LES Local Chapter Events

LES Silicon Valley Event: Protecting Your Secret Sauce!

Protecting Your Secret Sauce! Techniques & Technologies for Securing Your Systems, Data, & Intellectual Assets Against Hacking, Theft, & Industrial Espionage” was the topic for LES Silicon Valley Chapter event. Sponsored by Rambus at their Sunnyvale, California offices on October 16, almost 60 attendees learned from an all-star panel that included a Special Agent from the FBI.

The panel was moderated by Stefan Tamme, VP IP Strategy & Licensing, Rambus and included Adelaida Hernandez, Special Agent, FBI; Lee Gardner, IP Counsel, Google; Elizabeth McBride, Managing Director, Global Litigation, Investigations & IP, Applied Materials; and Neeraj Paliwal, VP Security Products, Rambus. These experts discussed knowledge and data as key assets in modern companies, and highlighted the fact that protection of our IT infrastructure and the information that resides on it is becoming ever more critical. They also presented ways to protect against external attacks and inside jobs. Hernandez explained how the FBI can help when things go wrong.

Larry Udell, LES Silicon Valley Co-Chair was impressed with each presenter’s credentials and their ability to discuss how their company or organization/FBI confronts protecting their “Secret Sauce.” He said, “They turned a critical subject that affects millions into how to create the invisible wall(s) of protection. This is an important enough subject that every chapter should be presenting and how LES is involved world-wide.”

Thanks to LES Chapter Leaders Co-Chair, Lawrence J. Udell CLP, Chapter Founder; Co-Chair, Ron Laurie, InventionShare; Co- Chair, Membership Chair-Michael N. Zachary, Bunsow De Mory LLP; Program Chair, Stefan Tamme, Rambus, Inc.; and Martha Casey for organizing this event.

LES New Jersey: Open Innovation: How Life Sciences And Tech Companies Can Work With New Jersey Universities

Open Innovation: How Life Sciences and Tech Companies can work with New Jersey Universities" was the topic at the LES New Jersey Chapter event on September 11. It was a joint effort between LES and Bio New Jersey, with panelists representing Princeton, Rutgers and New Jersey Innovation Institute. The event was held at the Rutgers Club in Piscataway, New Jersey.

The audience of more than 50 attendees heard real case studies and best practices from members of corporate engagement departments of Princeton, NJIT and Rutgers, as well as healthcare investors and corporate development professionals active in technology and pharma.

Panelists included: Vincent Smeraglia, Executive Director, Office of Research Commercialization at Rutgers University; Sacha Patera, Associate Vice President, Rutgers Corporate Engagement Center; Judith Sheft, Associate Vice President Strategic Relationships and External Affairs at New Jersey Institute of Technology; Spencer Reynolds, Senior Associate Director at Princeton University; Alan Naidoff, Founder and President of InnovationAdventure, L.L.C.; Akan Oton, Managing Director, Sector Head - Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare at Barings; and Arturo Pizzaro of Siemens.

Much appreciation goes to LES Chapter Chair Lina Lahoz of Teva Pharmaceutical for organizing this event.

Panel from far left: Akan Oton, Sacha Patera, Spencer Reynolds, Judith Sheft, Arturo Pizzaro with Vincent Smeraglia moderating at the podium.

More than 50 attendees heard real case studies and best practices from members of corporate engagement departments of Princeton NJIT, and Rutgers.

LES San Diego: Making The BIG Exit

“Making the BIG Exit: Maximize Return of Investmensts Made in Your IP on Exit,” was the exciting topic discussed by a panel of experts in San Diego on September 12 in an evening presentation at the offices of Knobbe Martens. They explained, to an audience of 30 attendees, how to ensure that critical IP assets effectively increase the value of your business when making the big exit.

The presenters included Mark Abumeri, Partner, Knobbe Martens; Stephen Robertson, Founder & Director, Metis Partners; and Michael Rodman, CEPA, Exit Planning Institute.

Tom Cowan, Co-Chair LES San Diego said, “The event provided a wide-ranging survey of intellectual property, including legal aspects of intellectual property, how to identify and value a company’s intellectual property, and how to leverage intellectual property upon exit of the company. The three speakers provided valuable insights into each of their respective topics.”

Thanks to Co-Chairs: Tom Cowan and Benjamin Anger of Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear, LLP; and Education Chair, Vasu K. Pestonjamasp for their LES efforts in San Diego. And a special thanks to Knobbe Martens, Intellectual Property Law Firm for sponsoring the event.

Mark Abumeri, presenting on the basics of intellectual property.

Members enjoy a social gathering with speakers after the meeting.

LES San Francisco: What’s Happened in the Past Year? Licensing and Litigating SEPs, RAND and FTC v. Qualcomm

What’s Happened in the Past Year? Licensing and Litigating SEPs, RAND and FTC v. Qualcomm,” this question was answered in San Francisco on September 12 in a lunch networking event at the offices of Ocean Tomo.

The speakers were Joseph Yang, Tech & IP Transaction Attorney at PatentEsque Law Group LLP; Khue Hoang, Partner at Reichman Jorgensen LLP; Rick C. Chang, Partner at Morgan Franich Redkin Siamas & Kays LLP. The program consisted of licensing standards-essential patents as big business and that parties often cannot agree on a RAND royalty rate. Thus, many important cases concerning RAND are decided in the courts.

The expert panel summarized, compared and contrasted recent U.S., European and Asian RAND court decisions, including guidance for negotiation behavior, license structure, royalty rates, essentiality determinations, reasonableness, and (non-)discrimination. They concluded with a discussion of the recent, groundbreaking (and controversial) FTC v. Qualcomm case that has sent shockwaves through the industry.

The event was sponsored by Ocean Tomo and organized by Justin Lewis, LES San Francisco Chapter Chair, with photos by Zach Malone, Director at Ocean Tomo.

Speakers from left: Rick C. Chang, Joseph Yang and Khue Hoang

Participants at the chapter event.