Three former Banner Witcoff heavy-hitters have peeled off to launch KellDann Law, a boutique IP, AI and tech shop pairing engineering chops with an open-source-flavoured patent analytics platform, PatentAgility. It’s a classic “anti–Big Law” move: fixed and fractional fees, deep patent credentials, and a very modern bet on AI tooling for innovators.
Founded by Ross Dannenberg, Scott M. Kelly and Kirk Sigmon, (pictued) with former Banner Witcoff life sciences partner Paul Rivard to join on May 1, KellDann arrives with more than 70 years of IP experience and a clear target market: startups, scale‑ups and technology companies trying to commercialise products in a fast‑moving AI and data‑driven landscape.
The firm is pitching itself as outside product counsel rather than traditional hired guns, advising on patent strategy, AI governance, licensing, product development and the growing thicket of emerging technology regulation.
In a further step away from the legacy model, KellDann is largely abandoning the pure billable hour, instead offering fixed‑fee arrangements and fractional general counsel mandates designed to slot directly into product and engineering teams.
Their IP practice covers the usual high‑end waterfront such as patent prosecution, trade marks, copyright, trade dress and trade secrets, but with a focus on building and managing patent portfolios that have already been valued in the billions and used as leverage in financings, transactions and disputes worldwide.
Video games, AI and immersive tech
KellDann’s founders are not shy about their niche being long‑time fixtures in the video game and immersive entertainment space, advising developers and publishers on licensing, platform issues, digital content and in‑game economies.
Dannenberg is a recognised authority on video game law, editor and principal contributor to the ABA’s “Legal Guide to Video Game Development” and “Computer Games and Immersive Entertainment: Next Frontiers in Intellectual Property Law,” and the founding editor of PatentArcade.com, one of the earliest and best‑known video game law blogs.
The firm is also leaning hard into AI and will advise companies building, acquiring and deploying AI systems on product counselling, AI‑related risk and governance, and will act as fractional outside counsel for technology‑driven businesses that need IP and regulatory guidance but not a full‑time legal department.
Sigmon, a former Edison Fellow and now a graduate researcher at Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering focusing on deep learning, machine vision and FPGAs, brings a rare blend of AI technical work and scholarship on machine‑learning patent law and subject‑matter eligibility.
Launching PatentAgility
As part of the launch, KellDann is rolling out PatentAgility, a free AI‑powered patent analytics toolkit that uses machine learning and natural language processing to help users interrogate patents and patent families more efficiently.
Built and coded by Sigmon himself, PatentAgility is currently free (account required), largely open‑source and designed to run using best‑in‑class local AI, ML and NLP technology rather than relying entirely on black‑box third‑party systems.
Sigmon says the goal is to make patent analysis “faster, more transparent, and more accessible,” a proposition that will not be lost on in‑house counsel and patent professionals under pressure to do more with leaner teams and increasingly sceptical finance departments.
PatentAgility sits alongside a broader wave of AI‑enabled IP tools in the market, with the likes of the USPTO and EPO also examining how AI can transform patent search and examination workflows.
The founders’ track records
Dannenberg, (above) whose background is in computer science, has handled thousands of software patent prosecutions and litigated IP disputes across patents, copyright and trade marks for clients ranging from video game studios and software developers to automotive, healthcare, medical device and craft brewing companies.
He is a lifetime fellow of the American Bar Foundation and teaches Video Game and Immersive Entertainment Law as an adjunct professor, reinforcing KellDann’s academic and industry credentials.
Kelly, a former USPTO examiner, represents clients throughout the lifecycle of an invention – from idea to patent prosecution and enforcement – and has a strong focus on software, networking and business‑method patents. He also brings founder credentials, having created an AI‑driven patent search engine based on document‑similarity analysis that was later acquired by a startup foundry, and earlier helped build a startup developing gigapixel‑resolution video cameras for drone aircraft.
Sigmon began practice in Tokyo and advises on U.S., Japanese, Korean, Chinese and European IP matters, with experience spanning AI, autonomous systems, cybersecurity, video games, fashion, consumer products and regulated technologies such as biotechnology and medical devices.
He also serves as vice chair of the Intellectual Property Owners Association Anti‑Counterfeiting & Anti‑Piracy Committee, adding brand‑protection credibility to the mix.
For IP‑rich startups, AI‑driven companies and gaming and immersive‑tech businesses looking for counsel that actually understands the codebase as well as the case law, KellDann is a significant addition to the legal tech space with a large gaming/tech/IP footprint we anticipate.
