KAVITA agarwal

Kavita Aggarwal is VP, Legal at Coupa Software, Inc., headquartered in San Mateo, CA.  At Coupa, Kavita is responsible for product counseling, commercial transactions, employment law, and of course all things IP.  Kavita started her career as a patent attorney, and worked as a patent prosecution and strategy associate at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in Palo Alto before starting her in-house legal career as Patent Counsel at Rambus.  Kavita received her JD and a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from UCLA.  

Kavita is a DEI advocate and is proud to serve on the Board of APABA Silicon Valley for 2023.

 
 
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pavan agarwal

Pavan Agarwal is a partner and intellectual property lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP with decades of experience advising clients on business impacts of patents throughout its lifecycle. His practice is centered on patent law and trade secret law, with concentration on patent litigation and licensing, opinions and counseling (including patent prosecution). Pavan represents numerous clients in a variety of technical areas, with emphasis on electronics and automotive technology companies, including in leading edge areas including artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles. In patent disputes, he has extensive experience representing manufacturing and high tech clients in several patent-heavy U.S. Federal Districts, the International Trade Commission, and in post-grant proceedings (mostly inter partes reviews) in front of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). He has litigated numerous cases and conducted licensing negotiations relating to standard essential patents (SEPs). He is an active member in the firm's Electronics and IP Litigation Practices and is also a member of the firm’s Appellate and International Practices and the Automotive and Technology Industry Teams.

Pavan is the immediate past chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Department. He is also a member of the firm’s Management Committee.

Pavan served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Alvin A. Schall of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (1996-1997).

Education

  • The George Washington University Law School (J.D., with highest honors, 1996)

    • Member, The George Washington University Law Review

  • The University of Maryland (B.S.E.E., summa cum laude, 1993)

    • Electrical Engineering

    • Graduated first in his class

 
 
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Atolani akinkuotu

Tolani is Lead Counsel on the patent team at Facebook. Over the last two years at FB, Tolani has been part of a team that works with various engineering and product teams to allow the teams to continue to innovate and develop products without concern about patent interruption. Specifically, Tolani works with the Central Product Services (which includes the Advertising and Business Platform team) and New Product Experimentation (NPE) teams to provide counsel with regard to protecting FB’s intellectual property, portfolio management, IP strategy, risk mitigation, and other related matters. Tolani is also part of the Portfolio Development and Operations team, a team of attorneys and paralegals focused on analyzing and shaping Facebook’s global patent portfolio and operations. 

Before joining Facebook, Tolani worked at Kilpatrick Townsend as an associate on the patent prosecution team. His practice focused on counseling clients on domestic and international patent prosecution strategies and drafting patent applications covering a wide variety of technology areas (e.g., electrical, software, and mechanical areas).

Tolani received his JD from Wake Forest University School of Law and a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from North Carolina State University. He is registered to practice before the USPTO and is a member of the North Carolina State Bar.



 
 
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brett alten

Brett Alten is Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel & Chief IP Counsel at HP Enterprise. He was previously Associate General Counsel - IP at Tesla, Inc; and prior to that, Deputy General Counsel & Head of IP at SolarCity Corp. Prior to that, he served as Head of IP at DropBox and Director of Patent Enforcement and Director of Patent Development at Apple. Before that, Brett was with Morrison & Foerster in Tokyo, focusing primarily on patent litigation, adversarial licensing, strategy, and counseling. Previously, he was with Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett, & Dunner in Washington DC and at Fish & Neave in New York City. Brett received his J.D. at Fordham Law School; Ph.D. and M.A. in Physics at John Hopkins University, and B.A. in Physics at Clark University. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana, where he taught physics and started a vocational school.

 
 
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NICK ARIES

Nick Aries is Partner, Bird & Bird. He is also co-head of the firm's representative office in San Francisco, advising on and coordinating European and UK IP law matters from a US time zone.Having been with the firm for nearly 15 years, Nick is a trusted advisor in connecting Bird & Bird's US clients with the firm's experts in Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, covering all areas in which our firm specialises. Very often, his work involves coordinating with colleagues from a number of countries, and converting that collaboration into results for clients.

Over the course of his career, multiple secondments to a large digital communications company and a major international brand have helped him see things from the client's point of view and understand how to add value.

He specialises in identifying and advising on IP issues in the digital economy, including copyright and trademark questions in a wide range of online services and social media. He advises on coordinating multi-jurisdictional IP litigation and strategy. His litigation experience includes trademark infringement and passing off, breach of licence/coexistence agreements, software copyright, trade secrets, and designs. He also covers transactional IP work such as licensing and the IP aspects of corporate restructures and reorganisations.

Nick has been recognised more than once by WTR as one of the 'World's Leading Trademark Professionals'. He is an advisory Board Member of the San Francisco IP Law Association. Nick also chairs the 'International' sub-committee of INTA's Copyright Committee.

 
 
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VANESSA P. BAILEY 

Vanessa P. Bailey leads patent and trademark public policy for Amazon. Prior to joining Amazon, Ms. Bailey was the Global Director of Intellectual Property Policy at Intel Corporation where she was in charge of global IP policy and legislative reform issues including copyrights, patents, trade secrets, database rights and  trademarks.  She also counseled on the role of intellectual property law in artificial intelligence, data, and emerging technologies.

Ms. Bailey also worked at prominent full service law firms in IP litigation and prosecution and has spent many years in-house doing IP litigation, licensing and transactional work in the telecommunication industry where she managed many domestic and international multi-jurisdictional patent, trademark, and copyright litigation cases. 

She received her undergraduate degree and her J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. She has a LL.M. from the University of London, Queen Mary and Westfield College in Commercial Law with a specialization in international patent law. Prior to law school she was a computer programmer in Copenhagen, Denmark. 

 In addition to U.S. courts, Ms. Bailey is also admitted to practice before the courts of England and Wales as a U.K. Solicitor.

 

 
 

STEVEN BALCOF

Steven Balcof is Partner at Desmarais LLP. His practice is focused on the litigation and trial of patent and trade secret disputes.  For over a decade, he has represented both plaintiff- and defense-side clients as counsel in matters pending before district courts around the country, the International Trade Commission, the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and other tribunals.  Additionally, Mr. Balcof has represented clients in appeals before the Federal Circuit.   

Recently, as counsel for Cisco in a dispute with Straight Path IP Group, Mr. Balcof developed the case-dispositive noninfringement defense that prevailed at summary judgment and ultimately led the court to award attorney’s fees to Cisco.  Additionally, as counsel for Cloud9 in a dispute with IPC, Mr. Balcof led his client—a startup cloud communications company—through a trade secret, patent, and antitrust dispute against an established competitor. 

In addition, Mr. Balcof leverages his litigation background to counsel clients in several related areas, including patent validity assessments, patent infringement assessments, patent licensing, pre-suit diligence, financial exposure analyses, license disputes, and trade secret misappropriation investigations.


Mr. Balcof’s clients span the various stages of corporate development and technological innovation—from startups to established multinationals.  His experience covers a wide-array of industries, including cellular communications, automobile safety, biologics, centrifuge tubes, database management systems, digital printing, enterprise flash storage systems, server/client communications, software development, street-level image capture, mobile devices, cameras, signal processing, VOIP, mainframe computing, collaboration technology, and web applications.

 
 

HARPER BATTS

Harper is the leader of Sheppard Mullin’s Post Grant Proceedings (PTAB) Group and has almost two decades of experience as an intellectual property litigator and client counselor.

He has obtained institution on more than 90% of the IPRs he has filed – a number unmatched across the country. Numerous Fortune 500 clients have relied upon his experience to represent them in highly contentious patent disputes in venues across the country. He has been selected multiple times as a Top IP Attorney in California by the Daily Journal, and IAM Patent 1000 noted that Harper “performs adroitly in post-grant proceedings on both the patent owner and petitioner sides.” In 2022 and 2023, he obtained institution of numerous petitions for inter partes review, obtained numerous final written decisions finding all claim unpatentable, and obtained an exceptional case finding and an award of attorney’s fees in the Central District of California in 2020.

 Harper is one of the leading attorneys for handling complex PTAB challenges across a variety of technologies. Harper has represented patent challengers and patent owners in more than 80 CBM and IPR proceedings. He has extensive experience in cases before the PTAB as well as related appeals.

Clients continue to rely on Harper’s experience litigating in other venues, including the United States Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, the International Trade Commission and district courts known for their patent litigation cases, including the Northern District of California and the Eastern District of Texas.

In addition to his extensive IP litigation experience, Harper has frequently been called upon to conduct negotiations between direct competitors, as well as conducting due diligence regarding the potential acquisition of large patent portfolios.

 
 

SUVASHIS BHATTACHARYA

Suvashis, who also goes by "V", is Senior Product Counsel at HubSpot Inc.. V has handled intellectual property issues around trade secrets, privacy and security. Suvashis holds a JD from the University of Illinois-Chicago and a BSME from Purdue University.

 
 
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Archana bhuta

Archana Bhuta is the Head of IP, Associate General Counsel at SRI International where she heads IP legal. SRI is an independent, nonprofit research center that works with clients to take the most advanced R&D from the laboratory to the marketplace. For more than 70 years, SRI has led the discovery and design of ground-breaking products, technologies, and industries – from Siri and online banking to medical ultrasound, motorcycle riding robots, cancer treatments, and much more.

Previously, Ms. Bhuta was the Director of IP Portfolio at LeEco (US) where she headed the development of IP. LeEco is a global technology company that provides breakthrough experiences through its open, integrated ecosystem of streaming content, platforms, and smart devices that fit perfectly into a broad spectrum of lifestyles including content spanning smartphones, TVs, sports, film, live entertainment and connected mobility.

Prior to joining LeEco, Ms. Bhuta was the Director of IP at Pebble Technology Corp. Pebble was the world’s most successful independent smartwatch company, having launched two successful, record-breaking Kickstarter campaigns and selling well over one million watches globally. Ms. Bhuta headed IP at Pebble where she created global programs and strategy for patents, trademarks and copyrights.

Prior to joining Pebble, Ms. Bhuta was the Director of Patents at Juniper Networks. Juniper Networks delivers innovative software, silicon and systems that transform the experience and economics of networking. Ms. Bhuta managed the overall patent program at Juniper as well as counseled Juniper’s software, routing and switching business groups on patent portfolio growth and management. Prior to this role, Ms. Bhuta acted as chief counsel for Juniper's security related business group where she led the IP due diligence and IP integration of the $95M acquisition of Altor Networks, $70M acquisition of SMobile Systems, Inc., IP asset

acquisition of Blackwave, Inc. and the acquisition of patents from Bitgravity, Inc.

Prior to joining Juniper Networks, Ms. Bhuta was at Sun Microsystems where she was responsible for patent litigation, patent portfolio development, copyright counseling and IP licensing and in private practice at Weil Gotshal & Manges focusing on IP litigation and at Blakely Sokoloff Taylor & Zafman focusing on patent prosecution, due diligence and opinion work.

Ms. Bhuta obtained her J.D. degree from the John Marshall Law School and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University.

 
 
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Micheal Binns

Micheal Binns is an Associate General Counsel on the Patent, Licensing, and Open-Source team at Facebook where he focuses on matters within the augmented and virtual reality space. Before joining Facebook, Micheal was the Atlanta Office Development Partner at Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, where his experience included the litigation, counseling, and prosecution of all forms of intellectual property related to a variety of industries and technologies.

Micheal is also actively involved in his community and sits on the board of four non-profits. He is the board chair of Page Turners Make Great Learners and the Spruill Center for the Arts, and a board member on the National Council on Patent Practicum and the Georgia Wildlife Federation.

Micheal received his J.D. at Fordham University School of Law and his Bachelor’s Degree in Biology at Morgan State University.

 
 

jeffrey bolland

Jeff is Intellectual Property Counsel at 10x Genomics where his practice focuses on all aspects of patent portfolio development and management related to single cell genomics and multiomics.
 
Jeff has over 10 years of experience as a patent attorney/agent/examiner working in the life sciences, agricultural, and therapeutics sectors. Prior to joining 10x Genomics, Jeff was a patent examiner with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and later transitioned into private practice at Cooley LLP and then Foley & Lardner LLP. Prior to his career in IP, Jeff was a molecular biologist with the United States Department of Agriculture.

Jeff’s practice at Cooley and Foley and Lardner focused on a holistic approach to IP including not only the preparation and prosecution of domestic and international biotechnology and pharmaceutical patent applications, but also due diligence, EPO oppositions, USPTO reexamination proceedings, and the preparation of business-focused invalidity/non-infringement, freedom to operate, and patentability opinions. Jeff is skilled at building strategic intellectual property assets and helping turn those assets into business opportunities.

Jeff received a B.S. in Biology from the University of South Alabama, a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and a J.D. from the American University Washington College of Law. He is admitted to the District of Columbia bar, and is registered to practice before the USPTO. 

 
 

jACQUELINE BONILLA

 The Honorable Jacqueline Wright Bonilla serves as Deputy Chief Administrative Patent Judge at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Since her appointment as an Administrative Patent Judge in January 2012, she has conducted numerous post-grant patent trials under the America Invents Act, heard appeals from adverse examiner decisions in patent applications and reexamination proceedings, and rendered decisions in interferences. 

In her current role, she helps lead the PTAB as it handles cases and renders decisions in all areas of its jurisdiction. Previously, she worked for twelve years in private practice, including as a partner at Foley & Lardner, LLP. She also served as a judicial law clerk to the now-retired Chief Judge Randall Rader at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. 

Judge Bonilla graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law, and holds a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Virginia, and a B.A. in Biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. 

 
 

SUBROTO BOSE

Subroto Bose is Assistant General Counsel, Intellectual Property at Marvell Semiconductor, where he manages Marvell’s global patent and trademark portfolio, domain names, customs enforcement, invention harvesting, and patent strategy.  Prior to joining Marvell, Subroto was Senior Director, Global Patent Strategy and IP Operations at Dolby Laboratories, where he managed Dolby’s global patent and trademark portfolio, European patent prosecution, patent acquisitions, and global IP operations.  He also advises on patent issues in corporate transactions, open source issues, and issues related to standard setting organizations and standard essential patents.  His prior experience includes working at a number of law firms, where he represented both plaintiffs and defendants before the International Trade Commission (ITC) and federal district courts.  

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KERRI BRAUN

Kerri Braun graduated from Indiana State University in 1999, and went on to receive a J.D. and Masters in Intellectual Property from Franklin Pierce Law Center in 2002. She worked in law firms in Atlanta from graduation until 2011 prosecuting patents and trademarks, negotiating license agreements, and litigating complex intellectual property matters. Mrs. Braun joined Andritz (U.S.A.) Inc. in 2011 as Intellectual Property Counsel, and became Group Intellectual Property Counsel for the entire Andritz Group, which is headquartered in Austria, in 2014. In 2018 she joined Kids2, a designer and global manufacturer of infant and toddler toys and gear, and owner of popular brands like Baby Einstein and Disney Baby as Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, IP and Litigation.  At Kids2, Kerri managed trade secret protection, litigation, and the group’s extensive intellectual property portfolio globally, while negotiating intellectual property licenses and music and television deals. Currently, Kerri is Senior Corporate Counsel, Trade Secrets & Copyrights, for Cisco Systems, Inc. She is responsible for Cisco's global trade secret protection program and copyright program and registry, while supporting the entire legal group in trade secret and copyright matters generally. 

 
 

kATHERINE BROCKWAY

Katie Brockway is Associate General Counsel of IP Litigation at Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.).  Ms. Brockway manages domestic and international patent and trade secret litigation matters for Meta’s family of apps.  Prior to joining Meta, Ms. Brockway was an associate at Latham & Watkins LLP where her practice included all aspects of patent and trade secret litigation and counseling across a variety of technologies.  Ms. Brockway earned her Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from University of California, Los Angeles and her Juris Doctorate from Washington University in St. Louis.

 

 
 
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kevin brown

Kevin Brown is Vice President of IP at Recursion Pharmaceuticals. Previously, he was Director of IP at NVIDIA. He is a Corporate IP attorney with significant experience in patent portfolio development and maintenance, budgeting, outside counsel management, patent prosecution, open source software, project management, standards bodies, license evaluation, commercial contracting, and IP process development for Silicon Valley companies. Demonstrated ability to multitask effectively, to manage competing deadlines, and to communicate effectively with legal and business professionals. Specialties: Patent prosecution, strategic portfolio development, open source licensing, legal process and policy development.

Kevin received his J.D. in Computer Science at Michigan State University and J.D. at the University of Illinois College of Law.

 
 

RENEE BROWN

Renee Brown is Director of IP, LinkedIn. Previously, she was Associate General Counsel, Intellectual Property for Knowles Electronics, a market leader and global supplier of performance audio, intelligent audio, and specialty components in the mobile communications, consumer electronics, hearing health, military/space and other industrial end markets. She previously worked at Motorola Mobility as Senior IP Counsel and Tessera Intellectual Property Corp. as Senior Vice President of Litigation.

Prior to going in-house, Renee was a partner in private practice at Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder LLP and Howrey, LLP.

Renee’s practice focuses on all aspects of intellectual property counseling, portfolio management, licensing and litigation. She has strong expertise in patent prosecution and patent reexamination. Her litigation experience includes patent, IP-related antitrust litigation, trademarks/copyrights, false advertising and trade secrets. Her broad commercial licensing experience includes patent licensing, technology and software licensing, and OSS and standards issues.

Renee is a former clerk for the Honorable Raymond C. Clevenger, III on the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. She has a J.D. from Stanford Law School, and a B.S./M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from M.I.T. She is admitted to the California bar, and is registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

 
 
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CAELIA BRYN-JACOBSEN

Caelia’s over 20 years’ experience in the patent profession is grounded in her strong technical background.  Following her physics degree at Oxford, Caelia went on to research her doctorate by studying magnetic interactions at low temperatures.  Caelia’s patent portfolio has evolved to reflect her passion for physics, and covers a range of technologies including aeronautics and aerospace, energy and power management, cooling systems, telecoms, thin film technology, and software.
 
From strategic drafting to focused prosecution, Caelia’s extensive experience enables her to provide clear, commercially astute advice throughout every stage of the patenting process.  Caelia specialises in contentious post grant proceedings, with her considerable knowledge in this area leading to a reputation for successfully defending patents in EPO opposition and appeals work.  
 
Caelia enjoys advising a diverse client base that encompasses multinational companies, university spin outs, and direct clients. For all of these, Caelia’s emphasis is upon developing IP strategies that allow clients maximise their existing and potential IP assets in the context of their business needs.
 
Caelia chairs the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorney’s Professional Development Working Group, and is also a member of its Steering Committee, Educational Committee, and UPC Task Force, as well as IP Ability.

Qualifications
European Patent Attorney (2003)
UK Chartered UK Patent Attorney (2002)
IP Litigator - Patent
MSc - Queen Mary London (1998)
DPhil - University of Oxford (1997)
MA Hons - Physics, University of Oxford (1994)

Memberships
Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys (CIPA)
The Institute of Professional Representatives before the European Patent Office (EPI)
Institute of Physics (IOP)
IP Ability Committee
Chair of CIPA’s Professional Development and Working Group



 
 
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jesse bucholtz

Jesse Bucholtz is Senior Patent Counsel at Canon USA. Jesse joined Canon USA’s Intellectual Property Department in March of 2014 and has over 18 years experience counseling clients in various industries regarding all aspects of intellectual property related matters.

As a member of the IP team at Canon USA, Jesse is responsible for patent prosecution and strategy for both Canon Inc. and various subsidiaries of Canon USA. He advises business units on IP-related risks and works to strategically develop portfolios to protect products released to market. Jesse is responsible for developing and presenting training activities to the IP team that are focused on legal updates and practice tips regarding the ever-changing  IP landscape. Jesse has also served as liaison between the IP department and US Patent & Trademark Office allowing Canon technology to be presented to patent examiners as part of the Patent Examiner Technical Training Program.

Jesse earned his J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and he has a M.S. in Biology with a concentration in Molecular Biology from New York University. He is a member of the New York, New Jersey and Patent bars.

 
 
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StevE Capella

Steve Capella is patent portfolio manager at IBM and has handled IBM’s semiconductor patent portfolio for many years.  Steve is also the gatekeeper for all of IBM’s patent sales.  Thus, he played a key role in IBM’s divestiture of its microelectronics manufacturing operation which involved the transfer of tens of thousands of patents.  

Steve has an BS/MS in Materials Engineering from Rensselaer and received his JD from Georgetown.  Prior to taking on the portfolio management function, Steve authored many joint development agreements including those that established IBM’s interactions with what is now SUNY Polytech in Albany.  

Prior to IBM, Steve was a patent attorney for many years at specialty chemical company W R Grace and for a brief time at the law firm Miller and Quinn.  Steve started his patent career as examiner at the USPTO where he achieved the position of primary examiner.  

Steve is a longtime ballroom dancer and currently sings baritone with the Ridgefield Chorale. Most recently, Steve has been engaging with stakeholders to drive improvements in IBM’s invention evaluation process.

 
 
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Elvir Causevic

Dr. Elvir Causevic is Managing Director and Co-Head of Houlihan Lokey's Tech+IP Advisory practice, where he focuses on valuing and trading Tech+IP assets, and advising global technology clients on IP licensing, litigation, and transaction related matters. He has served as an expert on issues relating to patent infringement, licensing, FRAND, financial restructuring, investment and a variety of economic damages issues. 

Dr. Causevic was formerly the founder and CEO of Black Stone IP, a boutique investment bank, which was acquired by Houlihan Lokey in 2017. Prior to Black Stone, he was instrumental in the MIPS semiconductors $350 million patent transaction while he served as the Head of IP Strategy Practice at Ocean Tomo. Before Ocean Tomo, Dr. Causevic founded several industrial, medical, and high-tech businesses, raising over $50 million in premier venture capital, two of which were ultimately acquired by Fortune 500 companies. 

Dr. Causevic is a named inventor on more than 20 patents and patent applications, and was a J.W. Gibbs Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics at Yale University.

Dr. Causevic holds a B.S., an M.S., and a Doctor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, and a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. 




 
 

XIAO CHANG

Xiao Chang is Senior Corporate Counsel in the IP litigation group at Cisco Systems, Inc. In this role, Xiao manages part of Cisco’s busy patent litigation docket, which mostly involves defending lawsuits by NPEs. Before joining Cisco, Xiao practiced patent litigation in New York City at Desmarais LLP and Kirkland & Ellis LLP before that.

Xiao received a M.S. and B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Pennsylvania and her JD from Stanford Law School.

 
 
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ALeX Chen

Alexander Chen is Head of Patent Litigation & Risk Mitigation, TikTok/Byte Dance where he handles patent litigation, licensing, acquisitions, and strategy at TikTok and ByteDance.

He has negotiated and drafted agreements with companies in U.S., Europe, and Asia, including acquisitions, IP licenses, tech transfers, joint R&D, sole/joint IP ownership, indemnity, vendor obligations, IP enforcement, and reps & warranties. Presented patents to license and positions on FRAND royalties, invalidity, patent exhaustion, antitrust, patent misuse, and breach of warranties. Worked on Disney-Fox deal and 5-studio Movies Anywhere deal. Co-founded Disney’s Open Source Software (OSS) Committee and reviewed requests to use, distribute, contribute, and release OSS over 7-year period.

He was also outside counsel where he represented clients in 10 patent cases, a trademark case, a copyright case, and a trade secret case. He drafted briefs and handled discovery. As in- house counsel, he developed strategy and managed dozens of patent cases in 5 countries, including 3 ITC trials, District Court cases, a UK trial, a German trial, and 2 China cases. He presented reasons to litigate and settle to executives. He negotiated and settled 7 cases, developed infringement evidence, and handled inbound and outbound indemnity requests.

He also managed portfolios in a wide range of technologies, and drafted hundreds of patent applications and office action responses filed in U.S., Europe, and Asia. He conducted interviews with examiners, brainstormed future roadmaps, and developed strategies for claim drafting and international filing.

He completed 8 acquisitions and 2 sales, trained attorneys and engineers on how to negotiate with sellers and conduct due diligence: analyze evidence of use, file histories, competitor products, previous licenses, and ownership agreements. He also ssessed value of patents for executives.

 
 
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KELLY CHEN

Kelly Chen is Managing Counsel at Toyota Motor North America, Inc. where she manages and directs the company’s business litigation matters, including patent litigation and class actions. In her role as Managing Counsel she also provides counsel and advice to business units regarding commercial and product issues. Prior to joining Toyota, Kelly was a litigation partner at Munck Wilson Mandala, LLP where she focused on intellectual property, complex commercial, and employment disputes. She represented client in various industries, including semiconductors, telecommunications, and pharmaceuticals through all phases of litigation, including trial.  During law school, Kelly worked full time in the international tax department at Deloitte.

Among her other honors, in 2017, Kelly was honored as a Dallas Business Journal 40 under 40 and was named a Best Lawyer Under 40 by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.  She is a graduate of Leadership Dallas, a prestigious leadership development program sponsored by the Dallas Regional Chamber and is involved in a variety of civic and bar activities.

 
 
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Michael Chernoff

Michael Chernoff is Managing Director, Strategic IP Services at Murgitroyd. He has over 25 years of experience in the IP field and he leads Murgitroyd’s in-house Patent Search and Analytics team and is vital in helping to expand Murgitroyd’s U.S. Managed Services unit. He has acted as an outsourced Chief Intellectual Property Officer for some of the most innovative companies in the U.S., liaising directly with board members, and working with internal teams and outside counsel to execute strategy. Previously Michael held the position of Chief Intellectual Property Officer of MDB Capital Group, LLC, and prior to that, Director of Legal Services, Patent Operations at Accenture. He has also served as an Examiner with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Michael has a J.D. from George Mason University and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University. He is ranked as one of the World’s Leading IP Strategists in the Intellectual Asset Magazine’s IAM Strategy 300. Michael lives in the Washington, D.C. area.

 
 

thomas chia

Thomas Chia is senior director of patents and corporate development at Via Licensing, a leader in multi-party licensing programs and an independent subsidiary of US technology pioneer Dolby Laboratories. An accomplished IP strategist and attorney, Dr Chia has built a reputation for crafting deals that enable and promote innovation by balancing the needs of manufacturers and innovators around the globe. He consistently structures IP-centric business deals and other collaborative arrangements to commercialize some of today’s most valuable technologies.

Dr Chia is a highly regarded expert in standards-based technologies, international multi-party IP programs and FRAND licensing – subjects on which he has published in law reviews and taught at top law schools. Throughout his career, he has been instrumental in orchestrating significant IP deals with major technology companies, where his expertise in building bridges with other IP leaders has created significant long-term value for all parties.

Before Via, Dr Chia served at the Ovidian Group, a premier IP and business advisory firm where he represented clients from around the world in developing and executing tailored IP strategies. He also managed worldwide licensing, patent prosecution and strategic patent acquisitions and divestitures for a publicly traded IP licensing company.

Dr Chia received his PhD in engineering from Yale University, where he published in several peer-reviewed scientific publications and served in the university’s tech transfer office. He earned his JD from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and his BS in engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and is a registered US patent attorney.

 
 

Colleen chien

Colleen Chien is Professor at Santa Clara University School of Law where she teaches, mentors students, and conducts empirical research on innovation, intellectual property, and the criminal justice system. From 2013-2015 she served in the Obama White House as the Senior Advisor on Intellectual Property and Innovation, working on a broad range of patent, copyright, technology transfer, open innovation, and other issues. Professor Chien is nationally known for her research and publications on domestic and international patent law and policy issues. She has testified on multiple occasions before Congress, the DOJ, the FTC, and the US Patent and Trademark Office on patent issues, frequently lectures at national law conferences, and has published several in-depth empirical studies, including of patent litigation and patent-assertion entities (PAEs). In the realm of criminal justice, she is founder of the Paper Prisons initiative (paperprisons.org) a research initiative that which works to document and narrow the second chance gap between those eligible for and receiving second chances (through early release, records clearing and re-infranchisement).

Professor Chien’s work has been featured in the Wall Street JournalNew York Times, NPR’s Marketplace, and numerous other venues and she is among the top 20-cited intellectual property and cyberlaw scholars in the US. Prior to entering academia, Professor Chien did stints as an investigative journalist, strategy consultant, and practicing lawyer (as an associate, then special counsel at Fenwick & West LLP in San Francisco). Professor Chien is a recipient of the American Law Institute’s Early Career Medal; the Intellectual Property Vanguard Award and the Eric Yamamoto Emerging Scholar award. She has been named a Tech Law Trailblazer (for her work founding “the Second Chances and Empathy Hackathon”), one of Silicon Valley’s “Women of Influence,” and one of the 50 Most Influential People in Intellectual Property in the world. She is the founder of several civic engagement projects, a Faculty Scholar of the Markkula Center for Ethics. Professor Chien graduated from Stanford (Engineering) and UC Berkeley Law School.

 
 

MICHAEL COLE

Mike Cole is Managing Counsel at Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North American, headquartered in Silicon Valley. Mike has 10 years of experience as a privacy, data, and cybersecurity attorney, including 9 years of in-house experience where he built and lead a multinational privacy and data program from the ground up. Mike collaborates with business and engineering teams to navigate complex legal landscapes surrounding privacy and data to achieve creative solutions that reduce legal risk, increase customer trust and maintain ethical integrity. These solutions cover topics ranging from artificial intelligence, new products and services, US/EU data transfers and use, eCommerce, open source software, to mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures.

Prior to joining Mercedes-Benz, Mike spent over 8 years with Hagerty, Inc., a publicly traded automotive enthusiast company with global operations. Mike earned his bachelor’s degree from Albion College and his Juris Doctorate from Michigan State University College of law. He is admitted to practice in Illinois and Michigan.

 
 

BRAXTON DAVIS 

Braxton is Associate General Counsel at Meta (formerly Facebook) on the Patents, Licensing, & Open Source Team. Previously, he was Partner at Amin, Turocy & Watson where he focused primarily on patent prosecution in the telecom industry. Prior to becoming Partner at Amin, Turocy & Watson, Braxton evaluated inventive ideas, patent portfolios, and patent monetization opportunities based on business strategies as a member of AT&T’s Intellectual Property Patent Development Team.

Braxton received his J.D. from Georgia State University and his B.S. degrees in Physics and Electrical Engineering from Morehouse College and the Georgia Institute of Technology, respectively. Braxton also founded the National Council on Patent Practicum, a non-profit focused on increasing quality and diversity within the patent profession.

 
 
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james decarlo 

Jim DeCarlo is a Shareholder in Greenberg Traurig’s Intellectual Property and Technology Practice. Jim started his career in the computer industry, and since transitioning to law has spent over 25 years litigating, licensing and procuring patents. 

Jim’s clients in the US and abroad range from start-ups to the world’s largest corporations. A frequent author and lecturer, he is relied on by clients to assist in protecting their most significant technology in a manner that will stand up in litigation, to defend against charges of infringement frequently brought by patent assertion entities, and to work with in-house counsel to develop processes and procedures to effectively manage worldwide patent portfolios. 

He counsels clients in complex technology areas such as computer software and hardware, networking, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, virtual and augmented reality, IoT, streaming media, electronic commerce, Internet search engines, search advertising, client/server systems, mobile and land based telecommunications. 

Jim earned his J.D., cum laude at New York Law School and his B.S. in Electrical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is admitted to practice in the States of New Jersey and New York, the Supreme Court of the United States , U.S. Patent and Trademark Office , U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, U.S. District Court for the District of New Jerse, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, and U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin  

 
 

JONAE FELTON

Jonae Felton is a Senior Patent Engineer and Patent Attorney at Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America (MBRDNA) in Long Beach, CA. She enjoys learning about new technologies related to battery electric vehicles and related automotive areas. Jonae leverages her previous work experience as an electrical engineer to drive innovation and harvest inventions related to high voltage components and systems including batteries, electric drive, and charging. She brings her unique perspective as an electrical engineer and a patent lawyer to manage idea submissions, invention disclosures, and patent families while efficiently coordinating with stakeholders in engineering, legal, and procurement. Additionally, Jonae strives to creatively support agreements regarding intellectual property and enterprise solutions related to free and open source software.

Jonae has experience with process control, electrical power, information handling, semiconductor, communication, standards-based, and renewable energy devices. Before joining MBRDNA, Jonae worked as an associate at Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP for 2 years. She has experience with patent litigation, patent prosecution including design patents, and patent transactional matters. She was also a facilities engineer at Chevron Energy Technology Company for over 3 years.

Jonae has a degree in electrical engineering from Tuskegee University and obtained her law degree from the University of Houston Law Center. She is a registered Patent Attorney with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Jonae has a bar admission from the State Bar of Texas. She is also Registered In-House Counsel with the State Bar of California.





 
 
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JONATHAN FOOT

Jonathan Foot is Assistant General Counsel at MathWorks, a global software company. He was the second lawyer hired, recruited in to help with one of the first patent cases in E.D. Texas. He has seen the company grow from about $300 million revenue and less than 1000 employees to over a $1 billion and 5000+ employees. A generalist, his lead responsibilities have focused on litigation and IP protection, including growing the patent portfolio from 0 to over 1000 patents, and successfully pursuing cutting edge copyright litigation and defeating an EU competition investigation, while also working on general corporate, licensing, and new hire training responsibilities.

Prior to MathWorks, Jonathan spent 13 years in general litigation trying multiple cases for private and government clients in a wide range of industries. As a trial lawyer for US DOJ, part of his direct examination defending the constitutionality of the Child Online Protection Act was played on NPR.

Jonathan received his B.A. in Politics from Princeton University and his J.D. from University of Michigan Law School.




 
 
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DAVID FOSTER

David Foster is Principal Counsel for The Walt Disney Company, and is the in-house patent attorney for ESPN, Disney Streaming Services, and Marvel Entertainment. Based at ESPN headquarters in Bristol, CT, Mr. Foster manages the invention harvesting and patent application processes, patent litigation and licensing, and advises on the patent aspects of contracts and other corporate transactions.

Prior to joining Disney, Mr. Foster was Assistant General Counsel for Intellectual Property at Actel Corporation, a Silicon Valley semiconductor company. There, he managed all aspects of Actel's patent program, including prosecution, strategy, portfolio development and management, litigation, and licensing, as well as other intellectual property matters including copyright, trademark, and software issues. Prior to Actel, Mr. Foster held positions at Novalux, Inc., a semiconductor laser startup and Kenyon & Kenyon, a New York-based intellectual property law firm. Mr. Foster earned a BSE in Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1993 and a JD from the University of Chicago Law School in 1996.

Mr. Foster lives in Durham, CT with his wife and three children, where he enjoys cooking, bicycling, and doing odd projects around their late 18th century farmhouse.

 
 

dAVID GALAUN

David Galaun is Senior Patent Attorney at Cisco. He received his Engineering degree at the University of Cambridge and his Intellectual Property degree at Queen Mary University of London.

 
 
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vivek ganti

Vivek Ganti is Director, Global IP Protection at Applied Materials. Previously he was Patent Counsel at Leia Inc., the leading provider of Lightfield hardware and content services. Before joining Leia, Vivek was at law firms. Vivek received his B.S in Electrical Engineering at the University of California, Davis and his J.D. at Santa Clara University School of Law.

 
 

EMILY GARDEL

Emily is currently patent counsel at Dyno Therapeutics, a biotech company in the gene therapy space using an AI platform to design AAV capsids, and enjoys developing an IP strategy and portfolio for an interdisciplinary company working at the cutting edge of both AAV capsid engineering and machine learning techniques. Prior to joining Dyno, Emily was in private practice for eight years, where her practice was focused on patent prosecution in areas where software and electronics overlap with biotechnology, including bioinformatics and machine learning technology.  Emily studied physics at Smith College before obtaining her PhD from Harvard and received her JD from Suffolk University Law School.

 
 
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Thomas l. giannetti

Thomas L. Giannetti is an Administrative Patent Judge on the Patent Trial and Appeal Board at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  He joined the Board in March 2012 after practicing IP law in New York City for over 34 years.  He was an associate and then partner at Fish & Neave for 25 years, and thereafter a partner at Jones Day New York for nine years.  While in private practice he specialized in patent infringement trials and related matters involving computers, electronics, and other complex technologies.

He graduated from Yale University with a B.S. in Engineering and Applied Science, and also holds an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and a J.D. from the George Washington University Law School.  Prior to law school he was an engineer at Westinghouse Electric Corporation. 

He is currently a member of the trial section of the Board and has been assigned to manage a number of AIA proceedings. He was also a member of the team that worked on the final rules for those proceedings and the trial practice guide.

He is a member of the ABA, AIPLA, NYIPLA, Federal Circuit, and New York City Bar Associations.  He currently divides his time between New York City and Alexandria, Virginia.

 
 
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laura gisler

Laura Gisler is Head of IP at Polestar, a Swedish automotive brand owned by Volvo Cars. Laura is responsible for the oversight and execution of all IP portfolio and operational activities. An American attorney currently based in Gothenburg, Sweden, Laura moved there to join Volvo Car Group as IP Counsel, focusing on tech IP issues including open source, software licensing, and strategic portfolio development in digital automotive. In 2018, she became Head of IP at Polestar.

Previously, she was a Patent Attorney at IBM in the US for four years, drafting and prosecuting patent applications relating to machine learning, data compression, the Internet of Things, and digital and wireless communications.

Laura earned her JD from the University of St. Thomas and her BA and MA from Trinity College. She is registered to practice before the USPTO, is a member of the Minnesota Bar, and is a yoga practitioner, ceramicist and vegan.

 
 
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FABIAN GONELL

Fabian Gonell is Senior Vice President, Licensing Strategy and Legal Counsel of Qualcomm's Technology Licensing division, where his responsibilities include developing the Company’s licensing strategy, negotiating license agreements, and overseeing the company's compliance with the rules of standards organizations. He has played a major role in structuring and negotiating license agreements with many of Qualcomm’s licensees, including Apple, Samsung, LGE, Ericsson, and Nokia/Microsoft, as well as in Qualcomm’s response to regulatory investigations of Qualcomm’s licensing practices.

Prior to joining Qualcomm, Mr. Gonell was a litigator at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP in New York, where he represented Qualcomm and other clients in patent and antitrust litigation. He also served as an adjunct professor at the Fordham University School of Law, where he taught courses in interviewing, counseling and negotiation. Mr. Gonell holds a BA in Economics from the City University of New York and a JD from the Fordham University School of Law, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Fordham Law Review.

 
 
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troy grabow

Troy Grabow is Associate General Counsel, IP & Product, at PAL Labs, Inc. in San Francisco, California. Pax Labs is building the world’s best technology brand in cannabis, with award- winning vaporizer products and best in-class software so that consumers can personalize each and every experience. In his role, he oversees global intellectual property and brand protection strategies for the company.

Prior to joining Pax in April 2018, Troy was General Counsel and VP of IP of Cabeau, Inc. in Los Angeles and a partner at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner in Washington, DC. Troy also served as a Patent Examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and as a Law Clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit. Troy earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Union College in Schenectady, NY and a J.D. degree with high honors from George Washington University Law School in Washington, DC. Troy serves on the Board of Directors of the American Intellectual Property Law Association.

 
 

Sarah guske

Sarah Guske is a partner in the firm's Intellectual Property group and has significant experience litigating software and electronics patent litigation cases. Clients rely on her to litigate matters in district court and before the PTAB involving a wide variety of technologies, including optical components, telecommunication protocols and systems, MPEG Multimedia data for broadcast, telephonic voice recognition software and graphic chipset design.

Sarah also represents clients in appeals and has served as an Adjunct Professor teaching patent litigation at the University of Colorado and University of Denver. She is an Adjunct Professor at the University of California Hastings School of Law for the 2017-2018 academic year, where she teaches in the IP department.

Education
J.D., University of California Davis School of Law 2004
B.S., Electrical Engineering, Washington State University 2001 summa cum laude

 
 

Aamir Haq

Aamir Haq is a VP & AGC at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) where he leads the Patent and Trade Secret functions. In this role, Aamir leads a team of attorneys and agents handling worldwide patent prosecution, preparation, and portfolio management tasks. Aamir also manages various pan-IP activities. Prior to joining HPE, Aamir spent several years at Foley & Lardner LLP in Washington D.C. where he primarily focused on patent preparation and prosecution in the electrical arts. Prior to the firm, Aamir worked as a Patent Examiner at the USPTO focusing on telecommunication technologies. Aamir is active in the IP community, including currently serving as the Co-Chair of the IPO Patent Office Practice committee.  Aamir received his J.D. from Catholic University and his B.S.E.E. from the University of Texas at Austin.

 
 
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drew hirshfeld

As of February 2021, Drew Hirshfeld is performing the functions and duties of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Mr. Hirshfeld's permanent role is Commissioner for Patents, where he manages and leads the Patents organization as its chief operating officer. He is responsible for managing and directing all aspects of the organization that affect administration of patent operations, examination policy, patent quality management, international patent cooperation, resources and planning, and budget administration.

During his time as Commissioner, Mr. Hirshfeld has led the Patents business unit by emphasizing both transparency and collaboration. He has managed efforts to ensure the consistency and reliability of patent grants. Mr. Hirshfeld has further played a lead role to ensure that the examining corps is provided with updated examination guidance and training.  

Prior to serving as Commissioner for Patents, Mr. Hirshfeld held the positions of Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy and Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO. Mr. Hirshfeld began his career in 1994 as a Patent Examiner and became a Supervisory Patent Examiner in 2001. He was promoted to the Senior Executive Service in 2008 as a Group Director in Technology Center 2100.

Mr. Hirshfeld received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Vermont and a J.D. from Western New England College School of Law.



 

 




 
 
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Lance Hochhauser

Lance Hochhauser is Intellectual Property Counsel at IQVIA, overseeing their patent portfolio and handling a variety of day-to-day issues that arise in the global intellectual property program. IQVIA enables life science companies to innovate with confidence, maximize opportunities, and, ultimately, drive human health outcomes forward. Prior to his time at IQVIA, Lance spent more than two years at IBM, drafting and prosecuting patent applications covering a variety of computer and computer-enabled technologies.

Lance earned his J.D. from Emory University School of Law and his bachelor degree in chemical engineering from Vanderbilt University. Lance is admitted to practice law in New York, Georgia (inactive), Massachusetts (inactive), and as in-house counsel in New Jersey. He is also admitted to practice before the USPTO.




 
 
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Kanda Ishihara

Kanda Ishihara is Senior IP Counsel at Lyft. Previously, she was Director, Legal - IP at Veritas Technologies LLC, an information management and data analytics software company based in Mountain View, California. At Veritas, Kanda’s responsibilities included portfolio development, risk mitigation, client counseling, portfolio review and classification, management of outside counsel and education of engineering teams. 

Previously, Kanda was a partner at Patent Law Works LLP, an IP boutique law firm specializing in patent, trademark, copyright, domain name procurement and strategic counseling. There, her practice focused on patent prosecution, client counseling and patent management, including all stages of the patent prosecution process, as well as management of patent portfolios and performing due diligence for patent assets. Her practice also involved patent licensing and infringement analysis. In earlier positions, Kanda has worked as an associate at Fenwick & West as well as Morgan, Lewis & Bockius. 

Kanda has also worked in-house in the legal departments of Ariba, Inc. and Genentech. Her law practice covers a wide range of technology areas including computer software, web-based software applications and telecommunications.
As co-founder and past president and board member of Leading Women in Technology, a non-profit organization dedicated to unleashing the potential of professionals who advise technology businesses and executives, Kanda is also dedicated to helping empower female professionals in the tech industry through mentorship, skills development and networking. 

 
 
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Catherine Ivers

Catherine Ivers is Director of IP Law at Global Foundries, driving patent value management.  In this role, Dr. Ivers directs a team of engineers and patent agents responsible for extracting value from the over 10,000 worldwide active patents.  Patent value management combines the portfolio organization and maintenance functions of a patent portfolio manager with the monetization duties of a licensing team, including proof package creation and conducting license/assignment negotiations.  

Prior to GlobalFoundries, Dr. Ivers’ career consisted of various roles at IBM.  Dr. Ivers started as a process and integration engineer in the semiconductor fab, moved to IBM’s patent licensing group in 2000, and subsequently earned a law degree and joined the IP law department where she supported patent licensing and prosecution. 

Dr. Ivers is a registered U.S. patent agent holding multiple degrees: a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Florida, a masters of engineering (M.Eng.) in materials science from Cornell University, a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a J.D. from Pace University Law School.

 

 

 




 
 

TIFFANY JOHNSON

Tiffany Johnson is an IP Attorney at Boston Scientific Corporation (BSC) and supports the company’s Neuromodulation Division in Southern California. Prior to joining BSC, Tiffany was a Patent Attorney at The Estée Lauder Companies, Inc. in New York and worked in private practice where her practice focused on patent prosecution, litigation and intellectual property counseling.

Tiffany also worked as a Patent Examiner at the USPTO, and prior to attending law school, Tiffany worked as a Mechanical Engineer for an engineering consulting company. Tiffany received her Law degree from Texas Southern University and holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M.

 

 




 
 

PETER Jovanovic

Peter Jovanovic is Legal Director, IP at Dell providing support for several business units.  At Dell, he is responsible for patent portfolio development, patent litigation, open source management, and license drafting and negotiation.  Before joining Dell, he was an associate patent attorney providing prosecution, litigation, and licensing services.  Prior to becoming an attorney, Peter was a software engineer, having experience in computer security, satellite communications, and logistic planning software.  

Peter has a Bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics from UC San Diego, a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from San Diego State, and a Juris Doctorate from UC Hastings College of the Law.  He is registered to practice before the USPTO and is a member of the California Bar.

Peter is also an adjunct law professor at Golden Gate University School of Law.

 
 
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chuck katz

Chuck Katz is a Division IP Counsel for Thermo Fisher Scientific, where he has responsibility for patent acquisition, freedom to operate and transactional activities for the mass spectrometry, chromatography and related businesses. Prior to joining Thermo Fisher Scientific, he held a variety of IP positions at start-up companies in the photonics and network security fields, as well as at law firms.

Chuck earned his JD at Boston College Law School, and B.S.E. and M.S.E. in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University.

 
 
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DAVID KELLEY

David Kelley has over 28 years of experience as intellectual property counsel and currently manages powertrain electrification IP matters for Ford Motor Company.  These responsibilities include intellectual property litigation management, transactional matters, patent portfolio management, and advising on US patent policy.  He has degrees in mechanical engineering, computer science and law, as well as work experience in each field prior to entering the automotive industry with Ford’s OGC.  Most recently, David completed Stanford’s LEAD Certificate in Corporate Innovation.





 
 
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Caren Khoo

Caren Khoo is Vice President & Deputy General Counsel, IP, Global Technology Solutions, Technology & Product Development at Verizon.



 
 


JAMES KIRYAKOZA

James Kiryakoza is an IP Counsel at Block focusing on IP analytics. Before joining Block, he spent 10 years as Senior IP Counsel at VMware managing the storage and security patent portfolios, providing patent litigation support and clearing all outbound open-source projects. Before becoming an attorney, James spent 19 years as a software engineer at companies of all sizes such as RSA Security and VMware. James received his BS in Computer Science from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and his JD from University of San Francisco.

 
 
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Steve Koziol

Acting Director of the Silicon Valley United States Patent and Trademark Office

As the Acting Regional Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Silicon Valley Regional Office, Steve Koziol carries out the strategic direction of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO and is responsible for leading the USPTO's West Coast regional office in Silicon Valley. Focusing on the region and actively engaging with the community, Mr. Koziol ensures the USPTO’s initiatives and programs are tailored to the region's unique ecosystem of industries and stakeholders.

Mr. Koziol also serves as the Managing Regional Assistant Director for the Silicon Valley Regional Office. In this role, he leads the coordination of stakeholder outreach efforts at the Silicon Valley Regional Office, ensuring the equitable distribution of USPTO services and resources across the western region. 

Mr. Koziol has served the USPTO for nearly 15 years, starting as a patent examiner and working through various management roles as a supervisory patent examiner at headquarters, the Rocky Mountain Regional Office, and the Silicon Valley Regional Office. 

While at the USPTO, Mr. Koziol has led or contributed to numerous projects impacting patent operations, including the AIA Post Grant Outcomes program, AIA First Inventor to File implementation, AIPLA Partnering in Patents, and patent operations cost and fee modeling. As a supervisory patent examiner, he has managed teams of patent examiners in the computer graphics and digital imaging fields. He has received two distinct Department of Commerce Bronze Medal Awards.

Mr. Koziol received his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Bradley University.

 
 
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Charu kurani

Charu Kurani is Associate General Counsel of Patents at Meta Platforms, Inc. (FKA Facebook, Inc.). In this role, Charu manages a team responsible for developing internal and external best practices to improve efficiency and effectiveness across the patent, licensing and open source functions. Charu also managed the Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and monetization patent portfolios. Charu has been instrumental in leading diversity initiatives aimed at increasing the engagement of underrepresented inventors with the patent program.

Prior to joining Facebook, Charu served as IP Counsel at Splunk Inc. and at SAP AG, serving as in-house patent counsel for various business units and acquisitions. Charu served as U.S. Patent Counsel at Mueller-Bore & Partner in Munich, acting as their sole advisor on US patent matters and also prosecuting European patent applications. Charu also worked in law firms in Virginia and served as an Examiner at the USPTO. Charu received her J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law and her B.S. in Information Systems from DePaul University.

 
 
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CHIA LA

Chia La is Managing Counsel on the IP team at Waymo, formerly known as the Google Self- Driving Car Project, where he handles a variety of work spanning portfolio development, client counseling, and transactional issues across all classes of IP. Before joining Waymo, Mr. La held several different roles at Google, where he worked for almost 10 years, most recently leading patent strategy for Android, Play, Chrome, and Photos. Previously, Mr. La practiced patent litigation and prosecution at Ropes & Gray in NY. He holds a JD from Fordham University School of Law and master's and bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT.

 
 

catherine lacavera

Catherine Lacavera is the Chief Legal Officer at Color Health, Inc., a healthcare technology company dedicated to improving access to healthcare for everyone. Previously, she served as Vice President at Google, overseeing global litigation, employment and regulatory investigations, and managing more than 300 attorneys and technical advisors. Her team won more than 1000 patent and other intellectual property matters, including multi-billion dollar industry defining copyright cases against Viacom and Oracle, the cell phone wars against Apple and Microsoft, and trade secrets claims against Uber. She advised on complex licenses and acquisitions, including the acquisition of Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion and Nest for $3.2 billion, the sale of Motorola Home to Arris for $2.2 billion, and a $490 million multi-party license with TiVo.

Catherine has a B.A.Sc. in Computer engineering and a J.D./M.B.A. from the University of Toronto. She received an honorary doctorate of law from the University of Toronto, was named one of Fortune’s top 40 under 40, and one of the most influential people in the world of IP, and was inducted into the Canadian Academy of Engineering.

She is admitted to practice law in New York, Massachusetts, the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. She is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and Registered In-House Counsel in California.

 
 
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Peter lam

Peter Lam is the Senior Director and Head of Intellectual Property at Extreme Networks, where he is responsible for overseeing IP litigation, managing patent and trademark portfolios, and driving global IP strategy. Peter has practiced in a wide range of areas including portfolio development, patent monetization, and IP licensing at several Silicon Valley tech companies.

Most recently, he served as Senior IP Counsel at General Electric for the digital industrial business of GE Power, often speaking about Big Data and data rights. Prior to GE, Peter served as Senior IP Counsel for numerous business units at Cisco Systems, as Senior IP

Counsel for medical robotics startup Hansen Medical, and as lead IP Counsel for Siemens Medical Solutions, Ultrasound. Peter also spent many years at Intel, working initially as an integrated circuit designer and as a software developer, and later as a patent attorney. Peter received his J.D. from the Santa Clara University School of Law and his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Davis.


 
 
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russell latham

Russell Latham has been Intellectual Property Counsel at Lumentum in Ottawa, Canada since 2013. He is a Canadian lawyer and a patent and trademark agent with a degree in computer engineering. Russell uses his engineering and legal backgrounds to manage and grow Lumentum’s patent portfolio, but his primary role is more like translating between engineers and lawyers. Russell happily supports all things IP at Lumentum while being most passionate about mining inventions and reviewing patent applications.  Prior to Lumentum, Russell was in private practice as a patent and trademark attorney after walking away from software careers in various industries

If you caught Russell after work, you’d see a normal, chaotic family life, but in those rare moments in between, you might find him playing hockey, headed up to the cottage, or out for a paddle.

Russell earned his Bachelor of Applied Science, Honors Co-op, in Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo; Bachelor of Laws, Concentration in Industrial and Intellectual Property at the University of Western Ontario; and completed Law School Exchange, Concentration in U.S. Intellectual Property, at Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

 


 
 
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jennifer langenberger

Jennifer Langenberger is Chief Operations Officer at Penn Center for Innovation. She oversees the University’s patent estate and is responsible for the administrative infrastructure of PCI, including management of PCI’s information technology, human resources, office administrative support, and facilities


 
 

GAVIN LAWSON

Gavin Lawson is Director of IP at Gilead Sciences. He received his degree in Chemistry and German at the University of Liverpool.

 
 

MARK LEmley

Mark Lemley is the William H. Neukom Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and the Director of the Stanford Program in Law, Science and Technology. He teaches intellectual property, computer and internet law, patent law, trademark law, antitrust, and remedies. He is the author of seven books (all in multiple editions) and 162 articles on these and related subjects, including the two volume treatise IP and Antitrust. His works have been cited more than 245 times by courts, including 13 times by the United States Supreme Court, and more than 14,000 times in books and law review articles, making him the most cited scholar in IP law and one of the most cited legal scholars of all time. He has published 9 of the 100 most-cited law review articles of the last twenty years, more than any other scholar, and a 2012 empirical study named him the most relevant law professor in the country. His articles have appeared in 23 of the top 25 law reviews, in top economic journals such as the American Economic Review and the Review of Economics and Statistics, and in multiple peer-reviewed and specialty journals. They have been reprinted throughout the world, and translated into Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Italian, and Danish. He has taught intellectual property law to federal and state judges at numerous Federal Judicial Center and ABA programs, has testified seven times before Congress, and has filed 48 amicus briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court, the California Supreme Court, and the federal circuit courts of appeals.

Mark is a founding partner of Durie Tangri LLP. He litigates and counsels clients in all areas of intellectual property, antitrust and internet law. He has argued 24 federal appellate cases and numerous district court cases as well as in the California Supreme Court, and represented clients (including Genentech, DISH Network, Dykes on Bikes, and nearly every significant internet company) in nearly 100 cases in his more than two decades as a lawyer.

Mark is a founder of Lex Machina, Inc., a startup company that provides litigation data and analytics to law firms, companies, courts, and policymakers. Lex Machina was acquired by Lexis in December 2015.

Mark has been named California Lawyer’s Attorney of the Year twice (in 2005 and again in 2015), Best Lawyers’ San Francisco IP Lawyer of the Year (2010), and a Young Global Leader by the Davos World Economic Forum (2007). In 2009 he received the California State Bar’s inaugural IP Vanguard Award. In 2002 he was chosen as Boalt’s Young Alumnus of the Year. He has been recognized as one of the top 50 litigators in the country under 45 by the American Lawyer (2007), one of the 100 most influential lawyers in the nation by the National Law Journal (2006 and 2013), one of the 10 most admired attorneys in IP (2010) by IP360, one of the 25 most influential people in IP (2010) by the American Lawyer, among other honors. He is a member of the American Law Institute.

Mark clerked for Judge Dorothy Nelson on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and has practiced law in Silicon Valley with Brown & Bain and with Fish & Richardson and in San Francisco with Keker & Van Nest. Until January 2000, he was the Marrs McLean Professor of Law at the University of Texas School of Law, and until June 2004 he was the Elizabeth Josselyn Boalt Professor of Law at the Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley. In his spare time, Mark enjoys cooking, travel, yoga, and feeding his addiction to video games (at this writing, Zelda: Call of the Wild).

Mark earned his BA (with distinction) at Stanford University and his JD at University of California Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall).

 
 

HELEN LI

Helen Li is an associate director of patents and patent portfolio manager of AI innovations at the Intel Corporation.  She also serves as the Patent Group Counsel to Office of the Intel CTO & Software and Advanced Technology Group.  Prior to joining the Intel, she was a patent attorney at Fenwick & West LLP, where she advised clients on IP strategy and prosecuted patents in computer engineering technologies such as AI.  She has a PhD in computer engineering and JD both from Santa Clara University. 

 
 

LILY LIM

Lily Lim leads worldwide intellectual property, software, and info-security legal strategies at Fortive, a $20B conglomerate of software, instrumentation, and medical device companies.  Lily also provides legal strategies for the Fort, the artificial intelligence center at Fortive.  She is a strategic partner to business, product, engineering, and security leaders at Fortive and its operating companies. 

Before joining Fortive, Lily was at ServiceNow, where she served as the Legal Director for Intellectual Property, Strategic Initiatives, and New Products, partnering with cross-functional teams to drive innovation and new product releases to new levels and speeds.  Prior to that role, Lily was a partner at Finnegan, Henderson LLP in Palo Alto, California, successfully representing clients in intellectual property, privacy, and cybersecurity matters.  Lily also dedicated time to government service, serving as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable S. Jay Plager at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and serving as a spacecraft navigation engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 

Lily’s JD is from Yale Law School.  Her MS in Mechanical Engineering is from MIT, and she earned a BS in Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering from the University of Illinois.  Lily has proficiency in Mandarin and counts a number of privacy, cybersecurity, and IP certifications and registrations among her credentials.

 

 
 

ERIC lIN

Eric is Senior Patent Counsel, Informatics, at Genentech, a fully-owned subsidiary of Roche. As part of the informatics subgroup within IP Legal, he supports artificial intelligence / machine learning efforts across the global organization, including IP capture, portfolio management, academic and industry collaborations, M&A, open source, and technology transfer transactions. Eric obtained his JD from the UCLA School of Law and received a BA in Molecular and Cell Biology from UC Berkeley.

 
 
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Allen Lo

Allen Lo is Vice President & Deputy General Counsel, Head of IP at Facebook. Allen is Deputy General Counsel and Vice President, IP for Facebook, where he is responsible Facebook’s intellectual property matters globally as well as intermediary liability from illegal content. Before Facebook, Allen was Deputy General Counsel for Patents at Google for six years where he was responsible for patent portfolio development, licensing, litigation, and policy during the Android smartphone patent wars.

In addition, Allen worked in-house at Juniper Networks for 12 years and in private practice at Finnegan Henderson for 7 years. He also worked in the public sector as a law clerk at the US District Court in San Jose and as an examiner at the USPTO.

Allen received his BS in Electrical Engineering from The Ohio State University and his JD from the Georgetown University Law Center. He was included in the National Law Journal’s inaugural list of top 50 Intellectual Property Trailblazers and Pioneers and ranked #1 on the list of IAM Magazine’s annual list of top 40 most influential people in the global IP market.

 
 

ROBERT LYTLE

Robert B. Lytle is an Assistant General Counsel at Microsoft Corporation.  His practice focuses on patent litigation.  Mr. Lytle was previously a partner at Howrey, and a shareholder at Arnold, White & Durkee.  Mr. Lytle clerked for the Honorable J. Clifford Wallace, Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  Mr. Lytle received his J.D. from Columbia Law School where he served as an editor for the Columbia Law Review.  Mr. Lytle has also served as an adjunct professor at two law schools and has frequently lectured on intellectual property related topics.

 
 
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chris lubeck

Chris Lubeck is Senior Director, Head of Patents and Open Source at ServiceNow. Previously, Chris was Associate General Counsel, Chief IP Counsel at Tesla.

Chris earned his B.S. in Physics at the University of Notre Dame, M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University, Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and his J.D. at Northwestern University School of Law.

 
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DOUG LUFTMAN

Doug Luftman is Vice President & Deputy General Counsel, Product, Innovation Services & Government Affairs, Chief Privacy Officer at DocuSign, Inc.

 
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SARAH MACDONALD

Sarah MacDonald is Senior Corporate Counsel at Oracle America, Inc., where she manages patent and commercial litigation and pre-litigation disputes.  Before joining Oracle, Sarah practiced as a litigation associate at Covington & Burling LLP representing companies in high-stakes litigation and arbitration proceedings.  Sarah also served as a law clerk to Judge Beverly Baldwin Martin on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.  Sarah earned her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia.


 
 
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Marie macnichol

Marie H. MacNichol joined Dolby Laboratories, Inc. in 2018 as Senior Director of Patent Licensing in San Francisco, CA.  In this role, she has global responsibility for Dolby's patent licensing program. Previously Marie was Chief Licensing Counsel at InterDigital.  Prior to InterDigital Marie was Vice President of IP Law at LSI Inc.

Marie has a JD (cum laude) from Villanova University, and a BSEE from Drexel University.  Marie began her career in patent litigation at Fish and Neave in New York City. 


 
 
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TARANEH MAGHAME

Taraneh Maghame is Vice President, Wireless Programs & Corporate Development at Via Licensing.


 
 
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eric maschoff

Eric Maschoff is Partner at Maschoff Brennan. Eric’s background as an accomplished computer hardware and software design engineer makes him uniquely qualified to assist his clients in dealing with their intellectual property challenges. His practice is concentrated in strategic counseling, licensing and patent procurement in the computer, electronics, semiconductor, communications, software and Internet fields. He has extensive experience in developing strategies for protecting client technologies, preparing non-infringement opinions, conducting IP due diligence and counseling clients in matters relative to strategic IP portfolio management. He also has litigation experience in a number of complex intellectual property litigation cases. He is a former equity shareholder and former member of the board of directors of a major Salt Lake City-based IP law firm. His practice involves a wide range of intellectual property matters, including the acquisition and enforcement of patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret rights, computer and multimedia law, and administrative actions before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the U.S. Copyright Office. He also has extensive experience in the preparation of legal opinions on complex patent validity, infringement and enforcement questions on computer, communications and electronics patents. He has also been responsible for various due diligence and clearance investigations relating to new product releases and the transfer of intellectual property assets.

In law school, Eric served as an Intern to the Honorable I. Daniel Stewart, Associate Chief Justice of the Utah Supreme Court. He was a William H. Leary Scholar and a Semifinalist in the Traynor Moot Court Appellate Advocacy Competition. He also was awarded the American Jurisprudence Award in Intellectual Property Law.

Eric received his J.D. at University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law and his B.S.E.E. in Electrical & Computer Engineering at New Mexico State University.

 
 

THOMAS MATHEW

Thomas is Senior Patent Counsel at Align Technology, the company behind Invisalign aligners and related products. He builds patent portfolios and provides counseling for a wide range of technologies in the orthodontics space, including AI/ML, treatment methods/software, device electronics, fabrication, and materials. Prior to Align, Thomas worked at law firms and life sciences/biotech companies, with a focus on software and devices for medical and life sciences technologies. Thomas got his JD and degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Economics from the University of Texas.

 
 

LINZY MCCARTNEY

As a member of Meta’s Patent, Licensing, and Open Source team, Linzy McCartney counsels business and engineering teams on IP issues and sets strategy for several of Meta’s patent portfolios. Before joining Meta, Linzy served as an Administrative Patent Judge at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Linzy also spent several years in private practice focusing on patent prosecution and patent litigation and served as a law clerk to Circuit Judge Richard Linn of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and Magistrate Judge Kevin S.C. Chang of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii.

 

Linzy earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of North Dakota and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

 
 

ERIN MEHTA

Erin Greenfield Mehta Principal Counsel, Litigation & Patents at The Walt Disney Company with fifteen years of experience practicing patent litigation in New York and California. Her current role involves managing all of Hulu’s patent litigation and prosecution, as well as negotiating licenses and other deals involving patent issues. Before moving in-house to work for Hulu (now majority-owned by Disney), Erin worked at WilmerHale and before that at Ropes and Gray (formerly Fish & Neave). She studied Electrical Engineering at Clemson University and received her J.D. from Tulane Law School. Erin lives in Manhattan Beach with her husband, also a patent lawyer, and their two kids Tess and Maxim.

 
 
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MIKU mehta

Miku Mehta is Partner at Procopio Cory Hargreaves & Savitch. His practice focuses on the preparation and prosecution of patent applications before the USPTO. Miku has also worked on due diligence projects, including preparation of opinions in the areas of patentability, validity, infringement and product clearance, as well as patent licensing. His areas of focus include the technology field such as computer software and hardware, networks, Internet-related application, environmental technologies, optics, mechanical engineering, business processes and medical devices. Miku’s practice also includes registration and renewal of trademarks. His practice also includes Export Control consultation, specializing in the issues faced by US subsidiaries of overseas corporations.

Miku is also a member of the Diversity Committee, the Licensing practice group and the Energy and Environment practice group.

Prior to joining Procopio, Miku practiced as a partner at Sughrue Mion PLLC in Japan and Silicon Valley. Miku also worked as an associate at Fleshner & Kim, LLP, and as a searcher at Prior Art Searches, Inc.

In addition to his extensive legal experience, Miku was a lead developer for American Management Systems, Inc where he was involved in the proposal, design, software coding, testing and user documentation stages for various federal budgeting and scientific information client/server application related to environmental and health agencies. Prior to that, he conducted facilities assessment, industrial facility technical analysis and environmental impact statement for Resources Application, Inc. – where he also performed scientific analysis of federally regulated hazardous waste sites, including contamination migration and toxicity studies. Miku has also directed corporate leadership and teambuilding training, conservation education and training and recreation outdoors adventure services for Action Endeavor, Inc., a company that he founded, owned and operated.

Miku earned his JD at George Mason University School of Law and his BS in Systems Engineering, Environmental Sciences at the University of Virginia.

 
 

sanjeev mehta

Sanjeev Mehta is Associate General Counsel & Director at Verizon. In this role, Sanjeev handles a variety of matters including patent and software licensing (inbound and outbound), patent monetization, M&A deals, and incoming patent assertions. Prior to joining Verizon, Sanjeev worked for over a decade as an IP litigator at O’Melveny & Myers and Ropes & Gray. Sanjeev earned his law degree at Fordham University School of Law and his Bachelor’s degree at Columbia University.

 
 

SHINGO MISAKI

Shingo Misaki is Manager of IP at the Minatorami Research Center of KYOCERA Document Solutions, a Japanese multinational company that is headquartered in Kyoto and Osaka, Japan. As Manager of IP, Shingo is responsible for developing the patent strategy for a new business division. He also oversees the patent portfolio for inventions originating in Japan and KYOCERA's subsidiaries in the US and Europe. Shingo specializes in invention harvesting, preparation and prosecution of US and foreign patent applications, and other IP matters.

From 2014 to 2020, Shingo was based in KYOCERA's California-based subsidiary where he strategically developed and managed a software patent portfolio relating to printers and document solutions. Before that, Shingo gained IP experience in Japan as an IP practitioner at several companies and a law firm, where he prepared and prosecuted Japanese and foreign patent applications and assisted in several IP litigations.

Shingo received his Bachelor's Degree and Master's Degree in Geophysics at Kyoto University. He was also a Patent Agent (limited recognition) at the USPTO and he passed Japan Patent bar. 

 
 

ELIZABETH MORRIS

Elizabeth Morris is Legal Director of Intellectual Property & Product at Pure Storage, Inc. where she works closely with the CTO office to manage a rapidly growing patent portfolio through home grown ideas and acquisitions.  She is excited to be a part of the cutting-edge patent management strategy of Pure.  Her responsibilities also include integrating new acquisition portfolios, open-source projects, trademark portfolio management, patent litigation oversight, patent strategy development, and competitive analysis.

Ms. Morris has experience leading global team of attorneys and engineers in managing portfolios of over four thousand US and international patents at KLA Tencor as the Director of IP Law. Ms. Morris is also a guest lecturer at Santa Clara University School of Law, Wagner College, University of Nebraska College of Law, and is a member of the Faculty of PLI (Practicing Law Institute). Previously, she practiced patent prosecution, licensing, and litigation at Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP where she drafted numerous patent applications and developed specialized experience in patent prosecution highway procedures, fast prosecution mechanisms, and design patents.

Elizabeth received her J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law, where she served as Editor-in-Chief for the Santa Clara Computer & High Technology Law Journal and as a research assistant to Professor Donald S. Chisum, author of "Chisum on Patents." Ms. Morris was in Honors Engineering program at Purdue University, where she received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. While she was there, Elizabeth founded a women-in-engineering cooperative that is still active today.

Ms. Morris has extensive experience on non-profit boards. She has served as President of the board of the Santa Clara City Library Foundation & Friends. She currently sits on the board for YMCA Camp Campbell, is the legal advisor for the board of Devonshire Cooperative, and she served as an advisor for the Santa Clara School District. Elizabeth has served as President of the Executive Committee for Women in Licensing Bay Area and has also been the Executive Director for Leading Women in Technology.

 
 

Angela Murch

Angela Murch is Vice President of IP at InCube Labs, LLC, a company that creates and develops medical device concepts, forming startups to commercialize the concepts. One of the startups which has received significant press is Rani Therapeutics, LLC, a company devoted to delivering biologics via a swallowed medical device to eliminate the need for patients to give themselves injections.

Angela is responsible for all aspects of IP, including patent strategy, portfolio management, trademarks, and licensing, as well as preparing and negotiating various agreements. She additionally writes patent applications for key technology areas.

Angela has been with InCube for four years. Prior to InCube, she was an IP attorney at Foley & Lardner LLP and earlier at Rader, Fishman & Grauer PLLC, specializing in patent prosecution and patent litigation. Before venturing into a legal career, Angela was an engineer for fifteen years, specializing in electronic control systems for automotive applications and for the solid rocket boosters of the space shuttle.

Angela holds a BSEE from Michigan State University, an MSEE from University of Michigan, and a JD from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. She is admitted to the California bar and is registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

 
 
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dev narasimhan

Dev Narasimhan has extensive experience in intellectual property (IP), particularly patents. After law school, he worked at a patent search firm before he worked in-house at a global footwear and apparel company. There he learned how IP fits into a corporate culture and its importance not just in the US, but also around the world. He then worked briefly at a patent law firm where he honed his patent prosecution skills. As a Patent Portfolio Manager at University of Washington's CoMotion, Dev oversees unlicensed and licensed portfolios of patents/applications for UW's researchers, faculty, and scientists. Working with them as well as with other stakeholders, Dev provides effective and strategic patent solutions to increase chances of commercialization. 

When not working with patents, Dev likes to take advantage of the Pacific Northwest's offerings, such as hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, and paddle boarding. He also likes to walk around the UW campus and travel, when given the opportunity. 

 
 

emily o’Brien

Emily O’Brien is Managing Counsel, Litigation at Google.  Emily manages complex intellectual property litigation in multiple product areas, with a particular focus on advertising. Her practice includes matters throughout the United States, as well as in Asia, Canada and Europe. Prior to joining Google, Emily was an associate at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, specializing in intellectual property and antitrust litigation.  She earned a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.S. in Chemistry and B.A. in English from The George Washington University. 

 
 

peter o’rourke

Peter O’Rourke is Managing Counsel for Oracle, the world’s leading provider of enterprise software, where he manages patent and commercial litigation. Prior to joining Oracle, Peter practiced in Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe’s Menlo Park office. Peter received his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame and his law degree from Santa Clara University. 


 
 

Marla Persky

Marla Persky is CEO and President of WOMN LLC, a company dedicated to helping women succeed in the business of law by increasing their knowledge of and acuity with financial drivers, client development, and leadership. Throughout her professional life, Ms. Persky has had the opportunity to understand and practice business principles that lead to personal and company success.

Ms. Persky retired in 2013 as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Boehringer Ingelheim Inc., where she oversaw a department of over 70 individuals. She also was a member of Boehringer’sexecutive management team and a director of the company and several of its subsidiaries.

Prior to joining Boehringer Ingelheim, Ms. Persky spent 19 years at Baxter International Inc. where she held numerous business and legal positions, the most recent of which was Acting General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. During her career at Baxter, Ms. Persky managed global legal services, was General Manager of an international medical device business, led international crisis management teams, acquired and integrated international businesses, and designed/implemented strategies to manage global mass torts.

Ms. Persky is currently on the Audit and Governance Committees of Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: XERS), a specialty pharmaceutical company that leverages proprietary non-aqueous formulation technology platforms; the Audit and Strategic Planning Committees of the Board of Directors of YGEIA, a medical technology company; and is on the Board of Advisors of Text IQ, a technology company that harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to prevent legal, compliance and reputational disasters. Previously, she served on the Board of Directors of Cytyc Corporation (NASDAQ: CYTYC) a device and diagnostics company. She was alsoon the Board of Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation, the world’s largest privately owned pharmaceutical company.Ms. Persky was a director of Watermark, Inc. a private publisher and broker of children’s literature.

In addition to her corporate activities, Ms. Persky is on the Board of several not-for-profit organizations such as the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Primary Stages (Off-Broadway Theater Company) and World Neighbors Inc.

Ms. Persky is a frequent speaker on a variety of subjects including: leadership principles, career development, mentoring, diversity, crisis management, and negotiation techniques. She is a graduate of Washington University School of law and Northwestern University.

Throughout her career, Ms. Persky has focused on improving diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. She has been awarded for her contributions by elite organizations such as the Lawyer's Collaborative for Diversity and the Connecticut Appleseed Foundation. She was recognized as one of the ten most innovative in-house counsel for her strategy and efforts to increase the opportunities and visibility of women in high profile litigation.

 
 

JAMES PINYERD

James Pinyerd is Senior Intellectual Property Counsel at SRI International providing support for commercial and government agreements and venture licensing deals. He also advises the business on open source and data management and trademark portfolio development. Prior to joining SRI, James served in a variety of roles at Rolls-Royce Corporation, including Intellectual Property Counsel for Rolls-Royce North America and Legal Counsel and Commercial Manager for Rolls-Royce Defense (U.S.). Before Rolls-Royce, James worked in law firms negotiating license agreements, prosecuting patents and trademarks, and supporting litigation involving intellectual property matters. James has a J.D. from Indiana University and a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Purdue University.


 
 

Scott pojunas

Scott Pojunas is Team Lead, Patent Engagement Readiness, Google. Previously, he was Lead Patent Counsel for Google's Portfolio Development Team, a team of attorneys, paralegals, and technologists focused on analyzing and shaping Google's global patent portfolio. Prior to joining Google, Scott was VP & Associate General Counsel at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, where he led IP strategy teams supporting several HPE business units. Scott earned a law degree from the George Washington University Law School and a degree in Computer Science from the University of Maryland, College Park.


 
 
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jonah probell

Jonah Probell is IP Strategist at SoundHound, a voice AI company, where he is responsible for building a high-value international patent portfolio. Jonah has 21 years of experience in engineering, marketing, and patenting at several fast growing small and medium sized Silicon Valley companies in the semiconductor and software fields. He has supported IP licensing deals in 8 countries on 3 continents. Jonah is author of Patenting for the Small Company and occasionally speaks in forums such as Santa Clara University Law School, Silicon Valley IP Law Association, and the Bay Area Chizai lecture series. Jonah has written for Tokugikon magazine in Japan, given a webinar to hundreds of patent attorneys in China, is a frequent contributor to the National Association of Patent Practitioners forum in the US, and coordinates the Discussion of Patents meetup for free basic patent education for entrepreneurs.

 
 

paul ragusa

Paul Ragusa is a Partner in the Intellectual Property section of Baker Bott’s New York office. His practice encompasses high technology and Hatch-Waxman patent litigation, patent portfolio management, counseling and licensing.

His diverse technical experience spans audiovisual compression and transmission, semiconductor device fabrication, nanotechnology, software, techniques for delivering pharmaceutical products and medical devices. He was part of the team that drafted the patent licensing agreements directed to the MPEG-2 digital video compression standard, and continues to focus on Standards Setting Organizations (SSOs) and related licensing, including 802.11, ARIB, ATSC, AV1, AVC, Blu-ray, CRISPR, DASH, DisplayPort, IETF, HEVC, LTE, MVC and UHDTV.

Paul earned his BS in Physics from the State University of New York at Binghamton with honors, Sigma Pi Sigma, and his JD from the George Washington University School of Law with high honors, Order of the Coif. He was a Member of the George Washington Journal of International Law & Economics and the Moot Court Board, and the Prettyman-Leventhal American Inn of Court.

Paul is admitted to practice in New York State, United States Patent and Trademark Office, United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and United States District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Disctricts of New York.


 
 
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jim ribeiro

Jim Ribeiro is a Partner in our Electronics, Computing & Physics group. He is also head of our Aerospace and Defence group and our Semiconductor Fabrication Group.

Jim has experience in a variety of sectors, including metrology in the semiconductor fabrication industry, wind turbines, electronics, computing, telecommunications, aerospace and defence, medical devices and scientific instruments.

Jim has acted for clients in the aircraft, scanning probe microscopy, medical imaging and submersible vehicle sectors. He has advised a variety of clients, ranging from start-ups and universities to larger companies based in Europe, the US and Japan.

Notable achievements include a number of successful oppositions, acting both for the opponent and the patent owner. Jim has also assisted in the development of patent portfolios for a number of companies which were subsequently purchased by large corporates on the strength of their patent portfolios.

Jim’s breadth of technical experience gives him the ability to deal with a wide range of technologies.

Jim has a first class honours degree in Physics from Bristol University. He trained at a firm of patent attorneys in London from 1992 to 1998, where he qualified as a UK Patent Agent and European Patent Attorney. He then worked in New Zealand until 2004, returning home in November 2004 to join Withers & Rogers’ where he became a partner in 2006.

Jim is a keen pianist and has performed as a soloist and in various bands. His current band is available for weddings, birthdays and bar mitzvahs…

 
 
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GRANT RITZ

Grant Ritz is Director and AGC for IP Transactions at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Grant manages a team of patent attorneys supporting IP-intensive transactions worldwide, including those involving the creation, use, licensing and transfer of technology and IP. Grant began his legal career as a patent attorney at Pravel, Hewitt, Kimball & Krieger in Houston, Texas writing patent applications for Compaq, later, moving to Compaq and eventually HP/HPE.  During his tenure at HP/HPE, Grant has held a variety of roles involving patent development, transactions, disputes, IP litigation and IP strategy.

Grant received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln; an MBA from the University of Dallas; and a law degree from Texas Wesleyan University School of Law.  He is licensed to practice in Texas and Colorado, and is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Prior to law school, he worked for Texas Instruments, E-Systems and Advanced Micro Devices as an electrical engineer where he designed electronics and wrote firmware.



 
 
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Rodger Sadler

Rodger Sadler is Managing Counsel at Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America in Silicon Valley. A technology, business, and IP attorney, Rodger honed his legal expertise during thirteen years as an IP litigator at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe in New York. 

Rodger also has extensive in-house experience. Before joining Mercedez-Benz, he worked with digital, fintech, and AI-focused product development and business teams at BMO Financial Group and Mastercard. Prior to that, he worked with Canon, advising digital imaging teams in Europe, Asia, and the U.S. on technology contracting, joint development, and IP protection, licensing, and litigation issues. 

While at Canon, Rodger worked with IP colleagues from Google, Dropbox, and others to help spearhead the launch and growth of the LOT Network -- a fast-growing and global initiative aimed at protecting companies from the threat of litigation from Patent Assertion Entities -- where he remains an active Advisory Board Member. 



 
 
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DALPREET SALUJA

Dalpreet Saluja is Lead Counsel, Products and Technology Transactions at Cruise, a self-driving tech company. Originally an IP attorney, Dalpreet has substantial legal experience in the automotive industry. Early on in his career, he was a patent prosecutor at the largest IP boutique in Michigan handling the global infotainment patent portfolio for an OEM in the early days of this technology. Prior to joining Cruise, he was at Harman and Visteon where he served in various roles of increasing responsibility within the legal department including leadership positions in IP and non-IP roles. In his current role, he has responsibility for product counseling and tech transactions primarily supporting Cruise's engineering and supply chain teams.


 
 

RALPH SHROEDER

Ralph Schroeder is President of RightHub North America.  In his role, Ralph works with RightHub's clients across the range of solutions including IP systems, data, automation, and analytics.  Ralph also oversees RightHub's managed service offerings in prosecution docketing, renewals, foreign filing, formalities, and other operational support activities.  RightHub leads the adoption of Managed IP Operations as a forward-thinking approach to optimizing the performance of IP operations.

Ralph has been practicing IP law and operations for over 25 years.  An early contributor to the discipline of intellectual asset management, Ralph has been fortunate to work with many leading innovator and brand companies, law firms, solution providers, and industry thought leaders.  Prior to its acquisition by RightHub, Ralph was the founder of Helios IP, a leading provider of IP systems and services.  Ralph's career has also included roles with Beigel & Sandler, PwC, Delphion, Dennemeyer, Anaqua, and Hyperion Global Partners. 

Ralph has a J.D. from the Chicago Kent College of Law, with emphasis in intellectual property, and a B.Sc. in Biology from Illinois State University, where he was a Robert G. Bone scholar and NCAA Academic All American honoree.

 
 

Laura sheridan

Laura Sheridan is Senior Patent Counsel at Google where she focuses on patent policy and manages a team focused on patent strategy. As a registered patent attorney, Laura was previously in private practice where she specialized in patent prosecution, litigation, IP due diligence, and post-grant practice before the Patent Office. She speaks regularly on patent challenges under the AIA, the patent reform landscape, and defensive strategies against non-practicing entities. Laura studied engineering at Cornell University and received her JD from Fordham Law School.

 
 

CHUCK SHOLTZ

Chuck Sholtz, J.D., Ph.D. has 30 years of IP experience representing clients in both law firm and corporate settings in patent and other intellectual property matters.  He is currently Vice President, Intellectual Property at Nutcracker Therapeutics and co-teaches a Biotechnology Law class at Santa Clara University School of Law.

Prior to Nutcracker, Chuck was Director, Biosimilars, and Manufacturing IP Lead at Genentech, heading up a team of patent agents and attorneys supporting Genentech’s cell culture, process development and manufacturing organizations.  In his role, Chuck also participated on the team managing Genentech’s response in the JHL trade secrets misappropriations case.

Before Genentech, Chuck served as Vice President, Intellectual Property at Coherus Biosciences, a biosimilars company, where he developed FTO positions for potential new products and managed both patent and trade secrets litigation. 

Prior to Coherus, Chuck spent 8 years as an IP attorney at Amgen in a number of roles, including Large Molecule Team co-lead and Neuroscience Therapeutic Area IP Team Lead.

Chuck earned a B.S. in Cell & Molecular Biology and a B.S.E. in Engineering Science (Bioengineering) from the University of Michigan, a Masters degree in Physiology from Yale University, a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Stanford University, and a J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law.

 
 
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bryan sinclair

Bryan Sinclair is the Senior Director of IP Litigation at Cisco Systems, Inc, one of the world’s largest networking companies. As head of IP Litigation at Cisco, Bryan leads a team that manages all patent, copyright and trade secret cases in district courts, the ITC, and the Federal Circuit as well as IPR proceedings in the PTAB.

Bryan has 25 years of experience as a litigator and prior to joining Cisco in 2017, was an IP litigation partner at K&L Gates and resident in the Palo Alto office. Bryan obtained his J.D. degree from St. Thomas University School of Law and a B.A. from Southern Methodist University. Immediately following graduation from law school, Bryan had the honor of serving as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Peter T. Fay of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

 
 
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SRIHARI SK

Srihari SK is Partner at K&S Partners, based in Gurgaon, India outside New Delhi. Srihari handles patent drafting and prosecution in the areas of electronics, telecommunication, computer science, electrical, electromechanical and instrumentation engineering. 

Srihari renders opinions on issues of patentability, freedom to operate, invalidity, infringement, due diligence and technology trends for clients. He also specializes in filing and prosecuting design applications.

He regularly appears before the Indian Patent Office and the Intellectual Property Appellate Board in connection with prosecution and enforcement of patent rights.

Professional Membership(s)

  • Bar Council of Delhi

Languages

English, Hindi, Tamil and Kannada

Qualification

  • LL.B

  • B.E. (Electronics & Communications)

  • Registered Patent Agent

 
 
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Stephanie Southwick

Stephanie Southwick is an Investment Manager and Legal Counsel for Bentham IMF. Prior to joining the company's San Francisco office in 2019, Stephanie was the Managing Partner of Greenfield Southwick LLP, a boutique business and intellectual property litigation firm. She is experienced in representing start-ups, tech companies, VCs, manufacturers, real estate developers, family offices, directors and officers and professional partnerships in business torts, contract disputes, trade secret cases, founder disputes, and employment matters.

Stephanie's guiding principle is "do not stop at the obvious. Whether shaping a legal theory or uncovering a witness, creative strategy is key to achieving results." She brings this approach into her litigation funding deal structuring and diligence process, partnering with claimants and law firms to design deals that work for all parties involved and facilitate the pursuit of optimal litigation outcomes.

Stephanie assesses investments with the eyes of an experienced litigator who has won many verdicts and dispositive motions and achieved favorable settlement outcomes for her clients. She applies the knowledge she gained in the courtroom and at the negotiating table to guide Bentham's funded clients and their counsel on the tactics most likely to achieve their desired outcomes, serving as a strategic resource when her advice is sought.
 
Stephanie earned her JD, with honors, from The George Washington University Law School where she was a member of the George Washington International Law Review. She studied International Human Rights Law at The University of Oxford and The George Washington University, and she earned her BA in International Political Economy from the University of Washington.

 
 
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Wayne Stacy

As the Regional Director of the USPTO’s Silicon Valley Regional Office, Wayne Stacy carries out the strategic direction of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, and is responsible for leading the USPTO's West Coast regional office in Silicon Valley. Focusing on the region and actively engaging with the community, Mr. Stacy ensures the USPTO’s initiatives and programs are tailored to the region's unique ecosystem of industries and stakeholders.

Prior to joining the USPTO, Mr. Stacy was a partner in the Baker Botts Intellectual Property group. With a computer-engineering background, he has over twenty years of experience litigating high-stakes technology cases, including patent, trade secret, software-based copyright, and technology-licensing disputes. He has served as the lead lawyer in numerous jury trials. 

For almost two decades, Mr. Stacy has dedicated his spare time to teaching law students about the realities of litigating technology cases. He has been an adjunct professor at four universities, teaching patent law, patent litigation, copyright law, and PTAB practice. Mr. Stacy also devotes significant time to improving the legal community. He has served on Federal Court local-rule committees, drafting patent local rules. He also served as faculty for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, where he has taught a variety of courses from deposition skills to his favorite course, trial skills for public service attorneys.