William G. Pagán is a multi award-winning patent attorney, a member of the NC State Computer Science Alumni Hall of Fame, and a named inventor on over 130 patent applications; an achievement that earned him the title of Master Inventor during his nearly 15 years at IBM in various software/hardware engineering and intellectual property roles. Nationally-recognized as a Hispanic Luminary in the STEM disciplines at the Hispanic Engineering National Achievement Awards Conference, he has significant technical expertise in software, computers, telecommunications, consumer electronics, systems management, & related fields. In addition to his Master's and Bachelor's degrees in Computer Science, he graduated Summa Cum Laude (highest honors) from NCCU Law as their Evening Program valedictorian.

Will practices law at Coats & Bennett, PLLC, where he uses his engineering background to represent inventors, developers, and content creators in obtaining, enforcing, and monetizing patent, copyright, and trademark rights. He also helps technology companies understand and navigate the intellectual property rights of others, among other things. His experience as a private patent attorney, corporate patent engineer, and hardware/software developer gives him significant insight into the legal, business, and technical sides to patent development, enforcement, valuation, licensing, and transfer objectives.

Will's practice has historically had a substantial technical focus grounded in software, computing devices, and telecommunications, which reflect his professional engineering experience.  While at IBM, Mr. Pagán was mostly entrenched in IBM's server development business, leading teams across companies and geographies in the development of software to interface with the embedded software and micro-controllers in IBM's Intel x86/64 and Power PC-based server architectures, whether in rack, tower, chassis, blade, or cloud configurations.  His leadership work on IBM’s Intel-based Thurley platforms in particular won him an Outstanding Technical Achievement Award.

Will's leadership throughout his storied legal and engineering careers has also been marked by committed volunteer service and mentorship.  One way in which Will serves his community is as the NC Wing Legal Officer of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), United States Air Force Auxilliary, in which he holds the grade of Captain.  CAP is congressionally chartered to provide emergency services (e.g., air/ground search and rescue, disaster relief), aerospace education, and youth programs to the public.  The NC Wing Legal Officer is an attorney pro bono volunteer that is a member of the NC Wing Commander's staff and supervises a team of Assistant Legal Officers (who are also attorneys) throughout the state of NC. He advises on legal implications of CAP programs and activities, which may include issues pertaining to, e.g., interpretation of laws and regulations; contracts and agreements; insurance; real estate; taxation; investigations; corporate records and organizations; and relations with local agencies.

Will is admitted to practice law in North Carolina, as well as before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  He is a life member of the Society of Professional Hispanic Engineers and the NC Society of Hispanic Professionals.