LES Honors 15th Annual Deals of Distinction™ Award Winners

from LES Viewpoints December 2019 Edition

by Licensing Executives Society (U.S.A. and Canada), Inc.

2019 Phoenix Meeting Recap

Business deals in fusion power, patent pool transactions, pediatric disease and RNAi therapies recognized in Phoenix, Arizona

LES announced the recipients of its Deals of Distinction™ Awards in four industry sectors. The annual program, now in its fifteenth year, recognizes the LES member companies that orchestrate the year’s most outstanding licensing and business deals in each sector. The awards were presented during the LES Annual Meeting Award Luncheon, October 21, 2019, at the Phoenix JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa. Several key dealmakers were on hand to provide insights on their winning deals.

“Through well-organized commercialization of intellectual property, we can drive growth across all business sectors in our global economy, from traditional business products to emerging product technologies. The 2019 award winners demonstrate exciting and impactful innovations within the licensing industry, and we are pleased to recognize their success,” said Bob Held, LES Past-President and Chair. “At our Annual Meeting in Phoenix, we celebrated these deals in a variety of ways, as well as hearing from our members and the dealmakers themselves, about the key aspects of those deals. Our thanks go to the Awards Committee for highlighting the continued achievements of LES members.”

This year’s Deals of Distinction™ Award recipients included:

• Chemicals, Energy, Environment & Materials Sector (CEEM): Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Commonwealth Fusion Systems—MIT and Commonwealth Fusion Systems launched a novel approach to fusion power.

• High Technology Sector: Sisvel International S.A. and RPX Corporation—“Aggregator meets Aggregator:” Sisvel and RPX ink major Wi-Fi standard essential patent (SEP) licensing deal that streamlines the number of transactions in a Patent Pool.

• Industry-University-Government Interface Sector (IUGI): OregonHealth & Science University and the University of Pittsburgh;Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc.—highlighting the capabilities andtalents of academia and industry in advancing a drug for a rarepediatric disease.

• Life Sciences Sector: Dicerna Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly andCompany—Global licensing and research collaboration focused onthe discovery, development and commercialization of RNAi therapiesin cardio-metabolic disease, neurodegeneration and pain.See photos from the event at https://lesmeetings.org. Previous honorees and their award-winning deals are listed at www.lesusacanada.org/?dda.