Kristen is a USPTO-registered patent practitioner with over 15 years of experience focusing on developing U.S. and international patent portfolio strategies for individual, university, and corporate clients. Kristen has served as a technology specialist and a patent agent at a number of top tier law firms where she managed large patent portfolios in a wide variety of technology areas. She has also drafted and prosecuted hundreds of patent applications for Fortune 100 clients in the areas of software, IoT, machine learning, consumer electronics, electronic circuits, optics, medical devices, wearable devices, virtual and augmented reality technologies, telecommunications, semiconductor devices, and business methods.
 
Kristen understands complex technologies. As a result, she can comfortably communicate with inventors at a detailed level and can disseminate technical details of such communications to non-technical audiences. Kristen uses her technical knowledge and legal training to develop patent portfolio strategies that are aligned with each client’s business objectives.
 
In addition to U.S. and international portfolio management, Kristen has also handled post grant proceedings focusing primarily in inter partes reviews (IPRs), reexaminations, and other advanced prosecution activities. She is also proficient in providing litigation support as well as patentability analysis, freedom-to-operate analysis, and due diligence investigations to assist clients in understanding the scope of potential patent protection.
 
Prior to becoming a patent practitioner, Ms. Hansen was an Electrical Engineer and Software Engineer for a number of consumer electronics, telecommunication, and semiconductor companies. 
 
Kristen holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, where she specialized in biomedical engineering and material science. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota with an emphasis in biomedical engineering, electromagnetics, and power systems.​

Technical Patent Expertise

Extensive fortune 100 experience in ​software, IoT, machine learning, consumer electronics, electronic circuits, optics, medical devices, wearable devices, virtual and augmented reality technologies, telecommunications, and semiconductor devices ​

Additional Technical Areas

• ​​Search algorithms
• Electrical design and implementation
• Software design and implementation
• Electromagnetics theory
• Antenna design
• Biomedical instrumentation
• Signal processing
• Semiconductor processing and fabrication
• Board design, fabrication, and layout. ​

Education and Design Experience

• Consumer electronics devices
• Control systems
• User interface design and implementation
• Wireless telecommunications
• Software for embedded, application, and web platforms​​​