Three Technology Attorneys Launch Bespoke IP, AI and Technology Law Firm KellDann

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 14, 2026: Three seasoned attorneys from the national intellectual property firm Banner Witcoff have launched KellDann Law PLLC, a boutique firm focused on intellectual property, artificial intelligence and technology law. The firm combines deep legal experience with engineering expertise and proprietary technology, including free, publicly-available AI-based patent analysis tools, to advise companies developing and deploying emerging technologies.

KellDann was founded by Ross Dannenberg, Scott M. Kelly, and Kirk Sigmon, and former Banner Witcoff life sciences partner Paul Rivard will join on May 1, who together bring over 70 years of IP-related experience. KellDann supports startups and technology companies as they navigate the ever-changing legal landscape around intellectual property, AI, software development, and data governance.

KellDann advises startups, scale-ups, and established technology companies on issues including patent strategy, AI governance, licensing, product development, and emerging technology regulation. The firm bucks the traditional billable hour model and provides legal services primarily on a fixed fee and fractional counsel basis.

KellDann’s IP practice spans patent prosecution, trademarks, copyrights, trade dress, and trade secrets. The founders collectively have secured patents for clients around the world and have built and managed patent portfolios valued in the billions. Their experience also includes IP litigation, licensing, and strategic counseling designed to create leverage in financing, transactions, and disputes.

The founders are recognized as experts in the video game industry, advising developers and publishers on a wide array of IP issues including licensing, platform issues, and digital content. The founders speak and write extensively on topics including video game law, artificial intelligence in games, in-game economies, and IP issues related to immersive entertainment.

KellDann also provides legal counsel for companies building, acquiring, and deploying AI systems. The firm advises on AI law, product counseling, and fractional outside counsel services for companies building technology-driven products.

“Companies are incorporating AI and advanced technologies into nearly every product they build today,” explained co-founder and Managing Partner Ross Dannenberg. “This is generating new legal questions and issues involving IP, product development and data governance. We created KellDann to be a nimble firm that can work alongside founders and product teams to help streamline product development and address those matters quickly and strategically.”

“Ross, Kirk and I have worked well together for over a decade. We’ve been founders, engineers, and in-house counsel ourselves,” noted co-founder and Head of Practice Scott M. Kelly. “That experience gives us a practical perspective on the business realities and challenges that our clients face. We serve as outside product counsel—whether for a specific product launch or on a fractional basis for growing companies.”

As part of the firm’s launch, KellDann is releasing PatentAgility, a free patent analytics toolkit that uses AI, machine learning, and natural language processing techniques to help innovators analyze patents and patent families more efficiently.

“As the developer of PatentAgility, my goal was to make patent analysis faster, more transparent, and more accessible,” said co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer Kirk Sigmon. “We’ve received tremendous positive feedback from beta testers and are excited to make the tool available to the broader innovation community.”

About the Founders:

Ross Dannenberg advises clients as outside product and IP counsel, including all aspects of intellectual property procurement, counseling, and enforcement, with a particular focus on software and digital technologies. With a background in computer science, he has handled thousands of software patent prosecution matters and has extensive experience in patent, copyright and trademark disputes. His clients span industries including video games, software development, automotive manufacturing, healthcare, medical devices and craft brewing.

Ross is a lifetime fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a recognized authority on video game law. He serves as an adjunct professor teaching Video Game and Immersive Entertainment Law, and he founded the widely read legal blog PatentArcade.com. Ross is also editor and principal contributor to the American Bar Association’s Legal Guide to Video Game Development and editor of Computer Games and Immersive Entertainment: Next Frontiers in Intellectual Property Law.

Scott M. Kelly, a former examiner at the USPTO, represents clients throughout the lifecycle of an invention—from early-stage concept through patent prosecution and enforcement. He advises companies across a broad range of technologies on issues involving patent validity, infringement and strategic IP portfolio development.

Scott brings firsthand startup experience to his practice. He founded a company that developed an intelligent patent search engine using document similarity analysis that was later acquired by a startup foundry. Earlier in his career, he was the sixth employee at a startup that developed gigapixel-resolution video cameras for drone aircraft.

He also counsels clients on IP issues arising in mergers and acquisitions. With a deep bench of expertise in the video game industry, Scott frequently speaks and writes about IP issues affecting the business.

Kirk Sigmon began his legal career at a law firm in Tokyo and advises clients on U.S., Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and European IP matters. His practice covers technologies ranging from artificial intelligence and autonomous systems to cybersecurity, video games, fashion, and consumer products. For over a decade, Kirk has handled major patent prosecution and enforcement matters involving AI, communications systems, and regulated technologies including biotechnology and medical devices.

A former Edison Fellow at George Mason University, Kirk is widely recognized for his scholarship on AI and machine learning patent law, subject matter eligibility, and video game code decompilations. He currently serves as vice chair of the Intellectual Property Owners Association Anti-Counterfeiting & Anti-Piracy Committee and is conducting graduate research at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College focused on deep learning, machine vision, and field-programmable gate arrays.

About KellDann:

KellDann Law PLLC is a Washington, D.C.–based law firm advising companies on intellectual property, artificial intelligence, and emerging technology law. The firm provides strategic IP counseling, patent prosecution, AI governance guidance, product counseling, and fractional outside counsel services to startups and technology companies worldwide. Visit www.kelldann.com for more information.