Speakers
Keynote Speakers
All Speakers
Job Title: Vice President, Technology Development and New Ventures
Company: Boston Children’s Hospital
Irene Abrams is the Vice President, Technology Development and New Ventures at Boston Children’s Hospital, and in this role leads Children’s Technology & Innovation Development Office, the organization responsible for commercializing discoveries and innovation developed by researchers and clinicians at Boston Children’s Hospital Irene is also the Managing Director of the Technology Development Fund, a hospital-run fund dedicated to advancing Boston Children’s technologies to the market. Irene oversees an active therapeutics innovation program at Children’s which includes strategic alliances with the biopharma industry as well as robust internal incubation programs. Irene has spent her career in academic technology commercialization, holding leadership positions at Partners Healthcare Innovation, where she was responsible for commercializing MGH discoveries; Brandeis University, where she was the Associate Provost for Innovation, and at M.I.T., where she was a Senior Technology Licensing Officer, responsible for licensing biomedical inventions for M.I.T., the Whitehead Institute and the Broad Institute. Educated at the University of Pennsylvania, the Johns Hopkins University and at M.I.T., Irene is the past President of the Massachusetts Association of Technology Transfer Offices, the founder of T3, a networking organization for technology licensing offices from small New England research institutions, and a former Associate VP of the Association of University Technology Managers.
Job Title: Lead Patent Agent
Company: Pearson Education, Inc.
Paul Ashcraft is a highly accomplished 2L law student at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Sam Houston State University. Prior to pursuing his legal studies, Paul served as an Intellectual Asset Manager managing the chemical patent portfolio for Halliburton, one of the world’s largest energy services companies. During his time at Halliburton, Paul was responsible for overseeing the company’s patents related to diverse chemistries, including fracturing fluids, remediation methods, and oilfield treatments. Halliburton’s patent portfolio, at the time of Paul’s tenure, was ranked as the 45th largest in the world.
Job Title: Co- Founder
Company: Turbulent
Active in digital and software development since 1995, he has co-founded and managed Turbulent since 2002. Today, the company has over 190 professionals specializing in the design and development of platforms for the distribution and monetization of digital assets. In addition to his proven talents as an operator, Marc is known for his strategic thinking, analytical skills and corporate structuring abilities. In addition to ensuring a healthy work environment at Turbulent, he is also recognized for his strong international business development skills and sound strategic decision making. Marc Beaudet is also known for his knowledge of the media, education and video game industries.
Job Title: Patent Attorney & Founder
Company: Near & Wise IP
Seungyeob is a Korean patent attorney who launched his own business, NwiseIP (Near & Wise IP Law Office). Prior to this, he worked for three years as a Technology Evaluator at Shinhan Bank, the largest bank in Korea. During his time there, Seungyeob played a significant role in evaluating the technology of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in the technology sector, and incorporating it into their credit rating. Through this experience, Seungyeob became a convergence expert by carrying out IP as well as finance. With this background, he has specialized in patent valuation and portfolio design for startups to attract investment and achieve business success.
Seungyeob majored in nuclear engineering, which exposed him to various fields such as mechanics, electronics, chemistry, and materials. This led him to develop a deep interest in physics, mechanics, and electromagnetics. As a patent attorney, Seungyeob has handled numerous cases related to machinery, automobiles, power plants, and medical devices. In recent years, he has contributed to the acquisition of intellectual property rights by Korean IT startups.
As the founder of NwiseIP, Seungyeob has been practicing in IP law since 2013, dealing with patent, trademark, and design applications, as well as trial and litigation. He particularly focuses on assisting clients with their international IP issues. Seungyeob is a member of AIPPI and APAA, and he serves as one of the delegates of the Korean Patent Attorney Association.
Job Title: Associate Legal Officer
Company: WIPO
Dr. Nina Belbl works in the Patent and Treaties Law Section at WIPO. As part of the Secretariat of the Standing Committee on the Law of Patents, she assists Member States in their efforts of progressive international development of patent law. Main areas of her work include SEPs, patents and emerging technologies, patents and health, and trade secrets.
Before joining WIPO in December 2020, she worked several years as a patent litigator in one of the leading patent litigation firms in Germany, where she was involved in national and multinational litigation, in particular in the telecommunications and automotive sectors. Nina studied law in Germany and France with a specialization in IP law and international law. She holds a Ph.D. in law from the University of Freiburg (Germany) on strategic transfers of SEPs.
Job Title: Partner, Lawyer and Trademark Agent
Company: ROBIC, LLP
Vincent Bergeron is the leader of ROBIC’s Emerging Technologies Group, where he specializes in the protection, defense and commercialization of intellectual property assets related to emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and data-driven business models. He also practices in matters of privacy, copyright, trademarks, patents, industrial designs, trade secrets and technology transfers (licensing). He assists start-up and emerging companies, as well as large Canadian and international corporations.
Author of more than 200 publications and conferences, he has been invited as a speaker on intellectual property and emerging technologies by several prestigious organizations around the world. He was recently recognized as “Lawyer of the Year” in intellectual property by Best Lawyers in Canada. He is also recognized by Lexpert and Best Lawyers in Canada in the areas of intellectual property and technology law, and was recently recognized as a “Lexpert Rising Star: Leading Lawyers Under 40” in Canada. He has also been recognized as one of the world’s leading intellectual property strategists by IAM Magazine in its “IAM Strategy 300 – The World’s Leading IP Strategists”.
He also sits on several Canadian and international boards, including the Licensing Executives Society (USA & Canada).
Job Title: Founder
Company: Greenblum & Bernstein PLC
Bruce Bernstein is founding counsel at Greenblum & Bernstein (G&B), having been one of the founders of the firm in 1979. For more than 35 years, Bruce was one of the co-managing partners of the firm. Bruce has travelled to Asia extensively, and has spent about four years in Japan over the course of his career.
Bruce majored in Applied Physics in university, where he was lucky to have a Nobel Prize winner (Dr. Allan Cormack) as his academic advisor and (later) friend. Early in his career, from 1973-78, Bruce attended law school (at Georgetown University) in the evenings and worked as an Examiner at the USPTO, examining in both electrical and mechanical technologies.
Job Title: General Counsel
Company: Eidos
Cecilia Boije is General Counsel for Eidos, a AAA game development studio and publisher. Cecilia advises the studio on any matter regarding game development and publishing, including intellectual property, trademarks, licensing, information technology and privacy. As a industry expert in the rapidly-evolving video game sector, she leads the charge in addressing any unresolved legal question for the studio. She brings with her over 10 years of experience in the videogame industry. Before joining Eidos, Cecilia worked over eight years at Ubisoft, both at the HQ in Paris and at the Montreal studio. Cecilia has also worked in private practice in IP-IT law firms in Paris. She is member of Paris and Quebec bars.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Pinsent Masons LLP
Gina is a Partner in Pinsent Masons’ transactional IP team in London, where she handles a wide range of IP, data (including digital health) and commercial issues. Gina’s clients appreciate her calm approach and her ability to find commercial solutions to complex legal issues. She has significant experience in major licensing deals, international corporate M&As, restructurings and joint ventures, as well as R&D collaborations and other life sciences commercial agreements. With a degree in Biological Sciences, Gina has a technical background as well as legal expertise, being both UK and US qualified as an English solicitor, US attorney-at-law (Illinois) and registered US patent attorney.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Brinkhof
KOEN BIJVANK is a partner at Brinkhof in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Mr. Bijvank is qualified both as an attorney at law (‘advocaat’) and as a Dutch and European patent attorney. He specializes in international patent litigation and oppositions before the European Patent Office. His practice mainly involves patents in the areas of life sciences and pharmaceuticals. Mr. Bijvank is the chair of the Standing Committee on Patents of AIPPI and co-founder and immediate past-president of EPLIT, an association of European patent litigators. He is also a member of the editorial board of the BIE, a leading Dutch journal on intellectual property, and a tutor at CEIPI in Strasbourg, France where he teaches candidates for the qualifying examination for European patent attorneys. Mr. Bijvank holds a master’s degree in organic chemistry of the University of Groningen, the Netherlands and a LLM and postgraduate certificate in intellectual property litigation of Nottingham Law School in the United Kingdom.
Job Title: Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer
Company: Circ
As co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of CIRC, Iulian is the architect of and strategist behind CIRC’s multi-disciplinary technology platform. By integrating the expertise of CIRC’s employees and senior consultants, Iulian is pioneering advancements in technology that combine chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, chemistry, and other disciplines.
Prior to CIRC, Iulian was employee number 5 at a Japanese biotech company called NanoCarrier, which was valued at some point more than $1 billion. At NanoCarrier, he held numerous positions, went on to lead licensing and clinical/business development, and helped the company raise capital through several financing events including an IPO on Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Iulian earned his PhD in Chemical Engineering from Osaka Prefecture University (Japan) and his MBA from Duke University.
Job Title: Director Legal & IP
Company: resano GmbH – a BioNTech company
Fabian Böttger, LL.M., is a German attorney at law and Director Legal & IP at resano GmbH – a BioNTech company. He supports the research, development and commercialization of new therapeutics and vaccines by the BioNTech group and its collaboration partners.
Before joining the BioNTech group in 2019, Fabian worked for almost ten years at international law firms as a patent litigator and contracts and transactions lawyer in Munich and Washington, D.C.
Fabian studied law in Tübingen, Munich and Austin/Texas, where he obtained an LL.M. degree and a Certificate in Latin American Studies and was admitted to the German bar in 2006. He worked as a post-graduate researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Munich. He is a member of the Licensing Executives Society (LES), the German Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (GRUR) and the German-Brazilian Lawyers’ Association (DBJV).
Job Title: Publisher
Company: Drawn & Quarterly
Peggy Burns is the publisher of the world renowned graphic novel house, the Montreal-based Drawn & Quarterly Books. D&Q publishes the world’s best cartoonists including Lynda Barry, Adrian Tomine, Kate Beaton, and many more. The company publishes for all english markets, and licenses their work to publishers in over twenty foreign language markets. Previously, Burns oversaw publicity for DC Comics and MAD Magazine.
Job Title: Attorney-at-Law
Company: Thum & Partner
Georgina Busku is an attorney-at-law and founder of BUSKU in close collaboration with THUM & Partner. Her main areas of focus are protecting and enforcing trademarks, designs, and copyright. She provides clients with strategical advice on brand management and brand protection with special expertise in the fields of luxury products, fashion, pharmaceuticals and dairy. Her practice includes handling and managing IP portfolios for multinational companies.
She is member of the board and Secretary of LES Hungary and served as International Chair 2020-2021 of LESI YMC.
Job Title: Partner and Vice President
Company: The Webb Law Firm
Ann M. Cannoni, CLP, Partner and Vice President with the Webb Law Firm, has over 30 years of experience in intellectual property, including patent strategy, preparation, protection and litigation in the chemical and mechanical fields, with an emphasis in pharmaceutical, polymer, and organic chemistry and medical devices. Before joining Webb, Ann served as Senior Director-Patents for Schering-Plough Pharmaceutical Corporation, where she was managed all chemistry patent activities, including product life-cycle management, patent application preparation and prosecution, preparation of patentability, infringement and validity opinions, due diligence for licensing, docketing and budgeting, as well as attorney and staff supervision. Earlier, as Assistant Counsel-Coatings & Resins for the Automotive OEM and Aerospace Business Units of PPG Industries, Inc., Ann supervised all Intellectual Property activities for these business units. Prior assignments included conducting similar activities for the Fiberglass and Biomedical Business Units. Ann serves on the Board of Directors and is President-Elect for the Licensing Executives Society USA & CA.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Demarest Advogados
Partner in the areas of Intellectual Property, Innovation and Technology and Data Privacy and
Cybersecurity at Demarest, Tatiana Campello holds a specialization in Business Law from PUC‐SP and a
Bachelor of Laws degree from Faculdades Integradas Cândido Mendes. Tatiana is recognized in her field
and participates in various institutions, such as: Secretary (2022‐2023) Licensing Executives Society
International (LESI), former Vice President (2018‐2020); having been President of LES Brasil (2014‐2015)
and current member of the association’s board; President of the Privacy Group at Lex Mundi; 2nd. Vice
President of Brazilian Intellectual Property Association (ABPI) and former Treasury Director (2018‐2021);
President of the Intellectual Property Group at Lex Mundi (2015‐2017); Specialist at the Domain Name
Dispute Resolution Chamber (CASD‐ND) of the Brazilian Association of Intellectual Property (ABPI);
Mediator at the ABPI’s Mediation Chamber, past Co‐coordinator of the ABPI’s Dispute Resolution
Committee (2014‐2017) and, for many years, she was Co‐coordinator of the Technology Transfer and
Franchise Commission of the ABPI; Deputy Coordinator of the ABPI Copyright Commission. Member of
International Trademark Association (INTA) and International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP)
Job Title: Director
Company: China IP Exchange, LLC
John’s career in the automotive business spans 40 years, with background in finance, sales, marketing, M&A and program management. He successfully completed four divestitures as a deal director during Delphi Automotive’s 2005 -2009 restructuring effort. John joined the Delphi (now Aptiv) licensing activity in 2009, where he recently retired as the director of the worldwide licensing and IP monetization efforts. Since 2013, Under John’s direction, the Licensing and IP monetization team at Delphi/Aptiv has completed over 60 licensing and IP related sale transactions.
John holds a BA in Accounting and an MBA in Finance from Indiana University and passed Certified Licensing Professional exam in 2013. He is currently the Chair of the Automotive Industry Advisory Board for the Licensing Executive Society International, a professional group serving over 7000 members in 32 countries worldwide. John has participated in a variety of industry-based panels of technology convergence in the Automotive market.
Job Title: Senior Counsel, Legal and Business Affairs
Company: Epic Games, Inc.
As Senior Counsel in the Legal and Business Affairs department at Epic Games, Erica supports a range of Epic’s products and services, including Fortnite, Rocket League, Fall Guys, MegaGrants, and DEI initiatives. In her role, she is responsible for Epic’s philanthropic activities, handles partner, content and music licensing; content development and production; accessibility; clearances; establishes DMCA processes across the ecosystem; advises on ecommerce; performs merger and acquisition due diligence; responds to regulatory inquiries; advises on player health and habits; and negotiates and drafts agreements across these areas. In 2022, Erica organized and implemented a giving campaign to support those affected by the war in Ukraine which provided $144 million dollars to those impacted by the war.
Prior to joining Epic Games in November of 2020, Erica worked as Counsel in the Legal and Business Affairs department at Sesame Workshop, Erica supported the organization by assisting with developing the business terms, strategizing, negotiating deal points, advising members of the Workshop, and drafting relevant agreements. Carter specifically handled matters related to content production, marketing, social media, communications, collaborations, special events, Speaker’s Bureau, themed entertainment and outreach in Latin America, intellectual property protection and enforcement, clearances, employment matters, policies, and licensing.
In 2020, Carter was chosen to be a member of an internal committee tasked with supporting Senior Leadership and Human Resources in focusing on matters regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion. She recently joined the Workshop’s senior leadership Operations Team through an inaugural effort led by the President & CEO to broaden and diversify the voices that impact business decisions and operations.
Carter serves as the Secretary of the Board of Copyright Society, and previously served as the Assistant Treasurer and the New York City Chapter Co-Chair. She is an active mentor in PALS (Practicing Attorneys for Law Students), a member of the Brooklyn Law School Alumni Board, and an advisor for the Brooklyn Law School Sports and Entertainment Law Blog. In March of 2019, she received the Brooklyn Law School Entertainment and Sports Law Society Alumni of the Year Award for her inspiring accomplishments in entertainment law.
Prior to working at Sesame Workshop, Carter worked in-house as an attorney for The Collective, also known as Marc Ecko or Ecko Unlimited. Carter earned her J.D. and Certificate in IP, Media, and Information Law in 2015 from Brooklyn Law School. While in law school, she was the recipient of the Gwen J. Greenberg Prize and a CALI Excellence for the Future Award in Negotiations.
She received her B.A. in Communications, with a minor in Public Relations from Belmont University in December of 2010, where she was an NCAA Division I student-athlete. She is admitted to the bar of the State of New York.
Job Title: Founding Partner
Company: CPST Intellectual Property
Santosh has over 30 years of experience in the patent profession. He provides clients with guidance and strategic advice on the protection of intellectual property. He focuses primarily on the preparation and prosecution of patent and industrial design applications. He also advises on infringement and validity issues relating to intellectual property and on IP portfolio management issues.
Job Title: President
Company: Brandywine Ventures LLC
Kimberly Chotkowski is the President of Brandywine Ventures LLC. Kimberly Chotkowski is a dynamic, strategic, outcome-driven leader with demonstrated success driving performance and growth in advanced technology product management and R&D in challenging environments on a global scale. She is a contributor to industry thought leadership, including experience in delivering congressional testimony on global business impact of international trade and IP policy.
Job Title: Executive Director
Company: LESI
Dana is an attorney and senior government affairs professional with more than two decades of experience working on legal-related technology policy and intellectual property issues in and with the private sector, the Executive Branch, and the U.S. Congress. He is currently serving as the Executive Director of the Licensing Executive Society International (LESI), a global organization of 33 national and regional associations throughout the world and as a Partner at the DC-Based Consulting firm the American Continental Group (ACG).
Most recently, he served as the Director of the Office of Governmental Affairs as a member of the Executive Management team at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) from 2009 – 2019. Prior to that role, Mr. Colarulli served as Director of Government Relations and Legislative Counsel for the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO). He was born in Rhode Island and is a member of the Massachusetts Bar.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP
Pamela L. Cox, partner and chair of IP Transactions at Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP, is talented at
unraveling complex deal structures and devising creative agreement solutions. Starting her career in-
house, Pam focuses her practice on intellectual property transactions, protection, and dispute resolution
for clients ranging from multinational corporations to non-profit institutions. She is a patent attorney
who understands her clients’ intellectual property and agreement needs and remains passionately
engaged until their strategic objectives are achieved. Clients consider her an invaluable member of their
team.
Job Title: Co-Founder and CEO
Company: NLPatent
Stephanie Curcio is an IP lawyer and CEO of NLPatent – makers of an industry leading AI patent search platform used by Am Law 100 firms and Fortune 500 companies. Her work at the intersection between AI and patent law has made her a sought-after expert on matters regarding AI/IP, including advising national patent offices on AI policy. She sits on the Board of the Global IP Alliance, holds leadership positions at IP organizations in Canada and the U.S., and has been recognized as a global leader in IP strategy (IAM Strategy 300) as well as a “powerful woman in IP” (WIPF).
Job Title: Partner
Company: CBA
Mattia Dalla Costa is Italian attorney at law admitted to the Italian Bar in 1997 (and also admitted to the German Bar in 2001).
Mattia has a solid 20+ years international practice, with the ability to work in 5 different languages (German, English, French, Spanish and Italian).
He is assisting listed international companies in sectors like design, fashion, luxury, automotive, pharma, aviation and aerospace, both as transactional lawyer and litigator in judicial and arbitral court cases related to intellectual property and IT infringement where different jurisdictions and countries are involved.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Powell Gilbert
Peter Damerell is a partner at Powell Gilbert LLP, a London-based specialist IP firm. He has extensive experience in handling complex and high value patent litigation before the UK courts (including up to the Supreme Court). He also commonly advises clients on – and then co-ordinates – pan-European patent litigation strategies. He is experienced in working with a diverse range of technologies, including pharmaceutical products and formulations, biotechnology, medical devices, telecommunications and engineering.
Peter is a vice-chair of AIPPI’s Standing Committee on Enforcement, as well as a member of the Licensing Executives Society and the European Patent Lawyers Association. He has been recognised as a Next Generation Partner by Legal 500 in 2022, 2021 and 2020 and is recommended in IAM Patent 1000: World’s Leading Patent Professionals and JUVE Patent UK.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Gides
Admitted to the Paris Bar in 2005 and Gide partner since 2017, Jean-Hyacinthe de Mitry specializes in French and EU industrial property law. His expertise includes both contentious and non-contentious matters primarily in all areas of industrial property and trade secrets.
In contentious matters, he has wide experience in national and multijurisdictional patent disputes and he regularly advises and represents French and international clients, mainly in infringement disputes and in disputes relating to agreements having a strong IP and/or technology content.
He is member of the board of LES France.
Job Title: Vice President of Partnerships
Company: Owkin
Dinesh Divakaran is the Vice President of Partnerships, North America with Owkin Inc., a french-american unicorn venture that combines cutting-edge and biology to advance drug discovery. In his role at Owkin, he leads a team that builds partnerships and collaborations around multi-modal data, AI/ML and federated learning with academic medical centers, healthcare systems and real world data companies across North America. Before joining Owkin, he worked as Vice President of Healthcare Business Development, North America at Sensnye Health plc., a real world data company based out of Oxford, UK.
Prior to working in the biopharma and health tech industry, Dinesh worked in technology transfer for a decade and a half starting with University of South Florida followed by Texas A&M University System, then North Carolina State University and finally Duke University & Health System, where he eventually served as Director, Digital Innovations with Duke Office for Translation and Commercialization. Dinesh also served as an adjunct faculty at both NC State and USF. While working at Duke and NC State, he served as a reviewer/panelist with the SBIR/STTR grant programs at NIH and NSF. Outside of working in technology transfer, Dinesh had a short stint in venture capital as a fellow with the Alumni Ventures Group. He also served on the boards of three health tech startups and two non-profits.
Dinesh currently serves as an Executive in Residence at the Duke Institute for Health Innovation. He had also served on the Forbes Business Development Council, advisory board of NC TECH, innovation committee at HIMSS and high tech committee at LES, USA & Canada.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Adams & Adams
Danie Dohmen is a partner at Adams & Adams in the patent litigation section. He specialises in patent, design, plant breeder’s rights and intellectual property agreement litigation, commercialisation and opinion work. Danie has for a number of consecutive years been ranked in tier 1 for patent litigation in South Africa.
Danie holds a BSc degree in physics and chemistry and an LLB degree. He is admitted and registered as an attorney of the South African High Court, a patent attorney and a notary public.
Danie represents multinational and national clients in a diversity of fields, including pharmaceutical, agriculture, agro chemical, mining, manufacturing, transport, security and safety. Danie further acts in multi-jurisdictional patent and design litigation in several African countries. Danie has litigated a number of cases to the South African Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court. Many of his matters are reported and are considered leading patent law cases. Danie has represented parties in cases which set the current South African law on issues of inventiveness, clarity, interim interdicts in patent infringements, contributory patent infringement, the role of public interest in interim interdicts on patents for life saving drugs, evidentiary requirements to prove patent infringement and requirements for divisional patent applications.
Danie is the past president of the Licensing Executives Society of South Africa, a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and a fellow of the South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law, where he was for a number of years the chairperson of its Patent and Design Law Committee. He is further a lecturer and examiner for the Patent Examination Board of South Africa and a guest lecturer of the patent and design law modules of the LLM IP course at the University of Pretoria.
Job Title: President and Shareholder
Company: Volpe Koenig
John Donch is President and Shareholder at Volpe Koenig, an intellectual property law firm based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He builds his IP practice on an unyielding commitment to quality and client service. John provides his clients with practical strategies for securing and realizing the value of their intellectual property. His broad practice includes IP acquisition, risk assessment, patent prosecution, licensing, portfolio mining, claim charts, clearance studies, claim construction and validity reviews, and litigation strategy/counseling. He counsels clients in a wide range of technologies including wireless standards, protocols and hardware; LASIK and Cataract related technology and surgery; robotic surgery including laparoscopy and endoscopy; data storage, big data and cloud computing software and hardware; automotive related electronics and software; and technology driven off-site construction solutions.
Job Title: President and Chief Officer
Company: IRICoR
Dr. Douville is the new President and Chief Executive Officer of IRICoR, a pan-Canadian leader in the de-risking of early-stage academic assets in the field of drug discovery. IRICoR’s mandate is to accelerate the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel highly innovative therapies in cancer and rare diseases by establishing strategic partnerships with industry or creating spinoff companies.
Prior to this role, she was the Founder and Managing Partner of AmorChem, a leading early-stage venture capital fund focusing on academic innovation and translating it into early-stage biotech companies. As a venture capitalist with more than 25 years of life sciences’ investment experience, she has raised and managed funds, and has sourced, led and overseen several investments in biotech companies, in promising university technologies, and successfully created several spin-off companies that have raised capital or partnered with pharmaceutical companies. She is an active participant in the life sciences’ ecosystem and several not-for-profit organisations. She is the Chair of Genome Canada, a Member of the Canada Foundation for Innovation and a member of the Policy Engagement Committee of Research Canada. She is also currently an active board member of Corbin Therapeutics Inc. and SemaThera Inc.
Dr. Douville trained as a biochemist, obtaining her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Ottawa and a post-doctoral fellowship from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London, UK. She also has a Certificate in Management from CIREM/HEC and a Certificate in Leadership and Leadership Abilities from the Leadership Institute. More recently, she received the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.
Job Title: Lawyer and Patent Agent
Company: ROBIC
Stacey specializes in the drafting and prosecution of patent and industrial design applications in the field of life sciences, agriculture, mechanical, medical devices, and consumer products. She also conducts due diligence work, including providing patentability, validity, infringement, and freedom to operate opinions. She assists start-up and emerging companies, as well as large Canadian and international corporations with their patent portfolios.
As part of her studies in molecular genetics at the University of Manitoba, Stacey completed a research internship at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, where she worked on formulating and testing Bacillus subtilis bio-fungicides for the treatment of clubroot disease in canola. She specializes in agricultural technologies in both the life science and mechanical fields, including genetically modified seed, indoor growing systems, food formulations, and agricultural machinery and implements.
Stacey is very involved with LES and is the former LES (USA & Canada) Young Members’ Congress (YMC) Chair and the incoming LES International YMC Chair
Job Title: Partner
Company: Gowling WLG
Based in Gowling WLG’s Montréal office, George Elvira is a partner and registered patent agent in Canada and the United States.
With over 16 years of experience in the intellectual property (IP) field, George helps innovative organizations in Canada and abroad customize, develop and implement IP management programs and strategies that align with their business and strategic objectives – resulting in tangible and measurable business value for senior management.
Job Title: President
Company: Sisvel
Mattia Fogliacco is president of Sisvel International S.A., the parent company of the Sisvel Group. He has been leading the group since 2017 but has been part of its executive management team as chief new business officer since 2014. Under his leadership, Sisvel became a point of reference for licensing SEPs in consumer electronics for Wi-Fi, mobile communication, and digital video broadcasting technologies. Mr Fogliacco championed the formation of principled licensing programs defending the interests of innovators around proprietary technologies like VP9 and AV1. Keenly focused on creating transactional efficiencies in the markets for technologies, he steered Sisvel to aggregate patents, both by creating patent pools and by acquiring patent portfolios that later contributed to such pools. Founded in 1982, Sisvel is the only licensing administrator that has been operating for more than 40 years, becoming a world leader in fostering innovation and managing IP. Sisvel creates forms of intermediation in IP transactions that reduce complexity and remove friction between willing licensees and licensors, whilst fostering the creation of a level playing field in the markets for technology. Mr Fogliacco has a background in business and innovation management. He holds an MSc from Bocconi University and a CEMS masters in international management. He is an inventor with several patent applications under his name and has published articles on innovation and licensing. Before joining Sisvel, Mr Fogliacco was managing director of iiinnovation S.A., a company focused on licensing and IP transactions. He also served as senior international manager at IP Bewertungs AG, a service provider of Deutsche Bank, managing three IP and innovation investment funds.
Job Title: Vice President
Company: Huawei Technologies
FAN Zhiyong (“Alan”) is the Vice President for Intellectual Property at Huawei Technologies, Co., Ltd. Mr. Fan oversees the company’s global IP operations, including IP portfolio management, licensing, transaction and dispute resolution, run by a team of over 400 IP professionals. Huawei is a leading global ICT company with more than 100,000 active patents worldwide.
Mr. Fan joined Huawei in 1999. Before joining the IPR department in 2005, he worked in R&D and Marketing departments. Mr. Fan holds the bachelor’s degree of Communication Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Job Title: Senior Vice President
Company: Avanci
At Avanci Vehicle, Laurie has driven the expansion of the platform to cover more than 80 automotive brands and licensors responsible for the vast majority of 3G/4G cellular SEPs. She is responsible for all aspects of Avanci Vehicle operations and currently is working to build its latest program to cover the next generation of connected vehicles. Prior to Avanci, Laurie led its affiliate Teletry, licensing BlackBerry’s extensive patent portfolio to smartphone and telecom infrastructure manufacturers.
A patent licensing professional and IP attorney, Laurie has more than a decade of experience working with patent owners and product developers, spanning licensing transactions, patent acquisitions and divestitures, portfolio strategy and valuation, and patent litigation. A regular conference speaker, Laurie features in the IAM Strategy 300 list of leading IP professionals, and World IP Review’s Most Influential Women in IP.
Job Title: Special Counsel
Company: GSK
Gillian M. Fenton, Esq., CLP has been a member of LES (USA & Canada) since 1992, and served as the society President in 2020-2021. She is presently a member of the society Public Policy Committee.
Gillian is also Special Counsel for Innovation and Government Collaborations at GSK Vaccines. Her practice includes a wide variety of business development transactions, R&D collaborations and nondilutive funding agreements with U.S. Government entities (NIH/NIAID, BARDA and DARPA), all in support of the vaccines pipeline.
Job Title: Partner, Lawyer
Company: BCF
Annie Gauthier specializes in business law, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate law, and is one of the most respected lawyers in the field of technology and life sciences, and more specifically in the pharmaceutical industry.
With over 15 years’ experience, Annie has practised with a nationally and internationally renowned law firm and worked on highly complex major transactions in addition to becoming one of the leading licensing experts in Canada.
Before joining BCF, Annie was Director, Transactions at Pharmascience, the largest employer in the pharmaceutical industry in Quebec. Working at this generics giant for over two years gave her inside understanding of the industry and an opportunity to conduct transactions on every continent. This experience makes her a top strategic advisor for our clients.
Annie is actively involved with her peers and her community, and was also the President of the Montreal chapter of the Licensing Executives Society for over five years before becoming a member of the board of directors for the North American region of the organization from 2016 to 2019. In 2014, she co-founded L’étoffe du succès Montréal, an organization dedicated to helping women that is affiliated with Dress for Success Worldwide, where she still serves on the board of directors and as Vice-President.
Job Title: Senior Vice President
Company: Qualcomm
Job Title: Executive Director
Company: Medicines Patent Pool
Charles Gore is the Executive Director of the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP). He took up the post in July 2018 following a career in patient representation and public health advocacy. He has overseen MPP’s rapid expansion into drugs on, or likely candidates for, the WHO Essential Medicines List, COVID-19 health products and, most recently, technology transfer, including the establishment of a mRNA technology transfer hub in South Africa, in partnership with WHO.
He was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 1995 and cirrhosis in 1998. In 2000 he set up The Hepatitis C Trust in the UK which he ran for 18 years. In 2002 he was treated and cured of the virus. He helped create the European Liver Patients Association and was its first President in 2004. In 2007 he established the World Hepatitis Alliance and was President until December 2017. As a result of advocacy by the Alliance, WHO adopted successive viral hepatitis resolutions in 2010, 2014 and 2016, culminating in endorsement of the goal of eliminating hepatitis B and C by 2030.
In addition to direct advocacy with over 50 Ministries of Health, Charles has led on advising countries on finding sustainable domestic financing for hepatitis programs. Charles was a member of all the WHO guideline development groups on testing and treating viral hepatitis.
Job Title: Global Director
Company: BorgWarner
Eric has more than 30 years of experience in the automotive industry, having been employed by General Motors, Delphi, and BorgWarner. He has experience in engineering, finance, program management, business management, intellectual property, and licensing.
Specific to the licensing field, he has been involved with technical analysis, financial valuation and deal transactions. In 2017 he was appointed global director of licensing for Delphi Technologies and has maintained that role during/after BorgWarner’s acquisition of Delphi Technologies.
He also serves as a member of the LES High-Tech Sector sub-committee.
Job Title: CEO
Company: Globalator
Juergen has more than 30 years of experience in international business, managing companies, departments and projects in and across Europe, North America and Asia. He has successfully mastered expansions, turnarounds, licensing transactions, acquisitions and divestments of companies, as CEO, executive manager and advisor. Juergen is founder and CEO of Globalator with offices in Austria, the UK and the USA. Globalator is specialized in the hands-on management of global strategic transactions with a focus on build-to-sell strategies.
Juergen held CEO positions at companies in Austria, Belgium, France, South Korea, the UK and the USA. He has coached over 100 CEOs and has taught business executives and scientists regarding business expansion for over 25 years in various executive education programs in Europe, the USA and Asia, with current teaching engagements at Georgetown University and Salzburg Management Business School. The feedback on his teaching performance has been consistently at the very top, with especially positive remarks for the practicability and usefulness of his lectures. Juergen is also a regular lecturer and keynote speaker at conferences and has published articles on Transaction Based Growth ManagementTM, which is his current area of interest.
Juergen holds an MBA from London Business School and he has been trained through the Discussion Leadership Program at Harvard Business School for teaching with the HBS Case Method.
Company: Representing The American Semiconductor Innovation Coalition (ASIC)
Douglas Grose is a technologist who built his early career at IBM for over 20 years.
From 2006 through 2009, he was the Senior Vice President of Technology Development, Manufacturing and Supply Chain at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).
Dr. Grose helped direct the formation of GLOBALFOUNDRIES. He was the CEO of GLOBALFOUNDRIES from 2009-2011.
Dr. Grose was appointed President of NY CREATES in 2019 and transitioned to Chair of the Board of NY CREATES from 2021- 2022.
In semi-retirement, Dr. Grose is supporting the American Semiconductor Innovation Coalition (ASIC), guiding a response for the CHIPS and Science Act, National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) and National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program (NAPMP).
Dr. Grose graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with an MBA and a BS, MS and PhD in Materials Engineering.
Job Title: Senior Advisor
Company: OBLON Gaikokuho Jimu Bengoshi Jimusho
Dr. Yorikatsu Hohokabe, CLP is a senior advisor in the firm’s Chemical Patent Prosecution practice group as well as the IP Transactions practice group. Before joining Oblon, he worked for nearly four decades for Showa Denko K.K., a large, diversified chemical and production company in Japan. During his career at Showa Denko, he was a Managing Corporate Officer (Senior Chief Technologist), General Manager of the Intellectual Property Department, in charge of IP operations of the company, Chief Manager of new business development, and in charge of research and development management of the entire company.
Job Title: President
Company: General Electric
Pat Patnode, President of GE Licensing, leads a team of over 50 global Licensing professionals working to create value from GE’s extensive portfolio of intellectual property. Under Pat’s leadership, GE Licensing has expanded beyond traditional patent licensing to offer creative and innovate solutions to help partners access GE’s 50,000+ patents, the GE trademark and the inventions that come from the thousands of scientists at GE’s Global Research Centers and across GE’s Business Units of Aviation, Healthcare, Energy and Digital. GE Licensing also works with outside entities to create stronger portfolios of patents and brings intellectual property from outside GE to create more complete solutions. GE Licensing has active programs in materials, electronics, software, electrification of transportation, power generation, wearables, healthcare, and many other areas.
Before becoming President of GE Licensing in early 2016, Pat was General Counsel and managed the Legal team for GE Ventures, responsible for all legal and compliance needs for the various business units. The legal team’s practice areas span numerous industries and subject areas including securities, intellectual property, litigation and complex commercial & licensing transactions.
Previously, Pat served as the Chief Compliance Officer for GE Global Research. He managed compliance for the GE Global Research Centers around the world, including sites in India, China and Germany.
Pat graduated cum laude from Albany Law School and holds an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University.
Pat and his wife, Cyndi, reside in Saratoga Springs, New York, with their three children and Pat is based at GE’s Global Research Center in Niskayuna, NY.
Job Title: President
Company: Via Licensing
Heath Hoglund is president of Via Licensing, the collaborative licensing leader. A highly respected intellectual property business leader, Heath has built a reputation for collaborating across the global ecosystem to advance technology standards and adoption. At Via, an independent subsidiary of U.S. audio pioneer Dolby Laboratories, he manages a suite of IP licensing solutions that balance the needs of manufacturers and innovators around the world.
Prior to joining Via in February 2022, Heath was the vice president of intellectual property and standards at Dolby in San Francisco, California, where he had global responsibility for patents, trademarks and copyrights. In this role, he led the development of Dolby’s patent portfolio, oversaw Dolby’s patent licensing programs, and led the formation and design of several collaborative patent pools and standards activities.
Before joining Dolby, he founded Hoglund & Pamias, a full-service IP law firm in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he represented a broad range of clients in the federal courts and at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He also served as an adjunct professor of patent law at the University of Puerto Rico School of Law.
IAM Magazine has named Heath an IAM Top 40 Market Maker every year since 2019. He currently serves on the Board of the Intellectual Property Owners Association, and he previously served as chair of the American Bar Association IP Section’s Patent Division. He is also a past-president of the San Francisco IP Law Association.
Heath has a JD (cum laude), an MS, and a BS (cum laude) from the University of Minnesota.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Lewis Silkin LLP
Alan is a Partner in the Digital, Commerce & Creative group and Co-Head of Media & Entertainment. In 2019 he co-founded The Collective by Lewis Silkin and it has grown from strength to strength. Through The Collective, Alan is passionate about building a community of thought leaders and decision makers. Alan specialises in the drafting and negotiation of commercial and technology contracts and the exploitation of intellectual property assets. Many of Alan’s clients are from leading fashion houses, retailers and lifestyle brands, as well as innovative and disruptive media, technology, publishing and advertising companies.
Job Title: Startup Investor, Patent and Trademark Attorney
Company: E.M. Hwang & Partners
Sung-pil is a startup investor, Patent and Trademark attorney and has worked at E.M.Hwang & Partners IP Law Firm for 16 years in South Korea. Sung-pil provides consulting for various startups’ acceleration, incubation, and investment. Also Sung-pil focuses on the management of intellectual property, in particular, patent and trademark prosecution, licensing and litigation matters globally. Additionally, he serves as Of counsel for Venture Capital, accredited by the Korean Government Ministry of SMEs and Startups. Currently, he is also a legal advisor to the Seoul Metropolitan Government. He is dedicated to finding and supporting outstanding startups. He wants to support the entire value chain so that startups can grow independently and sustain their strong business.
Job Title: Director of the Patent and Technology Law Division
Company: WIPO
Andras Jokuti is an intellectual property lawyer with domestic and international experience in public IP policy and university technology transfer. He is the former Director-General for Legal Affairs of the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office. As a Fulbright scholar, he obtained an LL.M. in Intellectual Property Law (2015) at The George Washington University (Washington, DC). Between 2019 and 2021, he assisted the Budapest University of Technology and Economics to strengthen its IP and technology transfer operations. Since January 2022, he is the Director of the Patent and Technology Law Division at WIPO.
Job Title: IP Legislative Consultant
Company: American Bar Association
Chris Katopis is an experienced attorney who specializes in intellectual property and business law counseling. He was LESI’s executive director from 2011- 2019 where he helped organize the Global Technology Impact Forum (GTIF). His current clients include the American Bar Association IP Law Section, and other innovative companies. Recently, he was a senior legal advisor to the Under Secretary and Director of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) where he worked with its Office of General Counsel and other divisions. His prior IP experience includes serving as a judicial law clerk to the Hon. Pauline Newman of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; and, counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property where he managed key IP legislation.
Chris is FINRA Dispute Resolution arbitrator and mediator. He is based in Washington, D.C. and is also active in several pro bono IP law clinics.
Job Title: President
Company: Foresight Valuation Group, LLC
Efrat Kasznik is president of Foresight Valuation Group, a Silicon-Valley IP consulting firm focused on assisting companies with valuing and managing their innovation. She is a Lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and is a frequent speaker and author on topics related to IP valuation and strategy.
Job Title: Founder
Company: GroupOptima
Linda Suzu Kawano has worked to identify and commercialize early-stage innovations for over three decades. Her experience includes assessing and licensing diagnostic technologies for Abbott Laboratories, directing Northwestern University’s Technology Transfer Program, performing business development and marketing for Amersham Corporation, and consulting with inventors, academic institutions, and companies in the U.S. and abroad. Dr. Kawano negotiated the license agreement for Northwestern University’s discovery, pregabalin, commercialized as the blockbuster drug, LyricaÒ. She founded her consulting firm, GroupOptima in 1996. Throughout its twenty-seven-year existence, GroupOptima has provided licensing, training and management assistance to universities, companies, and entrepreneurs.
Dr. Kawano’s particular interest is in the training and mentoring of students and professionals. Her experience includes teaching at The University of Chicago Booth Graduate School of Business, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and training technology transfer officers and post-graduate students abroad.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Klinkert Partners
Nora Kessler is an experienced IP litigator based in Frankfurt, Germany. Amongst her clients are well-known companies from the pharmaceutical, medical devices, automotive, construction, life sciences, cosmetics and luxury goods industries. She advises and represents clients both in and out of court. She is ranked by IAM Patents and Chambers – most recently as one of IAM Patents Strategy 300 Global Leaders”.
Nora teaches patent law at Frankfurt University in a Pharma MBA program. She started her career in 2004 at Jones Day, where she worked in the IP department headed at that time by Friedrich Klinkert. She was on board when the firm KLINKERT was founded in 2010 and moved to the ranks of partner in 2013.
Job Title: Chief Legal Officer
Company: Omnisient (Pty) Ltd
Dr. Madelein Kleyn has more than 30 years experience as an international intellectual property practisioner, patent attorney and in-house legal corporate counsel. Her experience span a broad industry base and covers petrochemical, agri, university technolology transfer and data industries. She is presently the Chief Legal Officer of Omnisient (Pty) Ltd and the CEO and founder of Mad K IP Consulting (Pty) Ltd advising clients on IP strategy, protection mechanisms and commercial aspects of IP.
In addition to being a Chemical Engineer (BSc Chem Eng) she is an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa a Registered South African patent attorney and a Registered Technology Transfer Professional (RTTP). She also holds a LLM in tax law and PhD in intellectual property law.
Her technical expertise includes petrochemicals, chemistry, process engineering, explosives and agriculture. Her main areas of IP expertise include deal negotiations, Due Diligence, IP Portfolio management, IP policy and strategy development and implementation, data privacy and data monetisation. She regularly advises on corporate governance and IP risk management and specialises in drafting and advising on IP-related business transactions, and specialises in technology transfer and licensing. She has authored and presented various articles, papers and publications on IP matters internationally specifically on technology and IP licensing and commentaries on national IP related legislation. She is the course co-ordinator of the Patent an Design LLM module at Stellenbosch University. She developed the course and lectures the moduleTechnology Commercialisation at the Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt, THI Business School, in Germany. She often trains at SARIMA and LES on IP matters. Since 2014 she is the co-editor of the International Pharmaceutical Law ” publication which covers key pharmaceutical law topics in all of the major industrial countries and co-authors the South African Chapter of this publication. She is a member of the SAIIPL (and also the editor of the SAIIPL newsletter IP Briefs®. She is a member of INTA, SAIIPL, ASTP, AUTM, CCASA, ACS and SARIMA ( Southern African Research & Innovation Management Association). She is also member of LES SA and a past president. She is a past chairs of the LESI Patent and Technology licensing Committee and past Co-Chairs the Awards Committee for which she now is the board liaison since her election Vice-President for 2022-2024 of LES International.
Dr Kleyn has in two consequetive years received the LESI President’s acknowledgement award for her contribution to the technology licensing community. In 2019 she received the 2019 DSI/SARIMA award for distinguished contribution in innovation management. The technology transfer team at Innovus, which she led, received the 2020 Award for Organisational Excellence in Innovation Management. These awards were initiated in 2014 to celebrate excellence in research and innovation management in Southern Africa, and to encourage growth and achievement in the field. The 2021 award considers excellence and achievements in the previous year, 2020.
Madelein was included in the IAM Strategy 300 – The World’s Leading IP Strategists since 2015 and featured in WTR300 World’s leading trademark professionals since 2016.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Ohno & Partners
Hideaki Kobayashi is a partner of Ohno & Partners, one of the famous intellectual property boutique law firms in Japan, and has about 15 years of experience of litigation and prosecution in intellectual property. He specializes in patent, trademark, copyright and unfair competition law, and focuses on patent litigations, licensing and consulting regarding patent enforcement in a variety of technologies including mechanical and electrical engineering, telecommunication, information technology and semiconductor technology. Before joining Ohno & Partners, he engaged in patent prosecution in a patent law firm as a registered patent attorney for seven years.
Job Title: General Counsel and Licensing Executive
Company: TactoTek
Sonja London is General Counsel and Licensing Executive in TactoTek, world-leading innovator in the field of smart surfaces and structural electronics. Sonja has global responsibility of TactoTek’s IP, licensing and standardization strategies as well as overall legal and compliance matters. Before joining TactoTek, she worked with Nokia Patent Business for 14 years in various roles, in her latest position leading Nokia’s Consumer Electronics licensing globally. Sonja has been deeply involved in licensing of various technologies for automotive, consumer electronics, mobile devices and infrastructure products. Her experience covers also patent pools, joint licensing, patent transactions as well as digitalizing and managing licensing business.
In addition, Sonja is involved in technology and growth companies as board member, investor and advisor. She serves as Treasurer and Board Member of Licensing Executives Society International. Sonja holds a Master of Laws from University of Helsinki and Executive MBA from Aalto University. She is ranked in IAM Strategy 300 as one of the world top IP Strategists.
Job Title: Executive Vice-Chairman of the Board
Company: Cirque du Soleil
As Executive Vice-Chairman of the Board, Daniel Lamarre is in charge of strengthening existing key
partnerships and driving new growth projects for Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group. After 20 years
building the organization, he transitioned into his current role on December 1, 2021, adding valuable
expertise, and a strong Quebec presence, to the Board of Directors.
Job Title: Incoming LESI President
Company: Ankura
Michael J. Lasinski is a Senior Managing Director at Ankura based in Ann Arbor and Chicago. Michael’s consulting practice has focused on the financial aspects of intellectual property since 1995. He has valued intellectual property and businesses in the context of licensing, sales, mergers, acquisitions, investments, tax matters, bankruptcy, litigation, as well as many other contexts. During his professional career, he has completed hundreds of valuations of intellectual property assets. Michael has spoken on the topics of intellectual property valuation, litigation, licensing, and tax matters throughout the US and internationally.
Michael has been retained to provide expert testimony in federal, state, tax, bankruptcy, International Trade, arbitration and international proceedings. He has worked on behalf of both licensees and licensors in Fair Reasonable And Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) negotiations, litigations and arbitrations throughout the world. He has been retained by both taxpayers and the IRS to determine intellectual property value and royalty rates in transfer pricing and other tax-related transactions. While Michael’s analyses vary from case-to-case he has quantified lost profits, unjust enrichment, price erosion, reasonable royalty, diminished business value as well as other forms of economic damages.
Michael is a past President of the Licensing Executives Society – United States and Canada (LES). LES is one of the country’s largest intellectual property licensing trade organizations. He is a past Division Chair of the American Bar Association’s IP Section. He is a former Chair of the Valuation and Taxation Committee of LES and a former Vice Chair of the Intellectual Property Owners Association’s Valuation and Taxation Committee. He was also named one of the World’s 250 Leading IP Strategists by Intellectual Asset Magazine.
Job Title: Senior IP & Compliance Manager
Company: Mark Anthony Group
Janet Lau is a Senior IP & Compliance manager at Mark Anthony Group. Janet manages the Intellectual Property protection function for the organization to include domestic and international trademarks, trade names, copyrights, licenses and related IP rights. She also oversees the wine business related to trade practice, advertising compliance, label compliance and international distribution.
Job Title: Founder & CEO
Company: Qohash
Jean Le Bouthillier is the founder and CEO of Qohash, a company focused on reinventing the future of data security with its SaaS solution for automating the discovery and risk management of sensitive data. At Qohash, Jean is involved in multiple accounts, advising CIOs, CISOs, and risk management executives looking to solidify their numerous data security and privacy initiatives. Jean is passionate about developing a robust Canadian cybersecurity ecosystem and serves as a Director on the board of Cybereco. Jean has a Global Executive MBA from the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa and an MSc in Computer Science from Kingston’s Royal Military College of Canada (RMC). He pursued studies emphasizing cybersecurity, high-performance control systems, and robotics.
Job Title: Senior Product Management Director
Company: Flo EV Charging
Jeff Dion is a product development specialist in the field of EV chargers and network. As the Senior Product Management Director at FLO EV Charging, he is interested in accelerating the EV transition by offering the most reliable and best and most reliable solution experience.
He graduated in Electrical Engineering from Laval University. Over the years he managed products in the fields of automation, energy management, distribution & transmission of electricity and since the last 4 years in EV charging.”
Job Title: Founding Partner
Company: IPMAP LLC
Dr. Lu is the founding partner and chief economist of IPMAP, where he specializes in IP valuations, damage estimates and royalty determinations for IP transaction, licensing, litigation, and corporate transactions (including M&A, divestiture, venture capital, equity investment and distressed assets investment). He has delivered numerous valuation reports and opinion letters to clients, including those filed to SEC, IRS, and US Bankruptcy Court. Jack and his firm manage cases and perform research for testifying damage experts on IP infringement cases and various other cases such as antitrust, breach of contract, investment dispute, and securities fraud.
Job Title: Director and Associate General Counsel
Company: Lockheed Martin Corporation
Ms. Luedke is responsible for providing legal support on a wide array of matters including leadership of corporate intellectual property strategic initiatives; support of Lockheed Martin Government Affairs on legislative and regulatory data rights and intellectual property matters; drafting and negotiation of commercial and government contracts; and conducting due diligence in support of M&A and investment activities. Additionally, she is a delegate to the ABA House of Delegates representing the ABA Intellectual Property Committee, Co-Chair of the ABA Public Contract law Section IP Committee and a member of the ABA Board of Governors’ Cybersecurity Legal Task Force. Prior to joining Lockheed Martin in 2010, Ms. Luedke litigated patent infringement matters involving diverse technologies and managed worldwide patent portfolios as outside counsel.
Job Title: CEO
Company: Mercedes-Benz Intellectual Property
Klaus Mannsperger is the CEO, Mercedes-Benz Intellectual Property GmbH & Co KG Director Intellectual Property Holding different functions within the R&D organization of Daimler and now Mercedes-Benz, he accumulated over 30 years of experience in the automotive business. Being a pioneer he helped the company to establish an international footprint, for 19 years he was in foreign assignments that included Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, the longest assignment was a 9 years term in China where he was establishing the local R&D area. Since late 2019, he is back to his home and the Mercedes-Benz headquarter in Stuttgart where he took the current role in IP.
Job Title: Vice President and Head of Biological Sciences
Company: adMare BioInnovations
As Vice President, Innovation – Biological Sciences, Dr. Joseph Mancini plays a central role in leading adMare’s R&D team and the strategic development and advancement of adMare’s pipeline of drug development projects to support the building of strong Canadian life sciences companies. Joe brings more than 30 years of experience in drug discovery to the role, and is responsible for overseeing the biology and pharmacology efforts at both adMare’s Montreal and Vancouver Innovation Centres.
Prior to joining adMare in 2020, Joe spent 20 years at Merck, a leading global biopharmaceutical company, where he was responsible for developing novel therapies to treat inflammation, diabetes, and obesity – including being key in the discovery of VioxxTM and ArcoxiaTM, and the Biology Lead for a PDE4-inhibitor for Asthma, and for four INDs and human proof-of-concept trials.
Following his tenure at Merck, Joe joined Vertex Pharmaceuticals where, as Head of Pharmacology and Biology Project Leader, he led the Pharmacology group and a team that developed a therapy to treat Crohn’s disease (licensed to Takeda), as well as initiated new programs in ADPKD and a rare muscular disease.
Joe has been an Adjunct Professor at one of Canada’s top research universities, Montreal’s McGill, since 2000, and is credited with 94 publications and seven patents. He holds a PhD in Biochemistry from McGill University.
Job Title: President and CEO
Company: adMare BioInnovations
Gordon McCauley is President and Chief Executive Office of adMare BioInnovations, a position he assumed in 2016 after serving on adMare’s Board for four years.
A successful executive, advocate, and investor, he has been at the forefront of Canada’s life-science sector for over two decades, playing leadership roles across several domains.
As an executive, he has a track record of success, supporting and growing private and publicly traded life-science start-ups and emerging enterprises into sustainable businesses.
Job Title: Chief IP Counsel
Company: Rio Tinto
Sarah is a solicitor with more than 25 years’ experience and is currently head of the global Intellectual Property legal team at Rio Tinto. The IP Legal team of 13 supports all intellectual property matters at Rio Tinto, including the patent and trademark portfolios, copyright matters, infringement matters, R&D
agreements, technology development agreements, investment in technology start-ups and industry collaborations. Sarah has a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Queensland.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Quisumbing Torres
Bienvenido Marquez III is a partner and head of Quisumbing Torres’ Intellectual Property, Data and Technology Practice Group. He also co-heads the Consumer Goods & Retail Industry Group and is a member of the Technology, Media & Telecommunications Group. He participates in initiatives of Baker & McKenzie International of which Quisumbing Torres is a member firm. He is a member of Baker McKenzie’s Asia Pacific Intellectual Property Steering Committee and the Asia Pacific Intellectual Property Business Unit for Brand Enforcement. Bien also co-heads the Firm’s Consumer Goods & Retail Industry Group and is a member of the Technology, Media & Telecommunications Group.
Bien is the immediate Past President of the Philippine Chapter of the Licensing Executives Society International (2019-2021), and is currently Co-Chair of the LESI Asia Pacific. He has been appointed as member of the International Trademark Association (INTA) Asia Global Advisory Council (GAC) for 2022 to 2023, making him the only Philippine representative on the council.
Bien has vast experience in handling IP enforcement litigation, trademark and patent prosecution and maintenance, copyright, commercial IP advisory, data privacy, information security, IT, telecommunications, e-commerce, electronic transactions, cyber security and cybercrime. He has been consistently ranked as a leading individual for Intellectual Property and TMT in Legal 500 Asia Pacific, Chambers Asia Pacific, asialaw Leading Lawyers, Managing IP Stars, Asia IP, and World Trademark Review. He was also recognized as a Volunteer Service Awardee by INTA in 2018.
Bien has 24 years of experience focusing on trademark and patent portfolio management and in the enforcement and litigation of IP rights before courts and administrative agencies. He manages the anti-piracy / anti-counterfeiting program for major clients covering a wide range of industries and products: pharmaceuticals, food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, telecommunications, apparel, footwear, cable and satellite television, computer software, hardware and peripherals, household and consumer products, construction, aesthetics, toys and the entertainment industry. He also advises on commercial IP transactions, information technology, media and telecommunications matters, including data privacy, cyber security and cybercrime law compliance. Recently, Bien assisted clients on policy/advocacy matters before various government agencies.
Job Title: CEO
Company: RPX
Dan McCurdy is the CEO of RPX Corporation, the leading provider of patent risk mitigation services worldwide.
Prior to joining RPX in 2018, Dan served as CEO of Provenance Asset Group, Allied Security Trust, PatentFreedom, ThinkFire, and was President of the Intellectual Property Division of Lucent Technologies. He has served as a Vice President of IBM and Ciena Corporation,
Director of Business Development for IBM Research; and Manager of Technology and Intellectual Property Policy for IBM worldwide.
Mr. McCurdy graduated summa cum laude from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. In 2011 he was named CEO of the Year by Intellectual Property Magazine, in 2014 was named among the 40 most influential “movers and shakers” in IP transactions by Intellectual Asset Magazine, and in 2021 was inducted into the IP Hall of Fame. He has been included in the IAM Strategy 300 every year since the annual list has been published.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Carpmaels & Ransford
Agathe is one of the Carpmaels & Ransford partners leading the UPC practice. She has successfully litigated in France, the UK, and Germany, and has represented clients in EPO oppositions for over ten years. As a result, Agathe understands the practicalities of a successful litigation strategy when it involves multiple countries and has coordinated parallel cases in more than 25 countries. Therefore, Agathe is particularly well placed to understand the challenges and benefits of UPC proceedings. She defends clients in major cross-border patent litigation and in innovation-heavy transactions.
With her very rich and diverse experience in European courts, Agathe has a particular interest in the UPC and has been advising clients on unitary patent related questions for several years.
Agathe is admitted to the Paris Bar and a registered lawyer at the Dusseldorf Bar.
Job Title: Executive Deputy President and CSO
Company: Sony Group Corporation
Mr. Mitomo joined Sony Group Corporation (former Sony Corporation) in 1985 and currently its its Executive Deputy President and CSO in charge of Intellectual Property, Business Strategy, Business Development and Business Incubation Platform. In these roles, Mr. Mitomo is responsible for Sony’s global IP strategies, technology standardization activities and mid-to-long term business development for the future growth of Sony.
In addition, Mr. Mitomo heads Sony Innovation Fund which is Sony’s corporate venture capital as Senior Investment Executive.
As a part of his public services, Mr. Mitomo served as Vice Chairman of the Japan Intellectual Property Association (JIPA) – the biggest non-profit, non-government industry organization in Japan which represents 1,271 member companies. He was also a member of Industrial Structure Council of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
Mr. Mitomo has handled a vast array of IP-related deals and has been regularly included in IAM Strategy 300 and Top 40 Market Makers.
Job Title: Principal & National Practice Group Leader
Company: Wrays Lawyers
Judith specialises in commercial and intellectual property law. She has more than 25 years’ experience in advising on all aspects of the management and commercialisation of IP and is the firm’s National Practice Group Leader – Commercial.
Judith has worked with a range of clients across a variety of industries (with a particular focus on the research and development sector), predominantly for IP and content owners, frequently advising those clients on the management, exploitation and protection of their rights in old and new media. Judith’s client base includes universities, global pharmaceutical and veterinary pharmaceutical companies, mining and mining technology companies, research & development corporations, consumer goods manufacturers, and technology, communications and software companies.
She advises clients on the full range of intellectual property and commercial transactions. These include strategic alliances, collaboration and partnering arrangements, licensing and royalty-sharing arrangements, research and development agreements, supply chain and logistics agreements, and acquisition and supply terms.
Judith has also worked on a broad range of technology and sourcing matters, including procurement, development agreements, hosting and outsourcing arrangements, software maintenance and hardware supply and support agreements.
Judith specialises in commercial and intellectual property law. She has more than 25 years’ experience in advising on all aspects of the management and commercialisation of IP and is the firm’s National Practice Group Leader – Commercial.
Judith has worked with a range of clients across a variety of industries (with a particular focus on the research and development sector), predominantly for IP and content owners, frequently advising those clients on the management, exploitation and protection of their rights in old and new media. Judith’s client base includes universities, global pharmaceutical and veterinary pharmaceutical companies, mining and mining technology companies, research & development corporations, consumer goods manufacturers, and technology, communications and software companies.
She advises clients on the full range of intellectual property and commercial transactions. These include strategic alliances, collaboration and partnering arrangements, licensing and royalty-sharing arrangements, research and development agreements, supply chain and logistics agreements, and acquisition and supply terms.
Judith has also worked on a broad range of technology and sourcing matters, including procurement, development agreements, hosting and outsourcing arrangements, software maintenance and hardware supply and support agreements.
Job Title: Patent Attorney/formerly VP
Company: Withrow & Terranova
Donald is an expert intellectual property (IP) professional with over two decades of experience in IP law and has held various leadership positions in the field. Starting his career as a Patent Examiner at the USPTO, Donald examined patent applications in the areas of computer software and databases. Donald then entered private practice and worked at national IP boutiques. Donald directed several teams of associates in drafting and prosecution patent applications as well as providing clients with strategic advice.
After practicing law for several years, Donald joined Qualcomm, Inc. as Patent Counsel, where he was responsible for IP in semiconductor and analog RF technologies. Donald then became a Senior IP Counsel at Johnson Controls, where he lead the IP prosecution and counseling for four business units.
Job Title: Technology Transfer Manager
Company: Slovak University of Technology
Mgr. Natália Molnárová works in the Know-how Centre at the Slovak University of Technology (STU) in Bratislava as a Technology Transfer Manager. In this position, she is responsible for the protection and management of industrial property rights in the university environment, as well as for providing support in the process of technology transfer into practice. Part of her position also involves looking for opportunities for establishing cooperation between partner institutions and communities.
Since 2020, she has been actively participating in the national project NITT SK II (National infrastructure for supporting technology transfer in Slovakia), which is implemented by the Technology Transfer Center at the Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information. She is a member of an international organization Licensing Executives Society Czech Republic & Slovakia (LES CRS) which is a part of the Licensing Executives Society International (LESI) and a member of the Association of European Science and Technology Transfer Professionals (ASTP).
She studied engineering geology and hydrogeology at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the Comenius University in Bratislava. She worked in the private and public sector in the implementation of EU structural funds projects. She is currently participating in the accredited educational program Intellectual Property at the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Ropes & Gray
David McIntosh is a partner in the firm’s life sciences and intellectual property transactions practice groups. Recognized by Chambers and other industry publications as a leading practitioner in his field, David advises a wide range of companies, investors, and institutions primarily in the life sciences industry in strategic transactions involving intellectual property, with particular focus on strategic collaborations, technology licensing, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, supply and distribution arrangements, and co-promotion and marketing agreements.
David’s practice focuses on the life sciences industry, but he also has had extensive experience advising companies and investors in the technology and branded product industries with respect to strategic transactions involving intellectual property as well as day-to-day commercial and corporate matters. David also provides guidance on integrating advice from other legal experts, such as foreign counsel, regulatory advisors, litigators, and other specialists, so that it aligns with companies’ corporate strategy and practices.
Job Title: Vice President Patent Development at IPR & Licensing
Company: Ericsson
Gabriele Mohsler is Head of Patent Development within Ericsson, responsible for all patent creation and portfolio build up world-wide and in charge of a number of patent units world-wide with more than 200 people. Throughout the years she has held several management positions and was responsible for European litigation within Ericsson for a number of years.
Gabriele Mohsler studied electrical engineering at the Rheinisch Westfälische Technische Hochschule in Aachen (RWTH) and started her career as patent attorney trainee within Alcatel. After passing the European Qualifying Exam, she started working at Ericsson in Germany in 1997. Here she took the German attorney exam and started building up the patent department in Germany, which is now one of the key IPR departments within Ericsson.
Gabriele Mohsler is vice-president of LES Germany and is an elected member of the board at The German Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (GRUR). She further is in the Curatory of “Women in IP”.
Note on Ericsson: With over 60,000 granted patents, Ericsson has emerged as the company holding one of the strongest radio communication patent portfolios in the industry covering 3G, 4G and 5G cellular standards.
Job Title: Patent Litigator
Company: Bardehle Pagenberg
Tilman Müller-Stoy is widely recognized as a leading German patent litigator. Co-heading the European patent litigation group of BARDEHLE PAGENBERG, he cannot wait to become one of the pioneers at the upcoming European Unified Patent Court. With over 20 years of experience in IP, he has handled several hundreds of patent disputes (including entitlement proceedings) in courts and patent offices, with a focus on high-profile, multinational matters. He frequently takes on a coordinating role, acting as the European lead counsel, so clients benefit from his solid understanding of the laws and procedures of all relevant jurisdictions.
Job Title: President & CEO
Company: ReqMed Company, Ltd
Tadashi Matsumoto founded and has served as President and CEO of ReqMed Company, Ltd. since 1998. he created the first venture capital in Japan focused on start-up companies for bio-science in 2000. He has now several academic positions to facilitate start-up companies’ growing. At ReqMed, he submitted two NDA focused on rare diseases. Before ReqMed, he contributed to Kyowa Hakko Kogyo (now Kyowa Kirin) at various position related to pharmaceutical drug development
Job Title: Chief Executive
Company: ASTP Proton
Laura has headed up the HQ of ASTP (the pan-European members association for knowledge transfer professionals) since September 2016. Her role there combines responsibility for professional training events, conferences and advocacy to enhance capacity-building of the KT sector. Originally qualified as a Scots lawyer, specialising in EU and IP law, her transition to the world of academic/industrial collaborations started in 1992 when she established the first in-house legal function in a UK university to support these collaborations. Then followed a career across different UK universities (Dundee then Edinburgh) before moving to the Netherlands, spending 10 years at Leiden University and Medical Centre, with responsibility across all aspects of knowledge transfer activities. She has been active in key professional organisations which bring together players in this ecosystem, such as Licensing Executives Society and AUTM as well as ASTP.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Amster, Rothstein & Ebenstein LLP
Charles R. Macedo, a physicist by training, litigates in all areas of intellectual property law, including patent, trademark and copyright law, with a special emphasis in complex litigation and appellate work. Companies and individuals from a wide range of industries turn to him to develop offensive and defensive strategies for the development and enforcement of their patent and trademark portfolios.
At the Patent Office, Mr. Macedo has supervised and obtained many large portfolio of patents, successfully served as lead counsel for petitioners which invalidated challenged patents in inter partes review proceedings, and patent owners which had claims survive in inter partes review proceedings and covered business method proceeding.
Mr. Macedo has also been counsel of record or additional counsel on almost 50 party and amicus briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and other court of appeals and tribunals. Among other important intellectual property cases, Mr. Macedo was counsel of record in multiple briefings at the Federal Circuit and the Supreme Court in U.S. v. Arthrex, at the Supreme Court in American Axle v. Neapco, Return Mail v. U.S. Postal Service, and at the Federal Circuit and PTAB in St. Regis Mohawak Tribes v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Mr. Macedo is a thought leader and active participant in many leading intellectual property law organizations. He is currently the co-chair of the PTAB Committee at the New York Intellectual Property Board Association, and previously served on the Board of Directors and as Co-Chair of the Amicus Brief Committee for the same organization. He currently serves on the Editorial Board of the prestigious Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice (published by Oxford University Press), and previously served on the Editorial Board of the AIPLA QJ. He is also the author of The Corporate Insider’s Guide to U.S. Patent Practice. He has been cited as an authority on intellectual property issues by the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, IAM, BNA, Bloomberg, Inside Counsel, Managing Intellectual Property, Technology Transfer Tactics, IP Law 360, JIPLP and other media. He is an award-winning author including a prior recipient of the Robert Watson Award from the AIPLA, for his article “First-to-File: Is American Adoption of the International Standard in Patent Law Worth the Price?”, 18 AIPLA QJ 193 (1989).
Full biography at http://www.arelaw.com/professional/cmacedo/
Job Title: Partner
Company: Berggren Oy
Mariella is a Certified Licensing Professional and partner at Berggren, a full-service European IP Firm based in Finland and Spain. She works on a variety of international IP and commercial transactions and projects, including licensing and IP infringement issues across multiple jurisdictions. Mariella is a member of Berggren’s International Client Relations team and she also collaborates with Berggren’s Brokerage team. In addition, she established Berggren´s Italian Desk, based on her 15 years of prior experience as an IP attorney-at-law in Italy.
She has authored several publications on European IP law and is a frequent speaker on a variety of IP issues.
Job Title: Co-Founder and CEO
Company: Vermillio
Dan Neely is the Co-Founder and CEO of Vermillio, a generative AI platform built to empower creators and protect their work. Previously, Dan founded and served as the CEO of Networked Insights, a machine learning software company that was backed by Goldman Sachs and acquired in 2017. He has spent the better part of the last two decades building companies that use technology to disrupt the status quo.
Job Title: Director
Company: GE Licensing
Elise is with GE’s Corporate Business Development team and, as part of her work, she leads end-to-end complex intellectual property licensing deals across a variety of fields including software, copyrights, patents, trademarks, and technology from idea generation to development to negotiation to agreement management.
As an attorney with an undergraduate degree in finance, she has also worked as an IP valuation and strategy consultant. She valued and created strategy for IP assets including, but not limited to, technology, patents/patent applications/patent portfolios, brands, trademarks, copyrights, naming rights, data, and businesses in the context of organic/inorganic growth, licensing, mergers & acquisitions, divestiture, reporting & compliance, investments, tax matters, bankruptcy, litigation, capital raising, and estate planning. During her professional career, she has completed hundreds of business and IP valuations in many different industries and has spoken and written on the topics of IP valuation, strategy, monetization, litigation, licensing, naming rights, brands, and tax matters throughout the US and internationally. She taught the role of Business in Society at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and has provided expert testimony in federal, state, bankruptcy, and international proceedings.
Job Title: Consultant
Company: Burness Paull
Fiona is both an English and Scottish solicitor and has specialised in IP transactions for over 30 years .The main areas where Fiona provides advice are life sciences, healthcare, technology and industrial markets . Her clients range from start ups and SMES to large multinationals .
Fiona is a recent Past President of LESI , currently serves on the board of CLP and chairs the Law Society of Scotland’s accreditation panel for intellectual property . She is also a non- executive director of Vertical Future Ltd- a fast growing vertical farming SME headquartered in London.
Fiona is recognised by a number of legal directories including Legal 500 and by Managing Intellectual Property IP stars as a patents and transactions star . She has been the Co – Editor of Lexology’s Getting the Deal through Licensing publication for a number of years .
Job Title: Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development
Company: Government of Canada
The Honourable Mary Ng was first elected as Member of Parliament for Markham-Thornhill in 2017. She has previously served as Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade.
Minister Ng is a devoted community leader who has always believed in the power of public service. She has 20 years of experience in the areas of education, women’s leadership, job creation, and entrepreneurship.
Minister Ng immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong with her family, and grew up learning about the struggle and eventual success that many new immigrants experience in Canada.
Her years working for the Ontario Public Service, Ryerson University, and the Ontario Ministry of Education led to her being recognized as one of Canada’s top-performing public sector leaders. She later served as Director of Appointments for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Winnotek
Pierre Ollivier graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique (Paris, 1982). In 1984, he obtained his PhD with the title of “Docteur de l’Ecole Polytechnique” (1984) in Material Sciences, working with a CNRS laboratory in Orléans (France). His first jobs were R&D with Aluminium Pechiney on the alumina electrolysis plant (Alcan) and R&D with Isover Saint Gobain on the isolation glass / mineral fiber plant.
Pierre supports Winnotek clients in innovative strategies through governing their intangible assets. He regularly assists a number of customers from public research organisations such as IRSN, CNES, CNRS, ONERA, French TTOs, to big private corporations such as Areva, Alstom Grid, Safran or Engie, and also to startups and SMEs from various sectors, and part of French Cluster and Incubator ecosystems. He is former Member of the Board and Treasurer of Observatoire de l’Immatériel, and is currently Vice-Chair of the LESI (Licensing Executives Society International) Trade Secrets Work-Group of LESI-LIT (LESI Innovation Trends Committee).
Job Title: Partner
Company: Powell Gilbert LLP
Tom is a partner at Powell Gilbert (www.powellgilbert.com), a specialist IP law firm based in London. Tom specialises in intellectual property litigation with a particular focus on high-stakes patent disputes.
Tom has extensive experience in devising multi-jurisdictional patent litigation strategies and co-ordinating legal teams across Europe, Asia and North America.
Tom has a scientific background and has advised in relation to patent disputes spanning a wide range of industry sectors and technologies. This includes numerous cases involving standard essential patents and the determination of FRAND rates. Publicly reported cases in the consumer electronics, computing and telecommunications sectors include LG v Sony, HTC v Apple, HTC v Gemalto, Good Technology v Airwatch, and Unwired Planet v Huawei.
Tom regularly counsels clients on the impact of the UPC on European litigation strategies.
Job Title: Principal IP and Licensing Counsel
Company: Philips
Dr. Pasquier is a qualified patent attorney and works as a Principal Licensing Counsel in the Intellectual Property & Standards Department of Koninklijke Philips N.V. (“PHILIPS”). Her main responsibility is the licensing of Philips’ patents to third parties in the wireless communication field. Dr. Pasquier has responsibility for valuing Philips patent portfolio by creating, developing and leading several of Philips’ patent licensing programs particularly in the field of IoT & Connectivity.
Dr. Pasquier has graduated as an engineer from Ecole Centrale, holds a LLM degree from Paris Sorbonne University and a LLM degree specialized in patent law from Centre of International Intellectual Property Studies. Dr. Pasquier is also the President of the Licensing Executive Society in France and a board member since 2014.
In 2023, Dr. Pasquier brings more than 19 years of experience in licensing intellectual property, infringement analysis, contract drafting, patent sales and acquisitions. She has successfully lead programs in all phases of obtaining financial value for specific patent portfolios and technologies: strategic mining of patent portfolios, creation and realization of licensing programs, and negotiation of patent licenses and litigation settlements.
Dr. Pasquier ’s career began as a researcher in mechanics and material sciences working for SAFRAN Group, where she gained her PhD for work on modeling the thermomechanical behavior of ceramic composites. Dr. Pasquier continued her professional career working first for an international manufacturing group, FLEXTRONICS, where she specialized in auditing manufacturing firms all around the world and later as a purchasing director for ALCATEL MOBILE PHONE S.A. where she developed an international network and a deep understanding of the consumer electronic and telecom industry.
Armed with this strong business experience, Dr. Pasquier continued her international career joining the Intellectual Property and Standard Group of ALCATEL LUCENT S.A. where she served for 8 years as senior manager in the field of Technology and Patent Licensing. Her work there ranged from creating and leading several IP valuation projects including IP creation, IP acquisition, patent sales, technology transfer and patent licensing.
Company: General Eclectic
Job Title: Partner
Company: Frignani Virano e Associati
Born in Carmagnola (Turin) on September 18, 1978, admitted to the Italian Bar in 2013 and he became partner of the Frignani Virano e Associati firm on 2023. He graduated from the University of Turin (J.D., cum laude, 2004) and the Chamber of Commerce of Turin awarded him the. He obtained the Master of Laws (LL.M.) in the field of EC Competition Law from the London School of Economics (LSE) in the 2006 and worked at the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) as legal advisor in the 2015. He is currently responsible for the coordination of the scientific activity of LES Italy He is also member of AIPPI and the “Permanent Observatory on Private Enforcement of EU Competition” (ARC- http://www.osservatorioantitrust.eu). He regularly publishes articles on competition and IP matters in both national and international legal journals. Since 2022 he is Editorial Board Coordinator of the legal journal “Journal of Law, Market and Innovation (JLMI)” edited by the University of Turin. Since 2021 he is fellow in competition law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Turin and in 2021-2022 he was lecturer of industrial property law in the second cycle degree in Plant Biotechnology at the same university.
Job Title: Director, Innovations and External Relations
Company: Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Mike Perham, Ph.D., CLP, has been a member of LES since 2009, having served multiple roles on Annual Meeting Committees, as chair of the Life Science Sector leadership team, and the Young Members Council. He is currently a board member and program chair of the 2022 Annual Meeting.
Job Title: IP Transactions Partner
Company: Womble Bond Dickinson LLP and LES USA/CANADA President
Karthika Perumal, Ph.D. is an IP transactions partner in the Houston Office of Womble Bond Dickinson. Karthika guides clients with all aspects protection, acquisition, and monetization of intellectual property. She advises clients on patent and transactional matters in the healthcare and energy sectors across a wide range of technologies, such as biotechnology, biomedical devices, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, oil and gas processing, and software. She serves as the current President of the Licensing Executives Society (US & Canada).
Job Title: CEO and Executive Lawyer, Patent Attorney and Trade Mark Attorney, and Founder
Company: Pearce IP
Naomi Pearce is CEO and Executive Lawyer, Patent Attorney and Trade Mark Attorney, and Founder of Pearce IP which commenced in 2017 and won 2021 “IP Team of the Year” at the Australian Law Awards. With a science background in molecular genetics and biochemistry, Naomi has been serving life sciences clients for 25 years. Among other awards, Naomi is ranked in IAM Patent 1000, is a MIP “Patent Star” and shortlisted as a finalist in the MIP 2023 “Practitioner of the Year” award for Australia with the winner to be announced in May, is 2022 WIPR “Diversity Champion in IP”, 2022 Women in Business Law Asia Pacific “Patent Lawyer of the Year”, 2022 Australasian Lawyer “Most Influential Lawyer” in the category of “changemaker”, 2022 Lexology “Client Choice” Award for IP, and the 2021 Lawyers Weekly Women In Law SME “Partner of the Year”.
Job Title: Director of Analytics Solutions
Company: Anaqua
Shayne Phillips, Anaqua’s Director of Analytics Solutions, has been working in the IP arena for over twenty years, particularly in the areas of IP-related competitive intelligence and technical patent and nonpatent literature searching. Prior to joining Anaqua she spent sixteen years at Halliburton in Houston, Texas, where she worked in their Intellectual Asset Management group as both the head of IP Competitive Intelligence and as a Senior IP Portfolio Manager for the Cementing and Multichem Product Service Lines. Shayne holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Youngstown State University, a Master of Science degree in Biochemistry from the University of Cincinnati, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio. She is also a registered US Patent Agent.
Job Title: CEO and Founder
Company: Iplytics
Dr. Tim Pohlmann is the CEO and founder of IPlytics. Dr. Pohlmann founded IPlytics with the vision to overcome friction and complexity in data-led decisions in industries where standards and patents matter by being the transparent, accessible source of wisdom for all IP professionals. Dr. Pohlmann earned his doctoral degree in economics with the highest distinction from the Berlin Institute of Technology and worked as a post-doctoral researcher at CERNA, MINES ParisTech. He is an established expert and has been actively involved in preparing empirical studies for the European Commission, the World Intellectual Property Organization and the German federal government on topics such as SEP analysis, SEP licensing, patent pools as well as FRAND determination. Dr. Pohlmann is recognized as an industry thought leader, panel speaker and adjunct lecturer. He is also the author of several peer-reviewed economist journal articles, and over 60 articles published at IAM Magazine, Managing IP and IPWatchdog.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Kilpatrick Townsend
“With his wealth of experience in anti-counterfeiting and other trademark issues, Rob Potter and the Kilpatrick team are one of the only firms we trust for our IP enforcement matters. Rob takes the time to get to know our products, business and the issues we face, which are constantly evolving. He is very savvy and has a great sense of what our expectations are for different types of targets. He is a creative problem solver and a great negotiator. While he aggressively pursues our rights, he is cordial and does not engage in unnecessary bluster or grandstanding. We highly value Rob as our trusted counsel.” – WTR 1000 2023 – the World’s Leading Trademark Professionals
Rob Potter delivers practical and efficient solutions to complicated issues in trademark/copyright litigation and brand enforcement. He has also become increasingly active in the NFT space, providing counseling on enforcement and emerging best practices, and frequently speaking and writing on the topic.
Rob is recognized in the WTR 1000, by Best Lawyers for Intellectual Property Litigation and Copyright Law, and as a New York “Super Lawyer” for Intellectual Property Litigation by Super Lawyers magazine. He is very active in the Copyright Society, for which he currently serves as a Trustee, and numerous other professional IP organizations.
In his free time, Rob loves music of all types—playing, listening, discussing, seeing live—and spending time with his family.
Job Title: Founder
Company: Yves Veggie Cuisine and Garden Protein International
Yves Potvin has dedicated his culinary career to creating healthy, tasty, convenient foods that can now be found in institutions across North America. In 2017, Yves bought Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts in Vancouver, and he is excited about training the next generation of chefs while infusing nutrition studies, sustainable practices and new technologies into the curriculum.
Trained as a classical French chef, Yves successfully built two health-focused food companies. His first, Yves Veggie Cuisine, grew to become the largest refrigerated meat-alternative producer in North America. It was sold to the Hain Celestial Group in 2001. Yves then founded Garden Protein International in 2003 to create a meatless product line called Gardein, which redefined the plant protein category and became a game changer in this fast-growing segment. Gardein received many awards including Better Homes & Gardens’ Best New Product Award 2014, Canadian Grand Prix Award (four years in a row), and the National Restaurant Association’s 2014 Food and Beverage Innovation Award. Yves is now the founder and president of Konscious Foods, offering consumers with conscious and convenient plant-based seafood.
Yves has been recognized for his career achievements, receiving the BC Food Processors Innovation Award in 2014, Mercy for Animals Innovative Business Award 2014, BC Export Award 2014 for Sustainability, and Canada’s Top 40 under 40 Award from Financial Post magazine. Yves served on the UBC Faculty of Land and Food Systems Advisory Board from 2007-2018, and on the BC Ministry of Agriculture Board of Advisors.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Krishna & Saurastri
Ms. Richa Pandey is a Patent Attorney and a Partner with Krishna and Saurastri Associates, Delhi (Gurgaon) office. She is an advocate and a registered patent agent. Her core work areas include patent filing, patent prosecution, patent opposition, patent litigation, patentability opinions, searches, invalidity opinions and portfolio management.
Ms. Pandey holds a Degree in Law and a Bachelor’s Degree in Science from the University of Lucknow.
Ms. Pandey has also been a guest speaker at various national & International conferences on Intellectual Property. Ms. Pandey has also written several pieces for renowned IP publications. She was recognized as “woman to watch” by AIPLA (American Intellectual Property Law Association). Ms. Pandey is also an elected member of the executive council of FICPI, India. Currently, she also holds the position of President LES (Licensing Executive Society) India. Ms. Pandey is the Assistant Reporter General for FICPI international. She is also the Chair of the Life Sciences Committee for LESI.
Job Title: Intellectual Property Lawyer
Company: David Malm
Dave is an intellectual property lawyer who advises technology companies on a range of patent, copyright, trade secret, trademark, licensing and litigation matters. Dave is actively involved with the Licensing Executive Society of USA & Canada, where he serves in the volunteer role of Senior Vice President of Digital Content. His prior roles with the organization include Senior Vice President of Meetings, Co-Chair of the 2020 Annual Meeting, Chairman of the High Technology Sector, and Co-Chair of the High Tech Sector Royalty-Rate Survey Committee. Dave is the creator and producer of three podcasts series, The Tech Entrepreneur, Failure – The Podcast, and The Five-Minute Update (on Licensing), and he has hosted or co-hosted over 100 podcast episodes under those labels. Dave is also active in the startup community, volunteering time and using his work experience to coach new businesses. Through his membership in the MIT Enterprise Forum and local angel investment groups, he has coached hundreds of startup companies as they prepare for early stages of growth, including through fund-raising and intellectual property acquisition and protection.
Job Title: Principal Commercial Officer
Company: US Consulate Montreal
Matthew Quigley is a Foreign Commercial Service Officer. He has been assigned to the U.S. Consulate in Montréal since August 1, 2022, and has worked for the Department of Commerce since 2005.
His most recent assignment was in the Commercial Section of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) from 2017 to 2021. His portfolio focused on semiconductors but also included cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, and financial services.
His prior assignments included Pontiac, Michigan; Beijing, China; and Washington, DC.
Before joining the Department of Commerce, Mr. Quigley taught at universities in Hubei, China, for three years. Mr. Quigley has a BBA from Harding University and an MPIA from the University of California, San Diego.
Job Title: Patent Lawyer, Managing Partner
Company: Brion Raffoul LLP
Natalie Raffoul is a world-renowned IP lawyer and a partner of BRION RAFFOUL LLP, a law firm specializing in intellectual property (IP) law that she co-founded in 2008. In 2020, she co-founded a software company, launching Fortress IAMTM, a platform that helps innovative small- and medium-sized companies manage their IP, contracts, and corporate data. Natalie has been consistently ranked among the world’s leading patent practitioners in the IAM Patent 1000 publication annually since 2014, and shortlisted as one of the most Highly Recommended patent prosecutors in Canada. Since 2020, she has been recognized in the IAM Strategy 300: The World’s Leading IP Strategists as a Global Leader, leading the way in the development and implementation of strategies that maximize the value of IP portfolios. In 2019, Natalie was appointed to Ontario, Canada’s first Expert Panel on IP. In 2021 and 2022, she led and taught several Train-the-Trainer courses for the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) in Saudi Arabia and the Ukraine and, most recently in the fall of 2022, in Egypt. In 2021, Natalie contributed to a new WIPO pilot program for assessing the IP strategy of green technology companies in Europe and Brazil.
Job Title: Managing Partner
Company: BDC
Lally Rementilla is Managing Partner, Intellectual Property-Backed Financing at BDC Capital. She oversees and provides strategic guidance to a national team that helps IP-rich companies become global leaders by accelerating their growth and commercialization of their innovation.
Following nearly two decades of experience as a financial executive in the technology sector, Ms. Rementilla moved into investment, becoming Chief Financial Officer and then President & Chief Executive Officer of commercial lender Quantius. At Quantius, she structured and launched the company’s main fund and helped build a diverse portfolio of knowledge-based companies. Prior to that, she was Vice President of Finance and Administration at Nulogy Corporation. She was Vice President Finance at Lavalife Corp. and Area Vice President Finance and Contract Management at Lucent Technologies Canada.
Ms. Rementilla is currently chairperson of the board of Interaxon Inc. and is an Associate Fellow at the Creative Destruction Lab. She previously served on several other boards, including the Innovation Asset Collective (Canada’s first patent collective), Pique Ventures Investments, the Information Technology Association of Canada, and Canadian Women in Communications. She also served as the former Canada Lead for the Billion Dollar Fund for Women.
Ms. Rementilla is a proud supporter of Canadian innovation and derives great satisfaction from partnering with founders and management teams to help them scale. She is an experienced gender lens investor with an eye to creating impact for women globally. A Chartered Professional Accountant, she also holds a Master of Business Administration from York University and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Ateneo de Manila University.
Job Title: Head of the Information and External Relations
Company: WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center.
Adam Rattray is the Head of the Information and External Relations Section of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center. He works closely with the WIPO Center’s IP Disputes Section to facilitate the provision of efficient ADR services and to provide training on mediation and arbitration for IP and technology-related disputes. Before joining WIPO he worked at the Geneva office of the law firm White & Case as a member of the WTO and international trade law practice.
Job Title: Senior Vice President
Company: Marconi
llkka Rahnasto joined Marconi in 2018, bringing in-depth knowledge of all aspects of intellectual property and business. At Marconi, Ilkka works with a world class team of IP leaders, creating and enabling premier independent patent licensing platforms and programs for the most advanced technologies. Before Marconi, Ilkka spent more than 20 years at Nokia, first leading the intellectual property function at the time when Nokia was the world’s largest mobile phone company, later transforming the Nokia IP organization into a successful business. Ilkka has a PhD in law from the University of Helsinki, Finland and an LLM from George Washington University, US. Among the IAM Patent Strategy 300 for several years, in 2017 he ranked number one in IAM’s annual Top 40 Market Makers. A Finnish citizen, Ilkka lives with his wife in Dallas, Texas.
Job Title: Manager
Company: Lion Electric
Christopher Ralph is the manager of sustainable mobility solutions at the Lion Electric Company, North America’s largest manufacturer of all-electric heavy duty vehicles. He has been in the EV and renewable energy space for the last decade, with companies like Hydro Ottawa and Brookfield Renewable Energy. He has studied Law and Political Science at Carleton University, and environmental science and energy management at University of Toronto and Université de Québec Téluq.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Hahn Loeser
Sherry Rollo is a partner at Hahn Loeser & Parks LLP. She counsels clients in all areas of intellectual property, including the protection, licensing, and enforcement of intellectual property rights, data privacy, and data security both domestically and internationally. Sherry also advises clients on corporate strategies relating to the prosecution, merger, licensing, sale, or acquisition of intellectual property assets, including conducting due diligence, counseling on business strategies, and managing patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret portfolios. An experienced litigator and licensed patent attorney, Sherry has taken a lead role in trials, preliminary injunction proceedings Markman Hearings, and arguing dispositive motions. She regularly appears in courts across the country, including popular IP venues such as the Northern District of Illinois, Western District of Texas, District of Delaware, District of New Jersey, and Southern District of New York, as well as the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Job Title: Canadian Attorney
Company: SRA
Sylvain Roy is an IP valuation expert and a Canadian attorney practicing in business law and technology law. Mr. Roy offers transactional and operational experience. His practice focuses on IP monetisation and value creation, primarily in the IT, Media, Cleantech/Energy sectors. Mr. Roy founded the first patent brokering firm in Switzerland. He is lecturer on IP Valuation at the Center for International Intellectual Property Studies – CEIPI, Université de Strasbourg. His clients include research centers, tech companies and investors such as CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) and Swiss Institute of Technology (EPFL).
Job Title: Director of the Know-how Centre STU
Company: Slovak University of Technology
Lucia Rybanská has been engaged in Intellectual Property Rights at a professional level for more than 17 years, for almost ten of which she has been active in Industrial Property Rights Protection at the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia.
She is a director of the Know-how Centre at the Slovak University of Technology, which includes the Technology Transfer Office and the Technology Incubator. She graduated from the Faculty of Law of the Trnava University in Trnava and also successfully completed an accredited education program in the field of Intellectual Property established by the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic.
She is a member of an international organization Licensing Executives Society Czech Republic & Slovakia (LES CRS) which is a part of the Licensing Executives Society International (LESI) and a member of the Association of European Science and Technology Transfer Professionals (ASTP).
She is involved in the National Infrastructure for Supporting Technology Transfer in Slovakia II – NITT SK II, a national project implemented by the Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information.
She represents the Slovak University of Technology on the Committee for Conceptual Activities and Cooperation and also on the Committee for Management of Patent Fund and Support for Technology Transfer at the Slovak National Technology Transfer Centre.
Job Title: Consul General of Japan in Montreal
Consul General Jun SAITO was born in Tokyo. In his childhood, he lived in New York City with his parents for a while. After graduating from the University of Tokyo in Law, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of Japan in 1988.
Throughout his diplomatic career he has been assigned to several diplomatic missions, notably in Brussels, New Delhi, and Paris, as well as to the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations in New York. At MOFA Headquarters, he assumed the directorships of the Public Diplomacy Department, the European Affairs Bureau, and of the Press and Public Relations Directorate.
Most recently, he lead the Secretariat for Official Guests of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games as Ambassador & Secretary-General. Consul General Saito arrived in Montreal in October 2021 and has been highly active in both business and cultural spheres across Quebec and Atlantic Canada. He has been enjoying playing golf and tennis in summer, and snowmobiling, fatbiking, and snowshoeing in winter.
He is married and has two daughters who currently live in Japan
Job Title: Attorney
Company: Scavia & Scavia
Experienced attorney with a demonstrated history of working in the law practice industry.
Skilled in Trademark Law, Trademark Infringement, Intellectual Property Valuation, Patent
Law, Copyright, Personal Data Protection, Unfair Competition, Consumer Protection Law, Right
of Publicity and Advertising Regulations.
Member of several international Intellectual Property Associations. Strong entrepreneurship
professional with a “Summa Cum Laude” lawyer degree focused on Intellectual Property,
Competition Law, Corporate Law and Litigation from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.
Founding partner of Scavia & Scavia, a law firm highly specialized in IP and Competition Law
matters.
Job Title: Patent Litigator
Company: Hoffmann Eitle
Dirk is a patent litigator with more than 20 years of experience as a German attorney at law. He has been co-head of the Patent Litigation and Licencing Department of Hoffmann Eitle since 2011, focusing on strategic advice regarding patent enforcement in Germany and Europe and the conduct of patent litigation in Germany. In the pharmaceutical sector, he has led, and also coordinated throughout Europe, numerous projects and patent infringement disputes against generic companies on behalf of originator companies. His specialist fields also include licensing law and IP-related contract law, as well as international arbitration and mediation.
Job Title: President & CEO
Company: Repare Therapeutics
Lloyd is the President & CEO of Repare Therapeutics (Nasdaq: RPTX), a leading clinical stage precision oncology company.
Prior to Repare, Lloyd was a Managing Partner with Persistence Capital Partners. He began his career with McKinsey & Company, and subsequently served as CEO of several emerging biotechnology companies including Advanced Bioconcept Inc., Caprion Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Thallion Pharmaceuticals Inc.
He currently serves on the board of directors of Aktis Oncology (private) and the GBC American Fund. Lloyd previously served as Chairman of LMC Diabetes & Endocrinology and was Chairman of the Board of MedReleaf (TMX: LEAF), which was sold to Aurora Cannabis for $3.2 billion in 2018. He served as Entrepreneur-in-Residence with Versant Ventures from 2016 to 2020.
Lloyd was honored in 2013 by the Financial Times as Outstanding Director of the Year for public companies.
Lloyd holds a B.A. in politics from Brandeis University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Job Title: President
Company: Seltzer Licensing Group
Stu is an award-winning professor at New York University and for the past 19 years, has been teaching a 3-credit course for undergraduates which he developed on Brand Licensing. In addition, Stu is a frequent speaker and has provided engaging seminars on licensing at the conferences around the world.
Stu is also president of Seltzer Licensing Group, a 23-year old global licensing agency. A specialist in brand licensing, partnership marketing, and strategic alliances, Stu is an expert in analyzing, crafting, and securing partners for clients such as Unilever, NBC’s The Office and the American Red Cross. His extensive first-hand knowledge of the industry and skills as a negotiator were developed while managing the licensing for Yves Saint Laurent of America and at DC Comic’s division of Warner Bros. He has helped many global companies and brands including Campbell’s Soup, Popsicle and Scotts Miracle-Gro reap the best possible return on their marketing investment.
Early in his career Stu developed his analytical skills while working as a CPA at Arthur Andersen & Co. He is a graduate of Lehigh University and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Rothwell Figg
Dan Shores is a Partner at Rothwell, Figg, Ernst and Manbeck, P.C. in the firm’s Boston office. He focuses his practice on advising emerging biotechnology, medical device, and other technology-based companies to build robust patent portfolios, license and in-license key IP, navigate complex IP landscapes, forge constructive relationships with strategic partners, and prepare for success in funding rounds and exits. Dan received his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center and is a registered patent attorney licensed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Crowell & Moring LLP
Jim Sobieraj a licensed patent attorney with more than 40 years of experience in the procurement, licensing and enforcement of IP rights. Jim has been lead counsel in many litigations involving patent infringement, ownership of patent rights, license disputes, misappropriation of trade secrets, copyright infringement, unfair competition, false advertising, defamation, fraud, antitrust, breach of contract and other commercial litigation. Jim has extensive experience in mediations and arbitrations. He also advises clients on negotiating and drafting IP licensing agreements, and on creating and defending IP portfolios and strategies. Jim is a past president of the, the Licensing Executives Society International.
Job Title: Senior Advisor
Company: TTSE
Richard Steffens has over 30 years’ experience as a senior government official, diplomat, venture capitalist and entrepreneur supporting innovative companies with growth and global expansion. Prior to joining Vnesto Capital, Mr. Steffens served as U.S. Department of Commerce Deputy Assistant Secretary/Director for Asia (2020-2022), where he led the inter-agency Deal Team initiative, which tracked $150 billion in energy and infrastructure projects in Asia. He was Deputy Assistant Secretary/Director for Western Hemisphere (2015-2020). He had a 20-year career as a U.S. diplomat serving in Asia, Europe, and North America, rising to the rank of Minister-Counselor (two-star general equivalent). As a diplomat, he was instrumental in the negotiations of the $150 million World Bank Ukrainian hydro project, the $200 million rebuilding of Iraq’s major oil refinery, and the $40 billion Sakhalin off-shore oil projects. Before joining the Foreign Service, he managed New Jersey’s seed fund under Governor Thomas Kean, where he helped early-stage firms access over $150 million in federal R&D funding. He served as Assistant Director for Research with the Fels Center at the University of Pennsylvania, a think tank which supported the formation of early technology hubs and community development banks. He is a graduate of the Wharton School and holds a Masters in Government Administration from the University of Pennsylvania. He is author of Secrets of a Venture Capitalist, the Changing Software Market, has published over 50 articles, and has been interviewed on business topics by the BBC, 60 Minutes, and various media on three continents and in five languages.
Job Title: Founding Director
Company: Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox
Job Title: Head of Patent & License Management
Company: TU Wien
Dr. Tanja Sovic is an accomplished professional in the field of intellectual property and technology transfer, currently serving as the Head of Patent & License Management at TU Wien. With extensive experience in patenting and commercialization of university inventions across various fields, she brings exceptional expertise to her role. Tanja studied chemical engineering at Graz University of Technology and obtained a PhD in Polymer Chemistry from the Institute of Chemistry and Technology of Materials (ICTM). In addition to her professional career, Tanja also volunteers her time and expertise as a member of the IP Advisory Board for EIT Manufacturing and the Task Force Innovation for CESAER (Conference of European Schools for Advanced Engineering Education and Research). Furthermore, she is also co-chair of the LESI Innovation Trends Committee, a prominent horizontal task force within the structure of LESI Committees, which monitors and identifies the impact of innovation on the current IP framework and proposes corresponding solutions.
Job Title: Counsel Intellectual Property
Company: Eversheds Sutherland
Italian-qualified lawyer, practising IP from more than 20 years. She deals with issues relating to trademarks, patents, design, trade secrets, copyright, advertising and antitrust both in and out of Courts. She has been involved in complex patents and trade secrets cases. She likes to work in international environments (especially cross-border and multi-jurisdictional litigations). In the recent years, she has been selected in European Commission funding programmes for support to SMEs and young Designers on IP, Innovation and Digitalization.
She is member LES Italy Board, member of AIPPI, member of the Intellectual Property and Antitrust Commission of the Milan Bar Association.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Oyen Wiggs
Hilton Sue is a partner of Oyen Wiggs Green & Mutala LLP, a Canadian intellectual property law firm based in Vancouver. Hilton is both an intellectual property lawyer and registered patent agent (Canada and U.S.) and registered trademark agent (Canada and U.S.). He is also a Certified Licensing Professional. Hilton has long been recognized by his peers as a leading lawyer in intellectual property, including through Best Lawyers in Canada and LEXPERT’s lists of the leading practitioners of intellectual property law in Canada. Over the years, Hilton has served in many leadership positions in the intellectual property field, including as an elected Councillor of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada, a Trustee and Vice President of the Licensing Executives Society (USA and Canada), Inc., and Vice-Chair of the Americas Committee of Licensing Executives Society International.
Job Title: Studio Head
Company: Raccoon Logic Studios Inc
Reid Schneider is currently Studio Head at Raccoon Logic. Previous to that he was a Senior Executive Producer at Google, which acquired his first start-up Raccoon Logic. Previous to that he was VP Production at Warner Brothers Games Montreal. Earlier in his career he was an Executive Producer at EA, where he oversaw the Army of Two franchise. He has also worked on the Battlefield and Batman franchises at EA. He started his gaming work at UbiSoft where he was the Senior Producer on the original Splinter Cell.
Job Title: General Council
Company: Evozyne Inc
Jude Sullivan has spent more than thirty (30) years practicing corporate, securities and commercial law in Chicago, Illinois. Jude is currently general counsel of Evozyne, Inc., a Chicago-based protein design company focusing on pharmaceutical and sustainability products. Previously, Jude has been a partner in the corporate and securities group of national and international law firms; director of acquisitions for a publicly traded technology holding company; and general counsel of one private and one publicly traded software and professional services company.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Danubia Legal
Eszter Szakács is an attorney-at-law and partner of Danubia Legal, Budapest, representing and advising prominent international clients in the field of IP. With over 15 years of practice her main focus is the enforcement and commercialization of patents, know-how and trade secrets. She advises and represents clients from various industries and is particularly experienced in pharmaceutical patent litigation and regulatory issues, including CJEU proceedings (C-492/16, C-688/17). She authors several articles in the field of patent law, including publications of the EPO and regularly speaks at conferences in this field. She is a vice president and secretary of EPLAW (European Patent Lawyers Association) and Vice-Chair of Women in Licensing Alliance in LESI (Licensing Executives Society International). She enjoys recurring recognition in the field of patents and life sciences in MIP Top 250 Women in IP, IAM Patents 1000, IP Stars, Who’s Who Legal and WIPR Leaders.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP
Lionel Tan started out his career in law as a Deputy Public Prosecutor and concurrently held the appointment of Assistant Director of the Computer Information & Systems Department of the Attorney-General’s Chambers of Singapore.
He has a keen interest in the field of Information Technology
Law and has been involved in cases dealing with Internet defamation, Internet fraud, on-line security breaches, trade secrets and misappropriation of confidential information and software implementation and website development disputes. He advises and represents clients on intellectual property matters relating to trademark and copyright infringements. He also advises and represents clients on IP matters relating to brand protection, licensing and franchising issues. He advises clients on compliance measures in relation to the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) and is a member of the National Council of Social Services’ Work groupfor the PDPA.
He is the Immediate Past President of the Licensing Executives Society (Singapore) and is the current Vice-Chair of the LESI Trademark, Design &Merchandising Committee.
Lionel is a Senior Accredited Specialist in Data and Digital
Economy Law issued by the Singapore Academy of Law.
Job Title: Former TSMC General Counsel (Retired)
Company: RLT Global Consulting LLC
Dr. Richard (“Dick”) Thurston is the former Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd., 2002 – 2014; and a consultant to Dr. Morris Chang, 2014-2017. During his tenure as TSMC General Counsel, he resided in Hsinchu, Taiwan. While at TSMC Dr. Thurston assisted the company in developing its best-in-class intellectual property and trade secret promotion and protection program (“PIP”). Furthermore, in developing TSMC’s litigation strategies, he successfully litigated around the world against defendants who had misappropriated TSMC trade secrets, such as China’s SMIC And, he was instrumental in achieving major legislative reform in Taiwan for the protection of trade secrets. Dick also managed TSMC’s compliance program, M&A activities including joint ventures/venture capital investments etc. He helped to establish TSMC’s best-in-class policies, protocols and procedures for semiconductor investments around the world, such as in China, Singapore and the US to name a few.
Upon retiring from TSMC, Dr. Thurston assumed a number of advisory roles, most recently as an independent member of the Board of Directors of Nantero, Inc. Dr. Thurston is also Principal at RLT Global Consulting, LLC.
Before joining TSMC, Dr. Thurston was a partner with Haynes and Boone, a Dallas, Texas-based law firm. There, he was Chairperson of the firm’s International Practice Section and he established their Richardson, TX office. Previously, he had been the Regional Counsel, Asia Pacific, and Vice President, Corporate Staff, Assistant General Counsel at Texas Instruments (1984-1996), resident in Dallas and Tokyo (1987-1990), where Dr. Thurston devoted significant efforts in: government relations in the semiconductor battles with the Japanese; promoting and protecting TI’s intellectual property; corporate compliance; mergers and acquisitions; and international trade and investment, among other disciplines.
Dr. Thurston graduated Cum Laude with a B.A. in History from Alma College (Alma, MI). He earned both M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in East Asian Studies from the University of Virginia, where he was a Jefferson Scholar. Dick’s J.D. degree is from Rutgers School of Law – Camden, NJ. He also studied law at Soochow University (Taiwan) while researching his Ph.D. dissertation: Civil Law Reform in China, 1906-1930. Dr. Thurston has taught both law and business classes at: SMU School of Law (Dallas, TX); University of Texas, Dallas; Soochow University (Taiwan); National Chiao Tung University (Taiwan); and National Cheng-Chih University (Taiwan). Dick is admitted to the practice of law and a member of the respective Bar Associations of Texas, New Jersey and New York and of Dutchess County, New York and NYC.
Dr. Thurston has written and lectured widely on international, transactional, and intellectual property matters, most recently on trade secret protection and the U.S Chips Act legislation and investment activities related to the funding under the Chips Act. He has received many awards and recognitions throughout his career. In 2013, he was selected from 800 nominees as the ILO Asia-Pacific General Counsel of the Year. Dick is fluent in Mandarin.
Dr. Thurston serves as the elected Town Supervisor of the Town of Wappinger, Dutchess County, NY. Thurston was first elected in November 2017. He is now in his sixth year of service to the Wappinger community.
Dr. Thurston and his wife, Yvonne, reside in the Town of Wappinger, NY. He has two children and two grandchildren.
Job Title: Senior Vice President Intellectual Property Department
Company: Sony
Mr. Toto joined Sony Corporation of America’s Intellectual Property Department in 1993 and is currently its Senior VP for Intellectual Property. Prior to joining SCA he was an associate with Pennie & Edmonds in New York City focusing on patent litigation.
At SCA Mr. Toto heads the group responsible for IP licensing, litigation, and transactions, as well as patent procurement and prosecution. The group leads various IP-centric alliances and supports SEP, cross and other global licensing activities of Sony, while providing day-to-day advice to local business units.
Job Title: Vice-President
Company: Paladin
Job Title: Senior Director of Standards and Competition Policy
Company: InterDigital
Mr. Stéphane Tronchon is Senior Director of Standards and Competition Policy at InterDigital, a foundational research company in wireless and video communications with a leading role in standardization. Mr. Tronchon was formerly Director of IPR Policy and Standards at Qualcomm Incorporated, a recognised leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services. Mr. Tronchon has extensive experience of contributing to EU and International Standards Development Organisations and advocating for the protection of innovation. Before joining Qualcomm, Mr. Tronchon was the Head of Legal Affairs at ETSI (The European Telecommunications Institute).
Job Title: Retired/Former President & CEO
Company: Defyrus Inc. (retired)
Turner is a scientific entrepreneur with experience in academia and life sciences industry. He founded, served as President & CEO of Defyrus Inc., Nexia Biotechologies (TSX:NXB) and Tissue Regeneration Therapeutics. He served as Vice-Chair of the Nat’l Center of Excellence – Advanced Food and Material Network. Turner was a tenured Professor in Dairy Genetics at McGill University after a Ph.D. in Animal Science & M.Sc. Biophysics at U. of Illinois. He has published >100 scientific paper & abstracts and 32 patents. His contributions involved driving pioneering life science/ag in house and in-licensed innovation toward commercialization including; ZMapp™ 1st successful therapeutic to combat Ebola virus infection worldwide; BioSteel®: recombinant spider silk produced in transgenic BELE® goats were the world’s first cloned goats, a “lab” sized transgenic dairy animal capable of producing novel high value recombinant proteins in their milk. Turner is now focused on cultivating heritage apple genetics and producing artisanal apple ciders.
Job Title: Commissioner for Patents
Company: United States Patent and Trademark Office
Vaishali Udupa is the Commissioner for Patents of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). As Commissioner for Patents, Ms. Udupa manages and leads the Patents organization as its chief operating officer. She oversees the agency’s 10,000 Patents employees, including more than 9,000 patent examiners responsible for fostering the country’s innovation system by providing patent protections to inventors as stated in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution
Prior to joining the USPTO, Ms. Udupa was already a nationally recognized leader in intellectual property (IP), with over twenty years of experience in strategic IP advisement and complex litigation. She has a wealth of experience in patent prosecution and litigation, global IP policy, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. In the private sector, Ms. Udupa secured multiple IP trial wins and managed numerous IP cases to favorable resolutions in the United States and abroad. She assisted in the development of patent and trademark portfolios and counseled internal clients regarding licensing deals, asset acquisitions, and agreements involving IP rights. Her technological experience includes, among others, electronic devices, networking and telecommunication systems, computer software, electronic commerce, consumer products, sporting goods, and medical devices.
Throughout her career, Ms. Udupa has achieved a proven track record of addressing diversity issues in the science, technology, and legal professions. She has sought to promote diversity and inclusion through pro-bono work and bar association involvement, including by serving as Honor Roll Committee Co-Chair of ChIPs, a non-profit organization that advances and connects women in technology, law, and policy; volunteering with the Girl Scouts Nation’s Capital to provide young girls with their inventor patch; and teaching basic IP topics to Washington, D.C., high schoolers through the Street Law Program. Her efforts have received accolades, including the National Bar Association’s 2020 Diversity in Tech and IP Law award. She also maintains a keen interest in increasing entrepreneurship and the number of patents applied for and obtained by all inventors, including women, minorities, veterans, and those from rural and economically disadvantaged areas.
Prior to joining the USPTO, Ms. Udupa was the Vice President, Associate General Counsel for Litigation at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). Prior to HPE, she was an IP litigation manager at HP and an associate at Jones Day and Pennie & Edmonds. Ms. Udupa earned her Juris Doctor from American University’s Washington College of Law and her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Virginia.
Job Title: Legal Counsel
Company: Valauskas Corder LLC
Charles Valauskas is legal counsel to business ventures, non-profit organizations, and individuals involved in the development and commercialization of a variety of new technologies, creative products, and services.
Mr. Valauskas speaks on a regular basis throughout the world on technological and intellectual property topics. Mr. Valauskas has authored books, chapters for books, and articles on intellectual property and business-related topics including two handbooks on copyright for the Association of University Technology Managers (“AUTM”), a chapter “The Other Intellectual Property: Thinking Beyond Patents”, published in the American Bar Association’s book, The Technology Transfer Law Handbook, plus an article “Smarter Licensing Simplified” for the ABA IP magazine, Landslide. Other articles authored by Mr. Valauskas were published in other periodicals including the Boston College International and Comparative Law Review, Hastings International and Comparative Law Review, and Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Newsletter.
Job Title: Intellectual Property (IP) Manager
Company: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation
Bruce Villard is an Intellectual Property (IP) Manager for the Mission Systems sector at Northrop Grumman Corporation. In this role, he chairs a committee of engineers, scientists, and other subject matter experts reviewing employee invention disclosures for protection as a trade secret or patent. Bruce also provides leadership with the development and execution of global commercialization strategies. Prior to this role, Bruce was a member of Northrop Grumman’s Global Supply Chain organization where he led a team that helped draft and negotiate agreements with suppliers, and in this role, Bruce focused on the IP elements of these agreements. In both of his roles at Northrop Grumman, Bruce has been active in digital transformation tool development to assist others in the drafting and negotiation of agreements with a focus on IP and data rights elements.
Outside of Northrop Grumman, Bruce is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law where he teaches Licensing and Technology Transfer Law. He is licensed to practice law in Maryland and in front of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Bruce is Vice-Chairman of the Maryland Carey Law Alumni Board’s Alumni Awards Committee and is Treasurer of the Cawood Inns of Court in Annapolis. He is an active member of the Maryland State Bar Association’s IP Section and the Anne Arundel Bar Association.
Prior to working at Northrop Grumman, Bruce graduated from Syracuse University with a Bachelor’s in Computer Science and worked for the IBM Corporation in various roles ranging from software testing and development of the high-transaction rate computer software used by many airlines, credit card processors, and government entities, to having legal project management and licensing-related responsibilities for other products. While in these roles, Bruce had two international assignments in South Korea and worked with many other customers in Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Middle East. In addition, Bruce worked at night while in these roles to get his MBA from Marist College and J.D. from the University of Maryland Carey School of Law.
Outside of work, Bruce enjoys spending time with family, snow-skiing, the beach, and rock-climbing.
Northrop Grumman is a technology company, focused on global security and human discovery. Our pioneering solutions equip our customers with capabilities they need to connect, advance, and protect the U.S. and its allies. Driven by a shared purpose to solve our customers’ toughest problems, our 90,000 employees define possible every day.
Job Title: Director General
Company: WIPO
Job Title: Partner
Company: Finnegan
Ningling Wang, Managing Partner of Finnegan Shanghai office, has over 20 years of experience in various intellectual property fields. Her practice involves patent prosecution, opinions, due diligence, client counseling, licensing, and patent litigation in the areas of chemicals, chemical engineering, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, semiconductor materials, 3D printing, and nanotechnology.
Ningling has extensive experience working with multinational and Chinese companies, providing legal advice on IP portfolio management, due diligence, licensing, litigation, and trade secret protection and enforcement. She has been involved in various cases before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and U.S. district courts. She also has represented companies with IP enforcement in China, including judicial and customs enforcement actions.
Ningling has been recognized by Intellectual Asset Management as a leader in patent transactions in China, as well as for patent prosecution. She was named a top IP strategist in the IAM Strategy 300 list, which identifies individuals who are leading the way in the development and implementation of strategies that maximize the value of IP portfolios. World Intellectual Property Review named Ningling as a WIPR Leader for patents in China.
Ningling is currently serving as a legal counsel on the Board of LES International (LESI) and a Co-Chair of Chemical Energy Environment and Materials (CEEM) committee of LESI.
Job Title: Managing Partner
Company: Beijing TA Law Firm
Mr. Allen (Jun) Wang, managing partner of Beijing TA Law Firm, chairman of Copyright Committee of AIPPI China Branch, chairman of Copyright Licensing Committee of LES China, he is one of China’s top IP & Entertainment lawyers. Allen handles some of the biggest and most sophisticated deals and disputes in such areas. He has been deeply involved in TMT and entertainment law, including IP management, film co-production and international distribution, talent representation, Internet technology, gaming, music, trademarks and creative arts, and is committed to providing clients with prompt, comprehensive, prudent, innovative and constructive legal services. Allen has provided legal counsel to more than 100 leading TMT companies, organizations and top artists across the globe, and special legal advisory services for hundreds of entertainment projects, including films, TV, drama, internet video programs and games. Allen has been named a leading Asia-Pacific TMT/Entertainment lawyer by Chambers & Partners since 2013.
Job Title: President
Company: CEO
Leann Pinto is currently President of IPwe, a global innovation leader in AI and blockchain-based IP analytics, who recently launched their Smart Intangible Asset Management software solution powered by IPwe Digital Assets. She is also an expert in patent monetization, having personally generated over $150 million in revenue during her tenure as the Director of Patent Licensing for IBM. Leann’s introduction to patents and monetization started in the pharmaceutical industry as a patent litigator, where she represented both generic and brand pharma companies, achieving notable victories for numerous international brand pharma companies. Leann earned her undergraduate degree in pharmacy before graduating magna cum laude from Seton Hall Law. Before joining IPwe, she held executive positions in business development, regulatory affairs and compliance with multiple startup pharma companies. As President of IPwe, Leann oversees day-to-day executive management, operational growth, corporate strategy and enterprise relationships.
Job Title: Vice President, Thought Leadership & Partnerships
Company: LOT Network
Sam Wiley joined LOT Network in 2023 to lead LOT’s thought leadership and partnerships initiatives. In his IP career, he has examined patents with the USPTO, testified in Federal court on the value of IP, and advised clients ranging from Fortune 100 multinational companies to boutique law firms on implementing technologies that streamline IP operations and provide critical decision support on innovation strategy. He has presented on IP and innovation topics across North America, Europe, and Asia, and is the chair of the Licensing Executives Society Valuation and Pricing Committee.
Sam holds an undergraduate degree in computer science from New Mexico State University, as well as a Juris Doctor and a master’s degree in accounting from the University of Arizona.
Job Title: Director
Company: Strategic Technology Bio Consulting
Mark Wilson is a consultant in the field of technology commercialisation, with twenty-five years’ experience of developing, commercialising and licensing novel technologies in the pharmaceutical industry.
Over the last five years, he has acted as a strategic adviser or interim business development director for a number of European biotech firms, has worked as the senior industry consultant for the UK Government’s Better Health Programme, supporting bilateral government-level health system development activities in Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and SE Asia, and has provided commercialisation advice to several major European public bodies and programmes (such as European Institute of Technology – Health and the EU’s accelerator programme, Invest Horizon). He has acted as an expert on corporate venturing practices for the IP Directorate of the European Commission, has provided strategic advice or support to technology incubators in Belgium, Portugal and Italy, and routinely coaches and mentors a number of early-stage biotech and med tech companies from across Europe.
Previously, he was a Director in GSK’s Platform Technology and Science division, seconded on a long-term basis into SR One (GSK’s wholly-owned corporate venture capital group). He was responsible for developing technology-based spin-outs and for out-licensing activity, and co-led this CEO-sponsored initiative. Mark worked for GSK in various licensing and alliance management roles for nearly twenty years and has been involved in over a hundred commercial transactions and alliances. He holds a Master’s degree and a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Leeds, in addition to an MBA from Columbia University and London Business School.
Job Title: Lawyer, Patent Agent, and Trademark Agent
Company: Gowling WLG
Jayde Wood is an intellectual property lawyer, patent agent, and trademark agent based in Gowling WLG’s Vancouver office. Having a food science degree from the University of British Columbia (Canada) and law degrees from the University of British Columbia (Canada) and the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (the U.S.), Jayde advises clients, especially those in the food and beverage industry, on the strategic creation, development, and commercialization of IP assets on a global scale.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Oblon, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, LLP
Frank West has nearly thirty years’ experience as patent litigator with Oblon, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt LLP in Alexandria Virginia. He is also a Certified Licensing Professional and an experienced, detail-oriented adviser who carefully and thoughtfully advises clients regarding corporate transactional matters to achieve each client’s specific business objectives. While the focus of his practice is on intellectual property transactional work, i.e., due diligence, licensing negotiations/drafting and R&D collaborations, Mr. West also has many years of experience advising clients on non-intellectual property contractual matters as well. A former small business consultant, Mr. West has a Master’s in Business Administration and completed coursework for an LLM in Securities Law. Mr. West previously served as the Chair of the Patent Damages Subcommittee of the AIPLA.
Job Title: Global Head of AI Ethics
Company: Sony Group Corporation
Job Title: Dean of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems
Company: University of British Columbia
Dr. Rickey Yada, PhD, is dean of the Faculty of Land and Food Systems and a professor at the University of British Columbia. Under his leadership, the Faculty is building a Food Innovation Centre to support the research and development efforts of local food companies.
Job Title: President and CEO
Company: IP Gaia
Yasunori Yamaguchi, Ph.D. joined Kirin Brewery Co., Ltd. in 1987 as a Research Scientist at the Drug Discovery Laboratory. In his first 16 years in Research Division, he was mainly involved in the drug discovery research in Immunology Therapeutic Area and led many projects with antibody and cellular therapeutics. In the meantime, he played the pivotal role in drug discovery research targeting dendritic cells after experienced as a Guest Investigator (1992-1994) of the Laboratory of Professor Ralph Steinman (2011 Novel Prize laureate in Physiology or Medicine) at the Rockefeller University (New York, NY, USA) and in the development of dendritic cell based cellular therapeutics by the strategic alliance with US bio-venture company.
Job Title: Partner
Company: Porter Wright Morris & Arthur
Admitted to practice in both the U.S. and the People’s Republic of China, Sunny is a corporate attorney who focuses her practice on international business matters and trade. She represents Chinese entities doing business in the U.S., as well as U.S. entities pursing investments and operating in China. She also leads the China Practice of the firm.
Sunny strategically applies a multicultural skill set to help her clients successfully achieve their goals. Because Sunny understands the Chinese legal system and terminology, she has played a vital role to
bridge the gaps between the U.S. and China legal system in helping U.S. companies with dispute resolution in China.
Sunny has experience in complex international trade matters, including export control and sanctions, customs, Section 301 and other trade remedy matters. Sunny advises clients in export control matters and assists clients with internal compliance programs and investigations, including issues related to the Export Administration Regulations, the Entity List administer by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), and the SDN list administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Sunny further advises clients with country of origins determination, products exclusions, and supply chain strategy analysis, particularly during the U.S. and China trade war.
Sunny is active in several industry organizations, holding leadership roles in regional and national bar associations.
Job Title: CEO
Company: Fyber X
Ben is the Founder and CEO of FyberX, bringing large scale hemp fiber processing to the United States. Ben began his career with a decade in investment banking, first with Goldman Sachs and subsequently with FBR Capital Markets, over which time he raised over two billion dollars for clients. He is also a co-founder and member of the Board of Directors of Joint Caddie, a CBD company focused on golfers. Ben holds a BS in Quantitative Finance and Economics from James Madison University and is a Registered Representative (FINRA Series 7 License), an Investment Banking Representative (FINRA Series 79) and a Uniform Securities Agent (FINRA Series 63).
Job Title: TTO Manager
Company: Bezmialem Vakif University
Onur Yolay obtained his bachelor of science degree in Biology and later earned his graduate degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics.
Onur has worked on technology transfer and IPR for 11 years at various universities as a technology transfer professional.
Job Title: Senior Managing Director
Company: Ankura Consulting Group
David Yurkerwich is a Senior Managing Director and a leader of Ankura’s IP team. He is based in New York and works closely with companies and law firms in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Asia. David is a seasoned valuation and damages expert with over 40 years of experience. He has provided expert evidence in over 100 disputes. He has facilitated numerous IP transactions including technology transfers, licenses and sales. David has designed, implemented and managed patent licensing programs. His expert work has included reports and testimony in patent infringement cases, standard-essential patent FRAND disputes, international arbitrations and other business disputes involving a broad range of technologies and markets. David and his team continuously enhance their valuation models by combining timely market information with advanced analytical tools to consider the technical, legal and business risks in IP negotiations and litigation. They access the best-in-class data sources and build proprietary patent data bases. David received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the Villanova School of Business and became a certified public accountant at Arthur Andersen & Co. He was a founder of IP-focused consultancy teams at Peterson Worldwide, InteCap, Charles River Associates and Navigant Consulting (which became part of Ankura in 2018). Ankura is a global consultancy with professional teams that collaborate to create innovative customized solutions for clients facing a wide range of economic, governance and regulatory challenges and opportunities.
Job Title: Partner
Company: StoneTurn Group
Christopher Anderson, a Partner with StoneTurn, has nearly 20 years of experience serving as a testifying and consulting financial expert in litigation, and as a consultant in intellectual property, valuation, and associated matters. He works with clients and counsel regarding intellectual property matters in connection with economic damages disputes, licensing and related issues.
Chris has been designated as a testifying expert witness on damages topics in matters involving patent, trademark and copyright infringement, and trade secret misappropriation. He is also highly skilled in quantifying economic damages stemming from breach of contract, tortious interference, breach of fiduciary duty, and similar allegations. Outside of his work in litigation, Chris has worked closely with clients on IP-related matters such as licensing, valuation and tax, among others, to analyze the economics of the issues and communicate his findings to stakeholders.
Additionally, Chris has been designated as an expert in Federal court (e.g., Southern District of California; Northern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas; Northern District of Georgia; Massachusetts; Eastern District of Pennsylvania), State court (e.g., California, Texas), and arbitration proceedings.
Over the course of his career, Chris has worked with clients across a range of industries including medical devices, pharmaceuticals, genomic sequencing, oil and gas, semiconductors, telecommunication and computer hardware and software.
Chris is a frequent speaker on intellectual property, commercial damages and valuation-related topics at events hosted by the Licensing Executives Society, the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants, Institute of Management Accountants, and ABA, among others. He has also served as a guest lecturer on IP valuation for the Naveen Jindal School of Management graduate program in entrepreneurship and for an undergraduate course in the Department of Economics at the University of Texas at Austin.
Prior to joining StoneTurn, Chris spent eight years in both financial and research positions primarily within the healthcare industry. He helped a top-ranked academic medical center analyze the financial and operational ramifications of offering new medical technologies and served as a clinical monitor and a study coordinator on Phase I and II clinical trials for two contract research organizations.
Chris holds the Certified Licensing Professional designation from the Licensing Executives Society, the Certified Management Accountant and Certified Financial Manager credentials from the Institute of Management Accountants, and the Certified Valuation Analyst credential from the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts.
Job Title: General Counsel
Company: Hydro-Québec
François Ramsay is General Counsel of Hydro-Québec since 2019. He has been practising law for over 35 years and has worked in the energy, media, telecommunications and manufacturing sectors. Mr. Ramsay has been involved in a significant number of strategic matters, including financings, mergers and acquisitions, various commercial transactions, governance and complex commercial litigation matters, in Canada and the United States.
Job Title: Chief Technology Officer and Vice President, Technology & Innovation
Company: CAE
Marc St-Hilaire is currently Chief Technology Officer and Vice President, Technology & Innovation at CAE. He leads the development of CAE’s global technology vision and strategy, and works closely with all divisions to bring the latest advancements to the market.
Job Title: LESI President
Company: Avida Science
Company: LES Japan
As social activity he serves as President of LESI (Licensing Executive Society International). He also acts as President of Avida Science, Board of Director in OP NanoPharma, Special Advisor of Oji Holdings and Oji Pharma, Advisor of MesCue-Janusys and Advisor of Tokyo University of Science. He is a member of Advisory Board for Promotion of Medical Ventures in Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. He has many years of experience in Entrepreneur, Startup Planning, Research & Development, IP Management, Corporate & Financial Management, Product Development, Business Development and Marketing in global healthcare industries.
Job Title: Conference Chair
Company: Held IP
Company: LES USA-Canada
Bob is the President of Held Intellectual Property, LLC, (www.heldip.com), an intellectual property business consulting firm, and recently worked for TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. (TCS) in Annapolis, Maryland as the Vice President, Intellectual Asset Management, responsible for the strategic management and monetization of TCS’s IP portfolio. All assets of TCS were acquired in February 2016. Immediately prior to joining TCS, Bob worked for Northrop Grumman Corporation, Electronic Systems Sector, an $8.5B business unit, from 2003-2011 as the Director of the Intellectual Property & Strategic Technology Agreements group; and from 1998-2003 he worked at the IP firm British Technology Group (BTG) International headquartered out of London.
Bob has over 24 years of experience as a Licensing Executive with extensive experience in all facets of intellectual property (IP), including strategy & monetization, management, expert witness, damages, acquisitions, contracts, negotiations, valuation, marketing, strategic agreements, university & government agreements, IP issues in M&A, IP training and education, and strategic and tactical input on all IP matters.
Bob has been active in the Licensing Executives Society (USA & Canada), Inc. (“LES”) since 1998 having served in multiple leadership roles. Bob was the President and Chairman of the LES Board of Directors for 2018-2019, and now serves as the Senior Vice President of Sponsorship, and the Chair of the 2023 LES/LES International Montreal meeting April 30 to May 2, 2023. Bob has been chairing the LES High Tech Royalty Rate Survey since 2010.
Bob has been a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP) since 2008 and has been named to the “IAM Strategy 300 – The World’s Leading IP Strategists” since 2015. Bob received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree from Villanova University and his MBA from Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business.