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Chair, 2026-2028: Ron Kaminecki
Ron Kaminecki has been searching patents and advising researchers for over forty years, having worked for companies such as IIT Research Institute, Lockheed Missiles and Space, Dialog, Knight-Ridder Information, Abbott Laboratories, Thomson-Reuters, ProQuest and Questel, always in the area of patent information. He has a BS in Chemistry, an MS in Computer Science and a JD with a Certificate in Patent Law and is also a Qualified Patent Information Professional. He is a US patent attorney and is admitted to the Supreme Court of Illinois and the Northern District Court of Illinois. He has worked as an expert witness and is an inventor on a patent on a patent prosecution system, is a co-author of NISO Standard Z39.58 for an online search language and serves as Chair 2026-2028 for the Patent Information User Group. Currently, he teaches patent searching at the University of New Hampshire Law School as an adjunct and is Chair of the ISBQPIP Supervisory Council.
Email: ron at kaminecki dot com
Vice-Chair, 2026-2028: Monica Weiss-Nolen (Zoetis)
Monica is currently a patent information searcher in the IP group of Zoetis animal health. She has been a patent and literature searcher in biopharma R&D for over 25 years prior to joining Zoetis in 2020, including with Sanofi Pasteur, Ortho Biotech, DuPont Pharma and Biosis. She has a BS in biochemistry, and an MSIS in information & database management from Drexel University.
She has been involved with the PIUG Biotechnology Conference planning committee from 2011-2024 in various roles including the Program Committee, Workshop Committee, as Planning Committee Co-Chair, and on the PIUG Annual Conference planning committee since then.
She lives with her husband and cats in eastern Pennsylvania, working remotely from the sunroom. Favorite hobbies include birdwatching, gardening, ceramics and bicycling on the many rail trails.
Email: monica dot weissnolen at zoetis dot com
Secretary, 2026-2028: Kunal Bhalla (PatInnovate)
Kunal Bhalla holds a Master's degree in Engineering with a specialization in Biotechnology and has over 15 years of experience in patent searching, technology intelligence, and patent analytics. Prior to founding PatInnovate, he worked with Panacea Biotec and Evalueserve, gaining experience in both corporate IP management and global patent consulting. He is a registered Indian Patent Agent and a Qualified Patent Information Professional (QPIP).
He is currently the Managing Partner of PatInnovate Consulting LLP, where he advises clients on patent intelligence, technology landscaping, freedom-to-operate studies, and innovation strategy across a range of technology domains. He is passionate about advancing the patent information profession and helping organizations make smarter, data-driven innovation decisions. His current interests include integrating patents, scientific literature, market intelligence, and AI-driven analytics to support technology and innovation decision-making.
Email: kunal dot bhalla at patinnovate dot com
Immediate Past-Chair, 2026-2028: Scott Herzog
After receiving his degree in Chemistry, Scott worked as a chemical patent examiner at the US Patent & Trademark Office for a number of years and then became a searcher for Science IP (now CAS IP Services), searching small-molecule structures, as well as more general chemical and technical searching.
Scott later worked in the IP department of a large manufacturing firm, performing freedom to operate searches and spent over ten years training and consulting with clients on CAS solutions such as SciFinder and STN.
Scott lives outside of Charlotte, NC with his wife and daughter and enjoys traveling, gardening and playing guitar.
Email: scottlhertzog at gmail dot com
Treasurer, 2026-2028: John Zabilski
John Zabilski is the Chair of the PIUG Education Committee. John has received the PIUG Service Award in 2011 and in 2023 for his work with the Education & Training Committee. Previously he held multiple positions for over 40 years at Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) including indexing, development, training and consulting on how to search for patent information. John has provided on site and online training at many organizations including 10 patent offices, helped developing presentations for the WIPO Technology Innovation Support Centers (TISC), presented at AALL, ACS, PIUG, SLA meetings and represented PIUG at the China Patent Annual Conference in Beijing and CEPIUG Meeting in Istanbul. John is a Registered U.S. Patent Agent and a Qualified Patent Information Professional (QPIP).
Email: jzabilski at gmail dot com
Director-at-Large, 2026-2030: Kartar Singh Arora
Kartar has more than four decades of experience working with Fortune 500 companies, with deep expertise in intellectual property management, patent law, innovation, commercialization, licensing, and business development. His career has included operations, technical assessments, patent portfolio management, and aligning technology with strategic business goals. He began his professional career as a research scientist with Sherwin-Williams and continued in research and intellectual property leadership roles with Mead Corporation, Henkel, Johnson Polymer, BASF, and Clarivate.
Patent information has been central to Kartar’s career. He became involved in patent prosecution, later assumed responsibility for intellectual property management at Johnson Polymer and BASF, and passed the Patent Bar to become registered as a Patent Agent with the USPTO. Most recently, he served as Director of Patent Search Services at Clarivate, where he was responsible for managing and executing patent searches in chemistry and materials.
Kartar joined PIUG in 2000 as patent information and searching became increasingly important to his professional work. He has been an active PIUG volunteer, serving as web page editor, Annual Conference Exhibits Committee chair, Annual Conference Program Committee co-chair, and Chair, PIUG Board.
Email: kartar at ahkhs dot com
Director-at-Large, 2026-2028: John Willmore (BizInt)
John has over 25 years of experience in processing, analyzing and
integrating patent and drug pipeline information, and has worked closely with
patent and drug pipeline publishers over that period. He was the head of the
TRW Smart Charts team at TRW, Inc. and along with Diane Webb, founded BizInt
Solutions in 1996, where he manages software development.
John attended his first PIUG in 1999 and has been active with the organization and meetings ever since.
John spends his free time doing hand-tool woodworking, playing amateur ice hockey, and competing with his dogs. He is an American Kennel Club judge for earthdog, dachshund field trials, and agility.
Email: jaws at bizcharts dot com
| Years | Chairperson | Vice-Chairperson | Secretary | Treasurer | Directors-at-Large / Immediate Past-chair |
| 1988-1990 | Mike Feider | Nancy Lambert | Pat Dorler | ||
| 1990-1992 | Edlyn Simmons | John Dudinyak | Nancy Lambert | Pat Dorler | |
| 1992-1994 | Andy Berks | Joseph DiSalvo | Nancy Lambert | Pat Dorler | |
| 1994-1996 | Suzanne Elsoffer | Vicky Veach | Elyse Turner | Pat Dorler | |
| 1996-1998 | Vicky Veach | Sandra Unger | Joan Rogers | Pat Dorler | |
| 1998-2000 | Sandra Unger | Steve Reynolds | Karen Wehner | Elaine Campbell | |
| 2000-2002 | Lucy T. Antunes | Ford Khorsandian | Sandy Smith | Suzanne Robins | Stuart Kaback Edlyn Simmons Sandra Unger |
| 2002-2004 | Lucy T. Antunes | Elyse Turner | Sandy Smith | Suzanne Robins | Stephen Adams Edlyn Simmons Sandra Unger |
| 2004-2006 | Elyse Turner | Suzanne Robins | Anne Marie Clark | Ken Koubek | Stephen Adams Lucy T. Antunes Edlyn Simmons Sandra Unger |
| 2006-2008 | Suzanne Robins | Heidi Stone | Ginger DeMille | Ken Koubek | Edlyn Simmons Elyse Turner Sandra Unger |
| 2008-2010 | Cynthia Barcelon-Yang | Doreen Alberts | Denise Fobare-DePonio | Ken Koubek | Edlyn Simmons Suzanne Robins Heidi Stone |
| 2010-2012 | Anthony Trippe | Denise Fobare-DePonio | Jim Brown | Ken Koubek | Cynthia Barcelon-Yang Heidi Stone Diane Wian (2010-2011) Dominic DeMarco (2011-2012) |
| 2012-2014 | Susanne Hantos | Jim Brown | Kimberly Miller | Ken Koubek | Anthony Trippe Cynthia Barcelon-Yang Dominic DeMarco |
| 2014-2016 | Elliott Linder | Stephen Adams | Bo Peng | Martha Yates | Cynthia Barcelon-Yang Susanne Hantos Ron Kaminecki |
| 2016-2018 | Martha Yates | Stephen Adams | Shelley Pavlek | Malcolm Hallam | Ron Kaminecki Elliott Linder Heather Simmons |
| 2018-2020 | Martha Yates | Shelley Pavlek | Rosanna Lindquist | Malcolm Hallam |
Ron Kaminecki |
| 2020-2022 | Shelley Pavlek | Kimberly Miller | Leah Sandvoss | Malcolm Hallam |
Ron Kaminecki |
| 2022-2024 | Kartar Singh Arora | Devon Salmon | Mrinalini Muralidharan | Christopher Baldwin | Ron Kaminecki Barbara Miller Victoria Smith |
| 2024-2026 | Scott Herzog | Ron Kaminecki | Kunal Bhalla | John Zabilski (Interim) | Barbara Miller |
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