More LES Local Chapter Meetings

LES Washington D.C. Chapter Event

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

On October 2, 2019, the Greater Washington, D.C. Chapter had an event in Montgomery County, Maryland featuring Henry Wixon, Chief Counsel at NIST, the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Henry spoke at length about NIST’s objectives under the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 with respect to inventions made under cooperative research and development agreements. He discussed the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 with respect to rights in inventions made with federal funding. He also spoke about NIST’s current goals, set forth in a green paper, regarding steps to modernize the U.S. system of technology transfer and innovation for the 21st century.

The event was the first of this sort, and despite being early in morning—8 to 9 a.m.—was well attended. It was a combined effort of the LES Wash. D.C. Chapter, the Maryland State Bar Association IP Section, the Patent Lawyers Club of Washington, D.C., and the Bar Association of Montgomery County IP Section. The event was sponsored in part by Shulman Rogers and held at their offices. Washington D.C. Event

On October 26, 2019, a delegation of Japanese judges from the Japan Patent Office (JPO) and senior officers of the Japanese Patent Attorneys Association (JPAA) met with LES leaders in Washington, D.C. The group included Bob Held, LES Past- President; Gary Fedorochko, LES President; Gillian Fenton, LES President-Elect; John Paul, LESI President-Elect; Raymond Van Dyke, LES Washington, D.C. Chair; and Steve Holzen and Thomas Wiesman, who both serve on the Advisory Council for the LES D.C. Chapter. This event was the result of a request by the JPAA and JPO to meet with other groups in D.C. Raymond Van Dyke coordinated the event.

Left to right, Emily Billig, Chair of the MSBA IP Section; Michael Greenberg, former Chair of the BAMC IP Section; Henry Wixon, the speaker; Raymond Van Dyke, LES Washington D.C. Chapter Chair; and Thomas Wiesman, who serves on the Advisory Council for the LES DC Chapter.

Henry Wixon spoke about NIST’s objectives under the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 at the chapter event.

LES Orange County: The Microsemi Story: Growth, Success, And Acquisition Insights From A $10 Billion Deal, One Of OC’s Largest

The Microsemi Story: Growth, Success, and Acquisition Insights From a $10 Billion Deal, One of OC’s Largest” was the topic of the LES Orange County lunch on October 3, held at the Knobbe Martens offices in Irvine, California.

The speakers were James J. Peterson, former Chairman and CEO, Microsemi Corporation and David Goren, former General Counsel, Microsemi Corporation. Almost 50 attendees learned about the factors contributing to the success of a Southern California semiconductor giant.

Paul Conover, LES Orange County Chapter Chair said, “It was great. We heard from the former CEO and GC of Microsemi, which was acquired last year for $10 billion. This team performed over 30 acquisitions and emphasized the importance of managing IP well and treating staff and employees with care, as the secrets of their success.” Sponsored by Knobbe Martens.

LES Iowa: Trademarks In Traditional Business and Evolving Social Media

LES Iowa hosted “Trademarks in Traditional Business and Evolving Social Media” on November 4 at the Iowa State University Research Foundation, Inc. in Ames, Iowa. More than 20 attendees heard from speakers Brandon Clark and Christine Lebron-Dykeman, both of McKee, Voorhees & Sease, PLC.

They presented an overview of practical approaches and strategies for navigating the use of social media with respect to trademarks. Examples and highlights of recent issues with social media influencers were given and how to protect yourself and your brand when dealing with social media.

On the traditional business side, they covered drafting trademark license agreements from both a licensor and licensee perspective. Consideration of key provisions, such as indemnification and insurance requirements, best practices and common pitfalls were also shown.

“A lot of information was presented in the areas of trademarks in social media and also traditional business use; there were many questions answered and we were pleased to have access to so much expertise!” said Donna E. Johns, Education Chair, LES Iowa.

Donna was the main organizer, with support from LES Iowa President, Jill Link of McKee, Voorhees & Sease, PLC.

More than 20 attendees heard from speakers Brandon Clark and Christine Lebron-Dykeman, both of McKee, Voorhees & Sease, PLC.

LES Montreal Chapter Event

By Martin Couillard, LES Montreal Co-Chair and Advisor at the Research and Knowledge Transfer Office of HEC Montréal

Biotech Opportunities and Challenges in China

On September 18, the Montreal Chapter had the privilege of welcoming Alicia Hong, counsel at McDermott Will & Emery in Germany and expert on China-related corporate transactions in the life sciences industry.

Her presentation started with an overview of Chinese market opportunities, where China has grown into the world’s secondlargest pharmaceutical industry. It is estimated that the healthcare spending in China will reach $1 trillion by 2020, and $2.3 trillion by 2030. Given the size of the overall market, it does make sense to consider the opportunities in China.

A series of facts was presented to explain why the healthcare market is growing so fast, including improved R&D capabilities and the regulatory environment, as well as a better protection of IP rights, both on a legislative and enforcement level.

In conclusion, by using case studies, Alicia showed us that the Chinese market is substantial, provides great opportunities, but is also challenging.

Alicia Hong speaks about opportunities and challenges of the Chinese market.

After her presentation, Alicia Hong was joined on stage by a panel of experts, including Emma Saffman, senior patent agent at BCF; Richard Epstein, partner, lawyer at BCF; and Annie Gauthier, partner and lawyer at BCF, as moderator, to discuss the Canadian perspective of doing business in China.

This special event was generously sponsored by BCF and held in its downtown Montreal office.

The panel (L-R):

Biotechnology and Pharma Companies: on licensing in the biotech sector.

On October 7, 2019, more than 130 people attended a half-day event organized in collaboration with Servier Canada, the Canadian Healthcare Licensing Association, and LES (U.S.A. and Canada), and the Faculté de Pharmacie de l’Université de Montréal. Also on hand were seasoned entrepreneurs, investors and leaders of the biopharmaceutical industry, including Clarissa Desjardins, CEO of Clementia Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Pascal Neuville, CEO of DOMAIN Therapeutics; Jan Schmidt-Brand, CEO and CFO, Heidelberg Pharma; Helen Torley, CEO of Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc.; and Christian Rohlff, CEO of Oxford BioTherapeutics.

This event, hosted by Servier Canada, was about biotech success stories and their interactions with pharma companies to accelerate the pace of innovation in life sciences. The sessions focused on the “toolbox” required to overcome key challenges that face most biotech entrepreneurs, especially during the startup phase. Introductions were given by Frederic Fasano, President Servier Canada; Manon Decelles, President CHLA and Managing Director Pharmdside Strategic Business Advisors; and Annie Gauthier, Partner & Lawyer, BCF Business Law. Panels and/or presentations also included or were given by Alain Herrera, MD (ex-Sanofi Global Oncology Franchise Head, Alain Oncology Consulting); François Thomas, Capital Investor and Entrepreneur; Jean-Pierre Bizzari, MD (ex-SVP Oncology development, Celgene); Didier Landais, Global Head of Licensing, BD&L Servier; Scott Sandler, Vice President of Finance at Oxford BioTherapeutics; and Brian P. O’Shaughnessy, Past-President LES (U.S.A. and Canada), Partner Dinsmore & Shohl LLP.

Full house at Servier Canada for a half day event on “the Biotech toolbox.”

Panel discussion (L-R): Youssef L. Bennani, Clarissa Desjardins, Helen Torley, Jan Schmidt-Brand, Scott Sandler and François Thomas.

LES Seattle

LES Seattle Co-Chair Tatiana (Tanya) Moore

LES Seattle Co-Chairs Tandi Collisson

Alexa, are you following me?

On the heels of a unique and informative presentation on Amazon Alexa partnership enablement by the head of Amazon’s AVS (Alexa Voice Service) business development team, Garrett Glanz, the LES Seattle Chapter is planning more exciting events. If you are in the Seattle area or happen to be passing through, consider stopping by:

• December 10—B2B Music Licensing presentation focused on a music sync licensing marketplace launched by a local startup, SyncFloor. Cestjon McFarland is a cofounder and presenter. It is a perfect complement to our May event on the Music Industry, Digital streaming and IP, presented by David Kaefer, Spotify’s VP of Publishing and Licensing.

• January 28—Cannabis Licensing deals in a new multi-billion-dollar business. Our presenters and hosts at Lane Powell will also make their Portland office available, together with conferencing facilities for local participation.

• Stay tuned for IP considerations in Cloud services deals, presented by Microsoft.

Seattle is a well-known tech and biotech hub. It is now also becoming the Cloud, AI and burgeoning startup center. There is no shortage of content in this IP-rich environment, providing much fodder for our Seattle Chapter.

LES Quebec City

Deep Dive Into IP In The Context Of Data-Driven Technologies

On November 20, 2019, the Quebec City Chapter organized a two-hour legal and technical presentation on all aspects of IP in the context of data-driven technologies, from open source licenses on software and development of AI models, to data licensing in many different contexts. More than 40 people attended the event at Le Camp, one of Quebec City’s busiest technology incubators. The event was sponsored by ROBIC and broadcast through many technology and IP associations’ networks.

Speakers at the event: Vincent Bergeron (at podium), Vincent Caron and Jean-François Normand, all lawyers at ROBIC LLP. Missing from the photo is Jean- François Journaul.

LES Toronto

The Art of Effective IP Portfolio Management

The LES Toronto Chapter organized a dynamic and informative panel session on managing your valuable patent and other IP rights, with a focus on startup and SME innovative technology companies. Held on November 5 at TorysLLP, the speakers included Thanh Vuong, Ainslie Little and Edward Fan. Thanks to Chapter leaders: Karen Temple, Ekaterina Logunov and Phil Goldbach for organizing the event.