Local Chapter Events

LES San Diego Event: Cannabis—The Legal Landscape

Meeting Co-Chair Tom Cowan

Meeting Co-Chair Benjamin Anger

Cannabis—The Legal Landscape was the title of LES San Diego’s June 4 event held at Knobbe Martens offices. The expert panel discussion touched on a variety of legal issues related to state legalization of cannabis, including intellectual property (patents and trademarks), licensing, regulations, criminal laws, and federal/state law conflicts.

With the growth of statewide legalization of marijuana and other cannabis based products around the country, patrons, producers, innovators, and executives alike in cannabis related fields are unsure of the risks and the returns of investments in the cannabis industry. Chapter Co-Chair Tom Cowan observed, “An interesting aspect is that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is generally amenable to patents on cannabis and so-called ‘plant-touching’ inventions, but it remains somewhat unamenable to many plant-touching trademark applications. However, there is still recourse to protect a cannabis business’s intellectual property assets. Specialists in intellectual property law can help guide clients looking to protect their brand and innovations in this area.”

The panel consisted of Dr. Dale Hunt, Plant Scientist and Patent Attorney, Plant & Planet Law Firm; Jessica McElfresh, Attorney, McElfresh Law, Inc.; and David Branfman, Attorney, Branfman Law Group, P.C.

Co-Chairs Tom Cowan and Benjamin Anger both with Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear, LLP organized the event.

Tom Cowan moderates the panel. From left, Jessica McElfresh, David Branfman and Dr. Dale Hunt at the San Diego Chapter event.

LES Philly: Understanding and Negotiating Equity Agreements in Tech Deals—What Do You Need To Know?

Harry Vartanian, Chapter Chair

Michael Poisel

Marc Singer

What does a founder, executive, or investor need to know about equity related agreements in tech? That was the question answered at the LES Philly Chapter Event on July 23 at Wodify Technologies.

Michael Poisel, Director of the Penn Center of Innovation (PCI) Ventures and Marc Singer, Managing Partner of Osage University Partners (OUP), reviewed the terms of stock purchase agreements, investor rights agreements and other common equity agreements in tech deals. Topics also included participating preferred equity, dividends, tag along and drag along rights, etc.

Chapter Chair Harry Vartanian organized the event and said, “Mike and Marc’s presentation was interesting, functioning as a minicourse on equity agreements delivered in just 40 minutes.” The event attracted 25 attendees and was held at the Wodify event space in the heart of new Market East in Philly.

Michael Poisel from PCI addresses the group.

LES Philly leaders from left: Griffin Strader, Robert Leonard, Harry Vartanian, and Herbert Hoffman.

LES Washington D.C. Chapter Event

By Raymond Van Dyke, LES Washington D.C. Chapter Chair

On August 6, the Greater Washington, D.C. Chapter of the LES hosted Christina Daves an expert on public relations (PR) and media exposure. Her talk was titled, “How to Get PR Famous in Your Industry.” She spoke on ways to take advantage of publicity and social media opportunities. For anyone interested in better visibility in the marketplace, Christina had ideas that can transform existing ways of doing things. She spoke about numerous case histories showcasing people marketing themselves and their products in the new media. She also gave steps to accomplish this. For example, Christina had an idea to accessorize medical boots, such as the strap-on kind for foot injuries. Through her efforts, Diana Ross used her invention, and through this, she appears on television regularly. Sidley Austin hosted the evening meeting.

Tom Weisman (left), Advisory Counsel to Chapter; Ray Van Dyke, Chapter Chair; Christina Daves, speaker and Steve Holzen.

Christina Daves, an expert on public relations and media exposure speaks at the LES Washington D.C. event.

LES Wisconsin Holds Dual Presentations By Russell Levine

Russell Levine with co-chairs, Kevin P. Boggs and Jennifer Souter.

LES Wisconsin Chapter welcomed Russell Levine, IP expert and LES Past-President, for an up-to-date presentation and discussion of the top 10 mistakes commonly made in drafting and negotiating patent license agreements. It was held June 20 at the Edgewater Hotel in Madison, Wisconsin over lunch, then again in the evening at the University Club in Milwaukee.

Russell analyzed court decisions, as these reported decisions from actual court cases expose mistakes commonly made when drafting and negotiating patent license agreements. These common mistakes include: using ambiguous language to define key terms, failing to ensure consistency between clauses, and thinking that “boilerplate” provisions have little, if any, substantive consequences. Court decisions also reveal a failure to recognize that different terms have different legal meaning, e.g. assignment vs. change of control, and to understand the different legal implications of mechanisms to alter an existing agreement, e.g. terminating it and entering into a new agreement vs. amending the existing agreement. Russell Levine with co-chairs, Kevin P. Boggs and Jennifer Souter. Audience at LES Wisconsin event listens to Russell Levine’s presentation on patent license agreements.

Audience at LES Wisconsin event listens to Russell Levine’s presentation on patent license agreements.