Jon Putnam
Jon Putnam founded Competition Dynamics as a platform for economic research and testimony at the intersection of intellectual property, competition, and international trade law.
Jon Putnam holds BA, MA and PhD degrees in economics from Yale University, where he specialized in international, macro and R&D economics. He received fellowships at Yale and Columbia Law Schools, and a Yale International and Area Studies fellowship for the study of European patent systems. Dr. Putnam’s PhD thesis, The Value of International Patent Rights, was the first to measure the global value of patent rights.
From 2001 to 2005, Dr. Putnam held a professorship in the Law and Economics of Intellectual Property at the Centre for Innovation Law and Policy, University of Toronto. Dr. Putnam has also held academic appointments at the Boston University Graduate School of Management, Columbia University Schools of Law and Business, Vassar College, and Yale College.
Among other publications, Dr. Putnam is the author of “Patent Valuation,” in The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics (2008); “The Law and Economics of International Intellectual Property: A Primer,” in Frontiers of Economics and Globalization, vol. 2: Intellectual Property, Growth and Trade (2008); and is the editor of and a principal contributor to Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation in the Knowledge-Based Economy (2006).
Dr. Putnam has been retained in more than 100 consulting engagements and has testified more than 40 times in patent, antitrust, copyright, trade secret, contract and tax actions in federal, state and bankruptcy courts; before the US Federal Trade Commission, International Trade Commission, and Tax Court; in US and international arbitrations; and in regulatory proceedings in Canada and India.
Dr. Putnam regularly testifies in large-scale intellectual property litigation. Cases with more than $1 billion in controversy include:
- Medtronic v Internal Revenue Service
- Apple v Qualcomm
- Idenix v Gilead Sciences
- Ericsson v Huawei
- Ericsson v Apple
- Ericsson v Samsung
- InterDigital v Samsung
Ngoc Ngo
Economist
Ngoc Ngo completed her PhD in Applied Economics with a focus on Industrial Organization at Northeastern University in 2019. Before her doctoral studies, Ngoc attended Bates College, where she graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Economics.
Ngoc’s PhD dissertation applied a modified version of the random-coefficient discrete choice model to quantify the impact of United Airlines’ decision to cease its hub operations at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport on consumer welfare and the firm’s profits. In general, Ngoc is passionate about working with data to formulate economic models to solve real-world problems.
Since joining CD, Ngoc has built models and conducted analyses related to damage calculation, valuation of new technologies and determining reasonable royalty terms in telecommunication and pharmaceutical industries. Ngoc is developing improved algorithms to rank patents and evaluate innovators’ patent portfolio; and has worked on various economic research to enhance methodologies used in Intellectual Property related litigation.
CV | V-Card
Chen Wang
Associate
Chen Wang received his Ph.D. in Economics from Clemson University in 2019 and Master’s degree in Economics from North Carolina State University in 2013.
Chen’s fields of interest include industrial organization, applied econometrics, and empirical microeconomics. His job market paper analyzes competition among firms and their choices on product quality and variety in markets with unified final good prices as applied to the U.S. film industry. By constructing a theoretical model and applying multiple econometric methods, this research reveals the previously unknown effect of expected market demand of the release week on the choices of films’ production budgets and genres, which are proxies for quality and variety, respectively.
In addition to research, Chen has extensive teaching experience as an instructor at Clemson University. He taught Principles of Microeconomics and Principles of Macroeconomics from 2015 to 2019.
Prior to joining CD, Chen was a transfer pricing Economist at PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLC in San Francisco. At PwC, Chen participated in and managed a wide range of transfer pricing projects serving various clients, which are mostly large multinational enterprises around the globe.
V-Card
Pinar Gencer
Associate
Pinar Gencer holds a PhD in Accounting from the University of Texas at Dallas and a Master’s degree in Finance from Sabanci University. She graduated summa cum laude from the Middle East Technical University, Department of Business Administration.
Pinar's research spans numerous practice areas. In her dissertation, Pinar investigated the economywide extent of corporate violations using data from 47 federal agencies as well as state agencies and class action lawsuits. She showed a previously undocumented link between incentives that stem from compensation plans and corporate compliance practices. Her work was one of the six invited papers in the Accounting area at the Harvard Business School Rising Scholars Conference in 2021.
Aside from research, Pinar taught Financial Accounting classes at the University of Texas at Dallas between 2019 and 2022. She is a CPA candidate and actively pursuing a CPA license in the state of Massachusetts.
V-Card
Awo Bos
Manager
Awo Bos joined CD in 2015 after graduating cum laude from Mount Holyoke College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and French Studies. She subsequently took time off to complete a Master of Science Degree in Management Studies at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, after which, she rejoined CD as an Analyst in 2018 and was promoted to Manager in 2022.
At CD, Awo performs complex analysis in the context of IP litigation support, and assists in the preparation of expert reports and trial testimony. Awo has worked on projects spanning diverse industries including biotech, telecom, pharma, and medical devices, with cases involving patent infringement, transfer pricing, patent misuse, among others. She has also performed extensive research on valuation methodologies for standard essential technologies. Awo’s day-to-day work involves financial and data analysis, patent valuations, qualitative research, as well as a number of other tasks.
Awo also brings with her experience from working in an entrepreneurial role at a consumer goods company in Ghana, where she managed different manufacturing and supply processes and teams, and performed activities related to client-management, marketing, sales and supply-chain management.
V-Card
Will VanRenterghem
Senior Analyst
Will VanRenterghem joined CD after graduating magna cum laude with a Bachelor of
Science Degree in Economics & Mathematics from Northeastern University in 2021. He
completed internships in public policy and investment management during his studies.
While at CD, Will has made valuable contributions to projects in the medical device,
semiconductor, and telecom industries, ranging from legal and technological research to
regression and other technical analysis. Additionally, he has assisted with internal
research projects regarding standard essential patents, and acts as a co-coordinator for
CD’s internal training program.
Will is interested in econometrics, industrial organization, and information economics.
He enjoys learning about the effects that intellectual property rights have in their
respective markets, as well as the current challenges surrounding the licensing and
protection of intellectual property. In the future, Will plans to pursue further studies and
opportunities in antitrust, consumer protection/advocacy, and other relevant fields.
V-Card
Zacharia Schell
Senior Analyst
Zacharia Schell joined CD after graduating magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics & Business Administration from Gordon College in 2021. During his studies, he cultivated his passion for research and the truth that it reveals as well as his love for data and statistics.
While at CD, Zacharia has demonstrated and honed his skills in data cleaning and analysis. Along with the models he has taken charge of, his attention to detail and care for consistency have made him a valuable resource to the team when creating exhibits and drafting report text used in litigation. In addition to this, Zacharia has also stepped up to lead data analysis for research papers and has taken on an additional role in the training of new hires as well as the day-to-day activities of the team.
Zacharia’s plan for the future is to continue to lead, both technically and interpersonally, within the analyst group. Eventually, he plans to continue his studies in the legal and business sectors, with a hope to apply his analytical skills to solving problems that matter to him.
V-Card
Aarjan Rupakheti
Analyst
Aarjan Rupakheti joined CD after graduating in 2022 from Boston College (BC) with an M.S. in Applied Economics with a Data Analytics Certificate. He also holds a B.A. in Quantitative Economics with a Math minor from Dickinson College.
At Dickinson, Aarjan undertook labor market research to understand the effects of low skilled immigration on native unemployment conditions across metropolitan areas in the U.S. He used fixed effect regression models to understand how influx of immigrants had varying effects in areas with different labor market conditions. Aarjan also interned as a Research Analyst at Burning Glass Institute where he researched the present conditions and prospects of human capital demand for Electric Vehicle growth for the Executive Office of the President of the United States (POTUS).
Aarjan is interested in econometrics, industrial organization, and the intersection of game theory and machine learning. At CD, he hopes to enhance his data handling, economic modeling, and project management skills in a professional setting. He is interested in pursuing a PhD in Economics, focusing on Industrial Organization.
V-Card
Anjali Agrawal
Analyst
Anjali Agrawal joined CD after graduating from Boston University with a Masters of Arts in Global Development Economics. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies in India.
During her time in BU, she was a research assistant focusing on a development project that looked at the efficacy of peer mentorship training with the aim to improve political agency of female elected officials in rural India. For this project, she conducted research on village proxy head politics through a pilot baseline survey and intervention. Before joining CD, she also worked as a Short-Term Consultant at the World Bank Poverty and Equity Practice where she was responsible for making multi-imputation consumption models, computing poverty rates and delivering technical documents to the survey teams.
Anjali is interested in labor economics, econometrics, microeconomics and development studies. At CD, she hopes to learn more about practical economic solutions to the real-world problems that corporates face today. She also plans to expand her skillset of quantitative analysis and research writing.
V-Card
Celia Lu
Analyst
Celia Lu joined CD after graduating from Yale University with a master's degree in International Development Economics. Before her master’s studies, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics & Sociology, graduating summa cum laude, from William & Mary.
During her time at both schools, Celia was particularly interested in social problems, economic policies, and the interaction of the two. Her undergraduate thesis explored the long-term economic effects of social spending and evaluated the U.S. housing subsidy program. Her master’s thesis discussed how participants’ responses to program options could bias policy evaluation results in the case of the Moving to Opportunity program. As an active research assistant, she worked on multiple projects conducting time-series analysis, constructing spatial data, and cleaning datasets.
Celia is passionate about applying economic theories to real world problems and finding solutions for people in need. At CD, she hopes to immerse herself in the world of intellectual property and learn about the social, economic, and political interests around it. She also wants to further develop her skills in complex quantitative data analysis.
V-Card
Hanlin Chen
Analyst
Hanlin Chen joined CD after graduating from Tufts University with a Masters of Science in Data Analytics. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Asset Appraisal with a minor in Applied Statistics from Shanghai University of International Business & Economics in Shanghai, China.
While in school, Hanlin completed various internships in asset and company valuation projects and targeted marketing and sales. At CD, Hanlin applies her data analytics skills in a broad range of client projects and internal research, including gathering data for analysis, cleaning and processing data, and analyzing data to support and construct damages evaluation. Hanlin has also made a valuable contribution to the company’s internal database regarding standard essential patents, and she is actively involved in an internal research project related to time series.
In the future, Hanlin plans to further develop her proficiency in data analytics and expand her area of focus to include antitrust, intellectual property, patent protection, and other relevant fields.
V-Card
Srushti Dhoke
Analyst
Srushti Dhoke joined CD after graduating cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics & Mathematics and a minor in Business Administration & Management from Boston University in 2022.
While at university, Srushti was a founding member of various startups where she was required to manage potential partners, customers, and service providers while ensuring the startup’s offering was innovative and viable. She was also a teaching assistant in the Finance department at Boston University, an experience which equipped her with strong research and quantitative analysis skills.
Srushti developed a keen interest in microeconomic theory and empirical analysis during her studies; at CD she enjoys learning how these can be applied to real problems that clients face. Through her participation in the company’s project work and general research, Srushti is planning to expand her horizons and discover new interests, after which she is considering pursuing an advanced degree.
V-Card
Sudarshan Bashyal
Analyst
Sudarshan Bashyal joined CD after graduating with a Master of Science degree in Economics from Tufts University in 2023. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Howard University.
As part of his master’s degree, Sudarshan wrote a thesis titled “Birthyear environment and adult life outcomes for females: evidence from Nepal”. Using historical rainfall and temperature data and matching it with survey data, he investigated how weather shocks in early stages of life affect long run human capital outcomes.
During his matriculation at Howard University, Sudarshan served as the president of the Abram Harris Economics Society and led the Howard team at the National College FED Challenge. Sudarshan also interned at Morningstar, Inc. where his team conducted research and analyzed the expansion of the company’s services to private markets.
Sudarshan is interested in econometrics, applied microeconomics, development economics and data analysis. At CD, he hopes to further his research capabilities in data analysis, statistical modelling and report writing, as well as to hone his leadership and project management skills.
Lou Zetes
General Manager
Lou Zetes joined Competition Dynamics in 2016 as General Manager. Lou develops the firm's organizational structure and capabilities, manages our strategic talent acquisition and oversees the firm's day-to-day activities.
After a fifteen-year career in international banking at Citigroup, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs, Lou founded Market People, an executive search boutique specializing in the recruitment of front office investment banking staff. Lou brings that wealth of experience in high-performance business environments to Competition Dynamics.
Lou holds an MA in International Business from the University of South Carolina and a BA in German from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Kerri Lavertu Stamm
Director of Operations
Kerri Lavertu Stamm came to Competition Dynamics after spending nearly 8 years at Charles River Associates, where she worked in new business development/conflict administration. Before that, Kerri worked in client intake/conflict control at Ropes & Gray LLP.
Kerri has a degree in Elementary Education from St. Joseph’s College in Maine. In addition, she operated a successful photography business, Dave & Kerri Photography, for several years, and now focuses on her travel photography, which can be seen periodically in local galleries and in photography publications such as Shutter Magazine.
At CD Kerri handles all aspects of firm management including human resources, financial administration, AR/AP, as well as day-to-day business operations.
Jessica Powell
Operations Administrator
Jessica Powell first joined CD in 2014 and provided direct assistance to Jonathan Putnam and Kerri Lavertu Stamm as the company’s Administrative Assistant. During that time, she also contributed to CD’s projects as a Research Assistant.
In 2018, she left the company to pursue a degree at the State University of New York-New Paltz. In 2020, she graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Sociology and a concentration in Criminology. She is currently pursuing her master's degree in Criminal Justice at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.
Jessica returned to CD in October of 2020. As the Operation Administrator, she assists with the various day-to-day business operations and financial administration. She also continues to provide direct support to CD’s management team.
V-Card