Wesley A. Sheffield

North Carolina

NK Patent Law
4101 Lake Boone Trail
Suite 218
Raleigh, NC 27607

Tel: (919) 348-2194

Email: wsheffield@nkpatentlaw.com
Web: www.nkpatentlaw.com

Professional Biography

Wesley Sheffield, a seasoned patent attorney with over 15+ years of experience, brings a unique perspective to patent practice.

His focus lies in patent prosecution before the USPTO and in foreign countries, and he excels in assisting inventors with strategic IP portfolio development. His success in obtaining patent protection for diverse technologies is a testament to his unique approach. Prior to his legal career, Wesley earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University, specializing in microprocessor design.

He has assisted clients, including startups, large companies, and universities, in obtaining technology patents for medical devices, nuclear and electromagnetic gauges, 3G, 4G, and 5G cellular systems, software-as-a-service business methods, smart electronics, quantum encryption, and networking equipment. Wes’s experience extends to the drafting and prosecuting of patent applications in the realm of rapidly evolving artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

He has a deep understanding of neural networks, large-language models (LLMs), machine learning, and other cutting-edge AI technologies, along with the underlying hardware and software that enable these technologies to operate at scale.

Wes also advises clients on patent prosecution strategies and provides research on patentability, freedom to operate, validity, patent litigation support, software licensing and non-infringement.

Education:

  • J.D., Wake Forest University School of Law
  • B.S., Electrical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University

Software: non-AI

  • Making event routing decisions based on a standardized messages format
  • Whitelist-based anti-phishing browser extension
  • Family chore management system using personalized digital tokens convertible to regular currency
  • Software as a service (SaaS) for continuous monitoring, notification, and updating of cyber risks associated with assets under management
  • Distributed computational graphs that execute transformation pipelines on streaming input data from heterogeneous data sources
  • Automated surrogate training performance incorporating simulator information into a learnable architecture
  • Automatic differentiation of discrete and discrete-continuous stochastic programs

 Medical Devices / Healthcare

  • Secure drug dispensing device
  • System for managing healthcare workflows as a service (SaaS)
  • Managing exposure and response prevention (ERP) treatment healthcare workflows
  • Multi-sensory stimulation and sensor feedback system for inducing targeted biological reactions including neurostimulation
  • An app for personalized adaptive auditory training using a synthesized audio representation of an input text using an AI model
  • Accelerating quantitative systems pharmacology (QSP) models by training machine learning (ml) approximations on simulations

  Physical devices with software or electromechanical component

  • High frame rate transmission electron microscopy
  • Determining a surface characteristic of a roadway using an imaging device
  • Nuclear density gauge for measurement of a paving-related material
  • Pavement material microwave density measurement
  • Continuous thermal treatment of a flowable food product
  • Remotely operating a device in real time or near real time using a digital user interface to produce a physical artwork
  • Aneutronic fusion plasma reactor and electric power generator

“Clients praise Wes Sheffield’s ability to secure protection for advanced technologies, noting his deep technical insight across electrical engineering, telecommunications, and rapidly evolving artificial intelligence systems. He is recognized for delivering thoughtful prosecution strategies, providing clear advice on patentability and risk assessment that supports confident innovation and commercialization.”
The Patent Lawyers, 2025