymour Cook

Job Titles:
  • Partner

Dane A. Schad

Job Titles:
  • Associate
Dane joined Hovey Williams in 2013. His practice focuses on the preparation and prosecution of mechanical and computer related patents primarily for aerospace, agriculture, military, medical, manufacturing, and computer entertainment fields.

Darin L. McCollum

Job Titles:
  • Associate

Dianne M. Smith-Misemer

Job Titles:
  • Partner

Geoffrey Winningham

Job Titles:
  • Patent Agent

Gregory J. Skoch

Job Titles:
  • Partner

Jaclyn S. Alcantara

Job Titles:
  • Associate

Joan Optican Herman

Job Titles:
  • Partner

John M. Collins

Job Titles:
  • of Counsel

Kameron D. Kelly

Job Titles:
  • Partner
  • Partner, since 2000
Kameron joined Hovey Williams in 2000. As a partner of the firm, he specializes in patent preparation and prosecution, as well as patent portfolio management. Kameron also has expertise in providing legal opinions on patent infringement and validity. He frequently helps clients manage infringement risk by performing freedom-to-operate and validity studies in a variety of technological areas. Beyond his primary practice areas, Kameron has experience representing clients in patent infringement matters, as well as negotiating and drafting intellectual property license agreements. Kameron has extensive experience working with technologies related to the industrial processing, advanced manufacturing, oil and gas, automotive, agricultural, chemical, and renewable fuels industries. Prior to joining Hovey Williams, Kameron worked in the patent law department of Phillips Petroleum Company, which is now known as ConocoPhillips. Kameron attributes his career's success to hard work and a number of mentors who have assisted in his development along the way. Kameron grew up in Plainville, Kansas. He and his wife, Nikole, have four children. While not in the office, Kameron can often be found outdoors where he enjoys off-road biking and hunting.

Kenzie M. Lawrence

Job Titles:
  • Associate
  • in 2023 As an Associate
Kenzie joined Hovey Williams in 2023 as an Associate. Her practice focuses on trademark rights, copyright law, and intellectual property transactions. She specializes in a wide array of trademark dealings, encompassing everything from conducting trademark clearance searches and prosecuting trademark applications, to handling assignments and renewals, as well as safeguarding and defending trademark rights against infringement.

Kevin Yoder

Job Titles:
  • Chairman of the Appropriations Committee

Lauren L. Byrne

Job Titles:
  • Associate

Lisa M. Martin

Job Titles:
  • Patent Agent

Matthew B. Walters

Job Titles:
  • Partner

Michael B. Hurd

Job Titles:
  • Partner

Paul J. Walker

Job Titles:
  • Partner

Richard G. Rozier

Job Titles:
  • Patent Agent

Scott R. Brown

Job Titles:
  • Partner
Scott is a partner at Hovey Williams and is the head of the litigation department. He began his career in California's Silicon Valley in 1990. He moved to Kansas and joined Hovey Williams in 1999. His practice includes all aspects of intellectual property creation, management, enforcement, and licensing, with particular emphasis on intellectual property litigation. Scott has been a first chair trial lawyer since 1999, handling more than one hundred lawsuits in federal courts across the country. Scott has also been lead-counsel in numerous administrative actions before the Patent Trial and Appeals Board in inter partes review proceedings and has also appeared in post grant review proceedings and reexaminations. Scott has argued numerous times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, appealing and defending judgments from district courts and the PTAB. Scott has been selected as a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America a national trial lawyer honorary society composed of less than one-half of one percent of American Lawyers.

Stephen J. Huggins

Job Titles:
  • Partner

Thomas B. Luebbering

Job Titles:
  • Partner

Todd A. Gangel

Job Titles:
  • of Counsel

Tracy L. Bornman

Job Titles:
  • Partner
Tracy is a partner at Hovey Williams LLP, having joined the firm upon graduating law school. She received a BS in Chemistry from Missouri University of Science & Technology and a JD from Drake University Law School. Tracy prepares and prosecutes patent applications in the chemical technologies and has worked extensively with inventions involving polymer chemistry, mineral technology, agricultural chemistry, metallurgy, and microelectronic chemistry and processing. Her clients appreciate her thoroughness and ability to quickly understand the complexities of the chemistry involved so that she can ensure the technology is protected at every stage possible. Tracy has served on numerous boards over the years, including serving as the President of the Association for Women Lawyers Foundation ("AWLF"), of which she is a co-founder. AWLF was founded to help women in law develop and advance, and to assist in improving the lives of women and girls in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Tracy has been honored with the Kansas City Business Journal's Women Who Mean BusinessTM Award, the Missouri Lawyers Weekly Business Practitioner Women's Justice Award, the Association for Women Lawyer's President's Award, the Best of the Bar over multiple years, and the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association's Distinguished Counselor Award.