Andrei Iancu
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the US Patent and Trademark Office
In his role as the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Andrei Iancu provides leadership and oversight to one of the largest intellectual property offices in the world, with more than 12,000 employees and an annual budget of over $3 billion. He also serves as the principal advisor to the Secretary of Commerce on domestic and international intellectual property policy matters.
Prior to joining the USPTO, Mr. Iancu was the Managing Partner at Irell & Manella LLP, where his practice focused on intellectual property litigation. Mr. Iancu appeared in a variety of high-profile matters in front of the USPTO, U.S. district courts, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the U.S. International Trade Commission. He has represented clients across the technical and scientific spectra, including those associated with medical devices, genetic testing, therapeutics, the internet, telephony, TV broadcasting, video game systems, and computer peripherals.
Mr. Iancu has also taught patent law at the UCLA School of Law, and has written and spoken publicly on a variety of intellectual property issues. Prior to his legal career, Mr. Iancu was an engineer at Hughes Aircraft Company.
Throughout his career, many organizations have recognized Mr. Iancu for his work. Among his legal community accolades, the Daily Journal, California Lawyer magazine, Los Angeles Business Journal, Chambers USA, Best Lawyers in America, and many others have acknowledged his expertise in commercial litigation and intellectual property law. Mr. Iancu has also been the recipient of the Patent and Trademark Office Society 36th Annual Rossman Award, the Hughes Aircraft Malcolm R. Currie Innovation Award, and the Melville B. Nimmer Copyright Award.
Mr. Iancu holds a Juris Doctor from the UCLA School of Law. He also has a Master of Science in mechanical engineering and a Bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering, both from UCLA.
Mr. Iancu was born in Bucharest, Romania. He has lived in the United States since the age of 12. He and his wife, Dr. Luiza C. Iancu, have two children, Ariella and Robert.
Judge Rader
Chief Judge
For over 25 years, Judge Rader has been a leading thought leader in the field of intellectual property law and jurisprudence. His work as Chief Judge, his publications and his work teaching patent law globally to students, judges and government officials has left an indelible mark on the field of IP law and the protection of IP rights throughout the world.
Judge Rader was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit by President George H. W. Bush in 1990 and assumed the duties of Chief Judge on June 1, 2010. He was appointed to the United States Claims Court (now the U. S. Court of Federal Claims) by President Ronald W. Reagan in 1988. Before appointment to the Court of Federal Claims, former Chief Judge Rader served as Minority and Majority Chief Counsel to Subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. From 1975 to 1980, he served as Counsel in the House of Representatives for representatives serving on the Interior, Appropriations, and Ways and Means Committees. Judge Rader stepped down from Chief Judge position on May 30, 2014 and retired from the bench on June 30, 2014.
Since leaving the bench, Judge Rader has founded the Rader Group, focusing on arbitration, mediation, and legal consulting and legal education services. Since 2014, Judge Rader has presiding over major arbitration under UCC rules in Paris; conducted mediations to settle ongoing litigation; joined law faculty at Tsinghua University; conducted full-credit course at leading law schools in D.C., Seattle, Santa Clara, Bangkok, Seoul, Tokyo, Munich, consulted with major corporations and law firms on IP policy and litigation, and advised foreign governments on international IP standards. He continues to advocate improvements in innovation policy through speaking engagements worldwide.
Judge Rader’s most prized title may well be “Professor Rader.” As Professor, Judge Rader has taught courses on patent law and other advanced intellectual property courses at The George Washington University Law School, University of Virginia School of Law, Georgetown University Law Center, the Munich Intellectual Property Law Center, and other university programs in Tokyo, Taipei, New Delhi, and Beijing. He received a B.A. in English from Brigham Young University in 1974 and a J.D. from George Washington University Law School in 1978.
Jonathan Anschell
Jonathan H. Anschell serves as Executive Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Secretary for CBS Corporation. Mr. Anschell oversees the Company’s securities, corporate governance, executive compensation, ERISA and real estate matters, and assists the Chief Legal Officer with respect to Board of Directors matters. Mr. Anschell also supervises the CBS Law Department’s intellectual property and labor and employment practice groups.
In addition to his corporate role, Mr. Anschell serves as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of CBS Broadcasting Inc. In that capacity, Mr. Anschell oversees the legal affairs and standards and practices functions for the Company’s televised entertainment and news operations.
Before joining CBS in 2004, Mr. Anschell was a partner in White O’Connor Curry LLP, a Los Angeles law firm, where he maintained a trial and appellate practice with particular emphasis on entertainment and media-related matters.
Scott Brisbin
VeChain
Scott Brisbin is a lawyer who has extensive experience handling the business and legal affairs and a wide variety of transactional matters for clients around the world. His institutional clients have included record companies, music publishers, motion picture producers, motion picture production companies, a sports agency and a restaurant management business. His individual clients have included corporate executives, well-known public performers, recording artists, music producers, songwriters, agents and managers, a computer application developer, professional golfers, a sports apparel designer and a golf club designer.
Scott Brisbin’s professional services consists primarily of providing business and legal advice and of negotiating and documenting a wide variety of agreements, such as joint venture agreements, purchase and sale agreements, licensing agreements, employment agreements, contingent compensation agreements, recording agreements, producer agreements, songwriter agreements, co-publishing agreements, foreign income collection agreements and personal management agreements.
Scott Brisbin’s clients have included the “The Rolling Stones” and Mick Jagger, Walt Disney Records, Motown Records, Hollywood Records, Inc., A&M Records, Inc., Metro Goldwin Mayer Pictures, Inc., Almo/Irving Music, Jobete Music Company, Kadokawa Shoten Publishing Co. Ltd. (in Japan), Scotty Cameron, John Ashworth, LPGA members Suzann Pettersen and Anna Nordqvist, and, in China, the China Ladies Professional Golf Association, Sports & Entertainment Asia, the New York Style Group and Shanghai Weilian Information Technology Co., Ltd. (also known as “VeChain”).
Christopher Broderick
Chris Broderick in a partner in Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP’s Los Angeles office. Chris counsels companies on intellectual property law matters that primarily involve patent infringement, patent license negotiations, patent acquisition and patent monetization. Chris frequently represents Japan’s top consumer electronics companies in highly technical intellectual property matters including litigating and settling numerous patent lawsuits involving SEPs for smartphones and other consumer electronics manufacturers. Prior to becoming an attorney, Chris spent more than a decade engineering satellites, fighter aircraft and space defense systems at Hughes Aircraft (now part of Boeing Satellite Systems International Inc.) and Northrop Grumman Corporation.
Amy Burke
Amy Burke is an Associate at Theodora Oringher. Amy is an experienced business litigator, representing clients in actions involving trademark and copyright infringement, contract disputes, false advertising, unfair competition, employment matters, violations of the California Health & Safety Code, and complex construction disputes. She practices in state and federal courts, as well as before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
Amy also advises both emerging and established businesses on intellectual property protection, regulatory compliance, and key contracts. Amy implements innovative and efficient strategies to protect and enforce her clients’ trademarks and copyrights both domestically and internationally. She advises clients on product labeling and advertising, offering practical solutions for federal and California regulatory compliance. She also drafts and negotiates key business agreements, including trademark licenses, international distribution agreements, and commercial leases.
Amy specializes in working with clients in the personal care products industry. Amy has been an invited speaker and instructor to industry organizations on critical California regulations such as Prop. 65 and the California Organic Products Act (COPA), as well as domestic and international brand protection.
Cynthia Cohen
Cynthia Cohen, Ph.D. designs consumer studies for trademark infringement cases. Designated as an expert in survey methods, she testified in depositions and has studies admitted into evidence. As a trial consultant since 1985, she began designing online studies in 2006. Dr. Cohen’s education includes psychology degrees at UCLA and USC. Her doctorate from USC is in Educational Psychology with an emphasis on Research Methodology, Communication, and Instructional Psychology. She taught Research Design, as well as Tests and Measurements, to graduate students. For over thirty years, Cynthia Cohen has contributed to the world of psychology and law through her research, consulting, and speaking engagements to bar associations.
Yasser El Gamal
Yasser El-Gamal is the Co-chair of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP’s IP Practice and is the Chair of Manatt’s Patent Litigation and Prosecution Practice. He is a registered patent attorney and has degrees in engineering and bio-technology, and for over 20 years has been a trusted advisor to clients on technology-centric IP matters.
In litigation, Mr. El-Gamal represents clients before federal and state courts, the ITC, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and in ADR proceedings. On the counseling side, Mr. El-Gamal regularly provides practical guidance on IP portfolio management, technology transfer, due diligence, valuation, product development, and IP monetization. As a former U.S. Patent Examiner, Mr. El-Gamal also has a substantial prosecution practice and is often relied upon to develop and implement U.S. and global IP procurement strategies for his clients.
Mr. El-Gamal is an active member of leading IP organizations. He is a member of the Planning Committee for the USC IP Institute, the Planning Committee for LAIPLA, and the Amicus Committee for the OCIPLA, and has served on the Board for the Federal Bar Association. He is also Editor of the Manatt IP Newsletter and frequently presents on IP issues and developments. Before entering the legal profession, Mr. El-Gamal worked as an engineer in the manufacturing and energy industries.
Erin Fonte
Dykema Cox Smith
Twitter: @PaymentsLawyer
Erin F. Fonté is a Member at Dykema Cox Smith and head of the FinTech, Payments and Digital Commerce group and co-head of the firm’s Privacy and Data Security Industry group.
Erin Fonté assists clients with a broad range of matters related to payments/payment systems, digital commerce, banking and financial services (including related legal and regulatory issues), technology/Internet products, privacy and data protection laws, and general corporate matters. Erin regularly advises financial institutions and alternative payment providers regarding mobile banking, mobile payments and mobile wallet products and services. She has been involved in the creation of new payment networks and has worked extensively on products, services and network operating rules related to emerging and mobile payment systems, block chain, artificial intelligence and connected devices and Internet of Things technologies.
She also advises advertisers, marketers and retailers/companies regarding mobile payments and add-on mobile products such as mobile loyalty/rewards and geo-location advertising/coupons/offers. She frequently writes and speaks on payments, mobile payments and privacy/data security issues. You can follow her on Twitter: @PaymentsLawyer
Adam Gill
GLS Capital
Adam Gill is a founder and Managing Director at GLS Capital. GLS Capital provides financing solutions to law firms and their clients involved in commercial, intellectual property and other disputes. In his current and former roles as a litigation funder, Adam has underwritten and managed approximately $200 million in patent litigation-related investments. Before founding GLS Capital, Adam was a Principal at Gerchen Keller Capital, LLC (“GKC”) which he joined in 2013 as its first employee and which became the world’s largest financial firm focused on legal and regulatory risk. Adam led the patent and intellectual property investment team at GKC where he originated, underwrote, structured and closed intellectual property-related investments across a broad spectrum of technologies. When Burford Capital acquired GKC in December 2016, it highlighted GKC’s IP expertise as one of the benefits of the acquisition.
Prior to GKC, Adam was a partner in the patent litigation group at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Chicago. He has a J.D. from the University of California – Hastings and a B.A. from the University of South Carolina.
Eeva Hakoranta
Eeva Hakoranta leads patent licensing at Nokia, heading a global team of licensing professionals managing complex cross-functional licensing and enforcement projects. Nokia has one of the industry’s broadest and strongest IP portfolios, with more than 100 licensees and around €1.6 billion in patent and brand licensing revenue in 2017. Ms Hakoranta is a determined person with a strong professional commitment and has, along with her world class licensing team, played an instrumental role in growing Nokia’s licensing revenues to their present levels.
Before joining Nokia, Ms Hakoranta worked in private practice at the leading Nordic law firm Roschier Attorneys, advising international clients on transactional, IP and technology-related matters, including litigation and arbitration. She joined Nokia in 2006 with the mandate of establishing, building and leading an IP rights legal expert team to work with legal aspects of patent licensing and other IP rights-intensive business transactions. This team worked at the interface between the IP rights function and the Nokia businesses, and participated in a host of cross-functional projects, including major patent licensing transactions and litigation as well as M & A and business initiatives involving technology and patent aspects.
Working for many years at the intersection of business, intellectual property and competition law, Ms Hakoranta has closed hundreds of agreements, managed complex litigation and enforcement projects, and been deeply involved in defining terms for major transactions. During her time at Nokia, the company has transformed from a major handset manufacturer to the leading infrastructure vendor in the market. In her role, she is responsible for managing licensing strategy and operations for one of the telecom industry’s broadest patent portfolios. She is also closely involved in enforcement, regulatory work and business development.
Ms Hakoranta holds an LLM from Helsinki University. She continues to be active in a number of positions of trust within professional organizations and groups in the fields of intellectual property and licensing. She is based in Finland and is fluent in Finnish, Swedish and English.
Tania Hoff
Tania is Senior Vice President, Litigation at NBCUniversal and is the head of television and filmed entertainment litigation for the company. She represents and advises the company in pre-litigation and litigation matters relating to NBCUniversal television, film, and digital properties, including Universal Pictures, Focus Features, Dreamworks Animation, the NBC network, Universal Television, Universal Cable Productions, Wilshire Studios, Bravo, USA, Oxygen, SYFY, E!, Telemundo, Fandango, NBC News, and NBCUniversal owned stations. She has handled cases for NBCUniversal in areas including First Amendment, reporter shield, idea theft, copyright, broadcast liability, and contract, and has been recognized as a “Super Lawyer – Rising Star” by Los Angeles Magazine. She has also served as NBC’s West Coast media lawyer, overseeing news media pre-production and legal issues for the San Diego, Los Angeles, and Bay Area NBC stations.
Prior to joining NBCUniversal, Tania was a litigation associate at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP in Los Angeles, specializing in intellectual property and entertainment matters for clients including Mattel, the Elvis Presley Estate, the Producers Guild of America, the Los Angeles Times, the National Enquirer, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Tania received her J.D. from Yale Law School and a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to attending law school, she worked on national advertising campaigns as an account executive at Leo Burnett USA.
Steve Lamb
Steven A. Lamb is a Partner at Rovens Lamb. Mr. Lamb is a trial lawyer whose practice is focused on complex environmental, intellectual property, commercial, antitrust, and franchise litigation. Mr. Lamb’s clients include public and private companies, brokerage firms, individual business owners, and corporate officers and directors. For example, he has represented one of the nation’s two Class One railroads, one of the world’s largest energy companies, several banks and financial institutions, and real property development companies.
Mr. Lamb has extensive experience trying both jury and bench trials in state and federal courts. He has represented clients before arbitration panels and numerous administrative agencies, to include the California Energy Commission, the California Public Utilities Commission, and FINRA.
Greg Leonard
Gregory K. Leonard is an economist and partner at Edgeworth Economics. Dr. Leonard received an Sc.B. in Applied Mathematics-Economics from Brown University and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a National Science Foundation Fellow and a Sloan Foundation Fellow. Over the course of his career, he has published over sixty papers in the areas of antitrust, industrial organization, econometrics, intellectual property, class certification, and labor economics. Dr. Leonard is a Senior Editor of the Antitrust Law Journal and has served as a referee for numerous economics journals. Dr. Leonard has testified before federal and state courts, the Federal Trade Commission, the Antitrust Modernization Commission, and the International Trade Commission and made invited presentations at the FTC, the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice, DG Competition of the European Commission, the Ministry of Commerce of the PRC, the Supreme People’s Court of the PRC, and the Japan Fair Trade Commission.
Dr. Leonard’s work on intellectual property issues has been cited by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Uniloc) and the Federal Trade Commission (Evolving IP Marketplace). He has served as an expert witness in many of the recent FRAND cases: Ericsson v. D-Link, Microsoft v. Motorola, In re Innovatio, Realtek v. LSI, TCL v. Ericsson, and Unwired Planet v. Samsung (UK).
Doug Lichtman
Doug Lichtman is a tenured professor of law at UCLA. He joined the faculty in 2007, having previously spent ten years teaching and writing at the University of Chicago. His areas of specialty are patent law and copyright law. Lichtman’s academic work has been featured in journals including the Journal of Law & Economics, the Yale Law Journal, and the Harvard Business Review. He also writes for mainstream publications like the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times. In addition to his academic pursuits, Mr. Lichtman maintains an active consulting practice, advising Fortune 100 clients and major institutional investors on patent, copyright and antitrust strategy. He also manages a private litigation finance fund. Professor Lichtman has undergraduate degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from Duke University, and a JD from Yale Law School. He can be reached via email at lichtman@law.ucla.edu.
Mieke Malmberg
Mieke Malmberg is a Partner at Skiermont Derby, LLP where she focuses on complex, high-stakes intellectual property litigation in district courts throughout the United States, Section 337 investigations before the International Trade Commission, and Inter Partes Review proceedings before the PTAB. She is experienced representing both plaintiffs and defendants in patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret disputes, and has a particular expertise in litigating the full spectrum of patent infringement disputes in a wide variety of technologies from single-patent, single-defendant cases to multi-district and multi-defendant actions, including Paragraph IV litigation on behalf of both the generic and the brand, and cases involving the assertion of multiple patents and standards-essential patents. In addition to patent litigation matters, Ms. Malmberg has also handled several trademark, trade secret and copyright matters and she has counseled clients on monetization strategy, due diligence reviews, sales, licensing and indemnity issues relating to intellectual property. Ms. Malmberg is also an expert in practicing before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, from briefing to oral argument.
Ms. Malmberg began her legal career at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and Quinn Emanuel and was a principal at McKool Smith. She earned a B.S. in biochemistry and cell biology and a B.A. in U.S. History from U.C. San Diego and her J.D. from University California Hastings College of the Law where she served as an articles editor on the Hastings Law Journal.
Mark McCarty
Mark McCarty is a partner with Alston & Bird in the firm’s Atlanta office and focuses his practice on complex commercial and antitrust litigation in the telecommunications, technology, and health care sectors. He has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in important, worldwide strategic litigation—including litigation that involves the intersection between intellectual property law and competition law. In the telecommunications industry, he has represented wireless and wireline carriers, cable system operators and telecom equipment manufacturers in a wide range of matters, including putative nationwide class actions, government investigations, interconnection and regulatory disputes, patent licensing and infringement litigation and international arbitration. He has also represented telecommunications clients in legislative or public policy matters before federal, state and local government officials. Mark’s practice also includes cases that involve complicated financial, accounting or damages issues, including large-scale billing and health care reimbursement disputes. In 2014, Mark was named a Client Choice Award winner by International Law Office and Lexology for his excellent client service.
Prior to joining Alston & Bird, Mark served as the vice president – general counsel for Georgia Public Web, Inc., a non-profit, facilities-based provider of broadband services to suburban and rural communities for purposes of education and economic development. Mark also served as the director of corporate accounting for AIG Aviation, Inc., a division of American International Group that is a leading insurer of worldwide commercial aviation risks.
Keith Newburry
Keith A. Newburry is the VP, Chief IP Counsel of Edwards Lifesciences, Inc., based in the company’s world headquarters in Irvine, California. His responsibilities include all North American litigation (IP and non-IP), the intellectual property affairs of the Company, which has several large and diverse businesses with over $2B in sales worldwide. Mr. Newburry’s group handles company issues relating to intellectual property, including IP enforcement and defensive litigations, non-IP litigation, patent, trademark and copyright matters and portfolio management, as well as client counseling.
Mr. Newburry was the Chief Patent Counsel of Avery Dennison Corporation, based in the company’s world headquarters in Pasadena, California. He has presented at events sponsored by the AIPLA, the LAIPLA, the OCPLA, the PLI, and law firms. His responsibilities included the intellectual property affairs of Avery Dennison, which has several large and diverse businesses with over $5B in sales worldwide, including facilities in over 47 countries and sales in over 90 countries.
David Nimmer
David Nimmer is of counsel to Irell & Manella LLP in Los Angeles, California. He also serves as Professor from Practice at UCLA School of Law and Distinguished Scholar at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology. In 2000, he was elected to the American Law Institute.
Since 1985, Prof. Nimmer has authored and updated Nimmer on Copyright, the standard reference treatise in the field, first published in 1963 by his late father, Professor Melville B. Nimmer. The U.S. Supreme Court has cited Nimmer on Copyright on numerous occasions, as has every federal appellate court, countless district and state courts, as well as courts confronting copyright cases in countries across the globe.
Widely recognized as a foremost expert in copyright law, Prof. Nimmer was named one of “The 25 Most Influential People in IP” by The American Lawyer. He has also been named the 2018 Copyright Law “Lawyer of the Year” and the 2013 Los Angeles Litigation Intellectual Property “Lawyer of the Year” by The Best Lawyers in America and one of California’s “Top 10 Copyright Lawyers” by the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal.
Prof. Nimmer represents clients in the entertainment, publishing and high-technology fields. He has twice served as co-counsel representing clients before the U.S. Supreme Court. He received an A.B. with distinction and honors in 1977 from Stanford University and his J.D. in 1980 from Yale Law School, where he served as editor of the Yale Law Journal. Prof. Nimmer also served as the Chairman on the Committee on Intellectual Properties Litigation for the American Bar Association from 1989-1992.
Jerod Partin
Jerod Partin is Director of Business & Legal Affairs at Activision Blizzard, the world’s most successful standalone interactive entertainment company. In his role, he handles a variety of matters for brands like Call of Duty, Destiny and Overwatch. Jerod began his legal career in the Entertainment, Intellectual Property, Technology & Media practice group at Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger LLP, and later served as Executive Director of Business & Legal Affairs at Saban Brands. A speaker and guest lecturer on issues including blockchain technology, intellectual property, licensing and video game law, Jerod has also contributed articles to World Trademark Review, M/E Insights, Law 360 and the Daily Journal. He earned a J.D. from University of Pennsylvania Law School and a B.A. in political science from UCLA.
David Quinto
David Quinto, who helped found Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP in 1986, accepted the position of General Counsel of VidAngel, Inc., a start-up that allows families to choose and filter to their specifications motion pictures that are streamed to them for viewing on virtually all modern platforms. He has represented numerous “Fortune 500” companies, including Avery Dennison, Pitney Bowes, Disney, Edwards Lifesciences, Lockheed Martin, Louis Vuitton, Mattel, Johnson Controls, Hilton Hotels, Warner Bros., Grendene S.A., and Sae-A Trading Co. Ltd., as well as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Producers Guild of America, and the America’s Cup Organizing Committee, in intellectual property matters.
David’s expertise in trade secret, trademark, trade dress, copyright, unfair competition, and complex business disputes has benefited his clients with consistently remarkable results. Always five steps ahead of opposing counsel, David’s foresight in litigation makes him a formidable adversary.
Dave has co-authored, with Stuart Singer, Trade Secrets: Law and Practice, a sophisticated practitioner’s guide to bringing and defending trade secret claims in all U.S. jurisdictions, including choice of venue, Computer Fraud and Abuse Act claims, ancillary remedies, protection of other competitively valuable information, preemption, and criminal remedies. The fifth edition was published in 2017 by LexisNexis; the first two editions were published by Oxford University Press.
David Randall
David A. Randall is a shareholder with Brooks Kushman. Based in the firm’s Los Angeles office, he routinely represents clients in complex IP litigation matters before federal courts throughout the United States, and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. David also frequently assists clients with the development and management of worldwide patent and trademark portfolios, as well as issues concerning product design. He has prosecuted hundreds of patents not only in the United States, but throughout Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. Patents he has prosecuted have been successfully licensed or asserted multiple times.
David’s experience covers a broad range of technologies, including a host of technologies relevant to blockchain based technologies such as data structures and databases for serial data, query systems for complex databases, relational databases, Internet payment systems, and IoT. David has also represented clients with respect to a variety of open source software issues germane to companies developing new blockchain technologies.
David graduated cum laude with his Juris Doctor from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, and he graduated with honors from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Science in Metallurgical Engineering. Before receiving his J.D., he worked as an engineer for both Motorola and Hughes Missile Systems Co.
David has been consistently recognized by Best Lawyers in America as one of the top intellectual property litigators in America. He is also active in the IP community; he co-chaired the 2014 and 2018 LAIPLA Spring Seminar Planning Committees, he has been an active member of the Intellectual Property Owners Association’s U.S. Post-Grant Patent Office Practice Committee since 2013, and he is a member of the Planning Committee for the USC IP Institute.
Judge James Robart
Judge Robart became a United States District Judge for the Western District of Washington in June 2004. Prior to his appointment, he was with Lane Powell in Seattle for 32 years where he served as Chair of the Litigation Department and Managing Partner. He graduated from Whitman College (B.A. 1969) and Georgetown University Law Center (J.D. 1973).
Judge Robart has presided over several notable civil and criminal cases. His opinion in Simmonds v. Credit Suisse, construing the statute of limitations for Section 16(b) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, was reversed by the Ninth Circuit, but adopted by the United States Supreme Court in an 8-0 opinion. He is the judge in United States v. City of Seattle, overseeing a consent decree involving an overhaul of Seattle Police Department practices and procedures. He also authored Microsoft Corp. v. Motorola, Inc., which is the first court opinion in the United States setting reasonable and nondiscriminatory (“RAND”) rates for standard essential patents.
Judge Robart served on the Organizing Committee and the Board of Governors for the Federal Circuit Bar Association and is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
Jane Shay Wald
Jane Shay Wald is a partner emeritus at Irell & Manella LLP, and chair of the firm’s trademark practice group. She counsels, prosecutes and litigates in the Federal Courts and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. She has been recognized as one of the “Most Influential Women Lawyers” in LA by the Los Angeles Business Journal. Law 360 has named her an “Icon of IP.” She was named the Los Angeles Trademark Law “Lawyer of the Year” in the 2018 edition of The Best Lawyers in America and has been included in the list for over a decade. Wald has taught trademark law as an adjunct professor at both USC and UCLA. She is a former president of the Century City Bar Association and the Los Angeles Copyright Society. Together with David Nimmer, she was counsel on the briefs for Dastar Corp., the prevailing party, in the Lanham Act case Dastar Corp. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., 539 U.S. 23 (2003). Since 2000, Wald has led a weekly IP MCLE seminar at the firm called “The Sleep Learning Institute,” named for the original breakfast start time. A frequent speaker and writer on trademark law topics, Wald prefers to practice law in rhyme whenever possible and has inspired clients and opposing counsel to “poem along.”
Kris Storti
For the past 13 years, Kristopher Storti has served as the Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of Bruce Lee, LLC, the exclusive owner and licensor of all proprietary rights in and to Bruce Lee related intellectual property (including the rights of publicity under Cal. Civ. Code 3344.1 as well as numerous registered copyrights and trademark rights in and to the name and related indicia of Bruce Lee.) Through his work experience in licensing, Kris has navigated a wide array of international intellectual property issues including the strategic procurement, management and protection of over 200 worldwide registered trademarks. Prior to Bruce Lee, LLC, he served as an associate at Gray, Cary, Ware & Freidenrich LLP (now DLA Piper) from 2001-2005. Kris graduated cum laude from Pepperdine Law School in 2000 and received his L.LM. in taxation from NYU School of Law in 2001.
Matthew Sullivan
Matthew Sullivan is the founder and CEO of QuantmRE, a membership-based network that utilizes blockchain technologies to make real estate assets liquid and tradeable. He is the co-founder of the $50m Secured Real Estate Income Strategies Fund, and president and founder of Crowdventure, LLC, a real estate crowdfunding company. Matthew is a serial entrepreneur, author of ‘Head First – a roadmap for entrepreneurs’ and host of the Hooked On Startups podcast. He worked with Richard Branson’s Corporate Finance Team in the Virgin Group for five years and was a director and trustee of Virgin’s London Air Ambulance. Matthew went to Westminster School in London, UK and studied Law at Birmingham University before pursuing a career in finance and stockbroking, specializing in the South East Asian markets. In 1997 he founded Europe’s first internet billing application service provider. Since then he has founded and led companies in the United Kingdom, India, Australia and the United States in the finance, telecommunications, technology and real estate sectors.
Paul D. Tripodi II
Paul D. Tripodi II is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where his practice focuses on intellectual property litigation, including patent litigation, contract disputes involving intellectual property, and trade secret misappropriation. He has been involved in both bench and jury trials, as well as proceedings before various international tribunals and the International Trade Commission (ITC). He has litigated matters involving a broad range of technologies, including medical devices, software and electronics, genetic testing, and biotech matters, among others. Paul is also certified as a Pro Bono Publico Prosecutor on behalf of the State of California and has served as a volunteer prosecutor for in numerous criminal trial matters.
Mr. Tripodi received his J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Pennsylvania State University with honors and with distinction. Before receiving his J.D., he received a M.S. in Chemical Physics from the California Institute of Technology.
Mr. Tripodi held leadership positions in LAIPLA continuously for almost a decade, serving on the Board of Directors from 1998-2002, Treasurer from 2002-2003, Secretary from 2003-2004, Vice President/President Elect from 2004-2005, culminating in his position as President from 2005-2006. Since his term as President, he has had continued involvement in LAIPLA, serving on the program committee and as a moderator and speaker for several LAIPLA events and seminars.
Erica Van Loon
Erica Van Loon is Partner and Head of the Trademark, Copyright and Media practice at Glaser Weil LLP. She is a leading trial lawyer in high-stakes copyright, trademark, patent, rights of publicity, trade secrets, invasion of privacy, defamation, and other business-related litigation. She also provides counseling on brand strategy and enforcing intellectual property and digital rights through trademark and copyright prosecution, as well as, technology transfer, employment and licensing agreements. She has represented Bally Gaming, VIZIO, British Broadcasting Corporation, Target Corporation, Walmart, Conan O’Brien, Morgan Creek Productions, Lionsgate Films, L&R Group of Companies, Topson Downs of California, Red Bull, ASCAP, Abbott Laboratories, Nike, and Harley-Davidson.
Justin Daniels
Justin Daniels is an IP Principal at Burford Capital, a leading global finance and investment management firm focused on law. Justin is an experienced and highly successful IP litigator who has served as lead litigation counsel in cases involving numerous complex technologies, including computers, cameras, financial systems, data encryption, IT, networks, semiconductor device manufacturing and smartphones. He has run cases in every major US forum for patent litigation. Recent clients include: Analog Devices, Delcan Corporation, GE Technology Development, Human Care Systems, Ipswitch, Koninklijke Philips N.V., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, MPEG LA, Panasonic Corporation, Progress Software, Scout Exchange, SeaChange International, Sony Corporation, Sun Microsystems, The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, Thomson Licensing, and Zenith Electronics.
Mr. Daniels is a regular speaker on patent law and litigation and has been quoted in the national press on IP issues.
A graduate of Harvard College, Mr. Daniels earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Andrew Yen
Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co. Ltd.
Andrew is senior counsel in the licensing department of Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd., a wholly own subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation, that specializes in intellectual property matters on behalf of Panasonic Corporation. Andrew handles inbound and outbound licensing negotiations including licensing of SEPs. Andrew advises Panasonic on its global patent disputes, including disputes connected to FRAND, and works on IPR policy issues that arise within standard setting organizations. Prior to joining Panasonic in Osaka, Japan, Andrew worked in Los Angeles as an attorney at several international law firms. Andrew is also fluent in Chinese and Japanese.
Lynda Zadra-Symes
Lynda Zadra-Symes is a litigation partner and co-chair of Knobbe Martens’ trademark and copyright litigation practice groups. She represents clients through all stages of U.S. litigation, from pre-suits through trial and appeal, in federal courts throughout the country and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Her practice involves all types of intellectual property, including patents, trade secrets, trademarks, copyrights, false advertising, unfair competition, rights of publicity, franchising, labeling, cybersecurity and data privacy. She also advises on issues relating to customs and anti-counterfeiting, international trademarks and copyrights, advertising, social media, competition and passing off.
Lynda is a Domain Name Dispute Panelist arbitrator for the World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”) in Geneva, Switzerland, and has arbitrated numerous domain name disputes. She is a former Co-Chair of the International Bar Association (“IBA”) committee for Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law, and has conducted numerous presentations and authored publications on a variety of intellectual property matters internationally. Lynda is also a member of the International Trademark Association (INTA) and a Mediator listed with INTA’s Trademark Mediators Network.
Lynda was called to the Bar of England & Wales in 1989 and conducted her barrister training in a London chambers specializing in intellectual property law. Lynda became a member of the California Bar in 1991.