2011/12 Board of Trustees' Biographies
Rich Baker
Trustee, E-Education
Richard A. Baker, Jr. joined the LES (USA & Canada) a decade ago, and is one of the first Certified Licensing ProfessionalsTM. Mr. Baker played a key role in the success of the initial IP100 Executive Forum, serving as the Outreach Chair. From 2005-2007, Rich served as the Co-Chair of the Licensing Office Structure and Management Committee. Rich Baker's wife and son are frequent assistants in the Registration Booth for LES meetings.
Mr. Baker joined 3Com Corporation as Director of Intellectual Property Licensing in January of 2005. Baker is responsible for the licensing program of over 1,400 U.S. patents-one of the most impressive networking technology patent holdings in the world. At 3Com, the Licensing Department received the 2009 Licensing Achievement Award under Rich's leadership.
Prior to joining 3Com, Mr. Baker was the Director of IP at Schneider Automation. He developed the company's intellectual property program, including the creation of IP strategies, the organization of a portfolio of patents, and the authoring of a number of patent disclosures.
Mr. Baker's graduate studies include Intellectual Property at Franklin Pierce Law Center and Computer Science at Harvard University. He holds a BS in computer science and English as a dual major at the University of New Hampshire.
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Phillip W. Barnett
Vice President, Education
Phil is a former Vice President of Education for the LES (USA & Canada), and is past-Chair of the Energy/Chemicals/Materials Committee. He also served as project leader for the development and launch of the Certified Licensing Professional Program. Currently, Phil is Managing Director for Intellectual Property Management, Risk Research, and Strategic Projects in the Knowledge Services Organization (KSO) of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. He has worked most recently to implement new knowledge management business processes inside PwC that drive high performance in professional client services. He is especially focused on performance measures for the key areas of IP value, professional education, methodology evolution, and recognition and reward that link specifically to client satisfaction and brand recognition. Phil also serves PwC clients globally, helping them improve performance and competitiveness in the areas of intellectual asset management and knowledge management.
Phil began his career in research at The Dow Chemical Company, where working with an innovative team of business, technical, and legal professionals, he helped pioneer and commercialize a number of new knowledge management methods applied to intellectual property, new product development, and licensing. Phil joined PwC as Director in the Intellectual Asset Management Practice of Financial Advisory Services in Chicago, and has worked in client service on a number of domestic and international projects for Tax, Assurance, and Advisory Services.
He earned Bachelor and Master of Science degrees from Stephen F. Austin University, Texas.
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Cheryl Cejka
Trustee, Marketing
Nominated for Trustee, Marketing, Cheryl Cejka was Chair of the Industry University Government Interface (IUGI) Sector in 2011. A member of LES since 1995, she has also been an active participant at meetings as a speaker and attendee.
Ms. Cejka is Director of Technology Commercialization for Battelle at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) with responsibility for intellectual property management, portfolio development and investment, and technology commercialization activities. She joined Battelle in 1980 and has since held a broad range of business management and technology development positions within PNNL, a $1B U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national lab, and across Battelle.
As Director, Ms. Cejka has dramatically increased the PNNL’s annual returns from intellectual assets. She has led the creation of numerous technology licensing arrangements, including the establishment of several new business ventures based on laboratory developed technologies. Many of these transactions have received national recognition from the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Excellence in Technology Transfer, elevating the Laboratory as a leader in commercialization "best practices" across the DOE and 300+ federal lab system. Ms. Cejka received a Bachelor’s degree in business and marketing, and an MBA in finance, both from the University of Washington.
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Linda Chao
Trustee, Onsite Education
Linda has been a Board Member of The LES (USA & Canada) Foundation since 2007 and chaired the LES Foundation Graduate Student Business Plan Competition for the last four years. During this time, Linda played a key role in raising the visibility of the Competition, increasing both submissions by student teams and LES members participating as judges. Since 2009, she has been involved with LES education courses at the Silicon Valley Chapter, USA & Canada, and LES International programs. Linda also recruited speakers and assisted with arrangements for several LES (USA & Canada) Annual and Seasonal Meetings.
Linda is a senior licensing associate in Stanford University’s Office of Technology Licensing (OTL). Linda manages an intellectual property portfolio of over 300 inventions, including nanotechnology, photonic, semiconductor, and bioengineering technologies. She negotiates licenses with companies ranging from start-up ventures to Fortune 500 companies. Prior to joining OTL in 1997, her technical and business experience included engineering design, competitive analysis, and product marketing in the high tech industry.
Linda received a BS and an MS in electrical engineering and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is a registered USPTO patent agent and a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP™).
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Pamela R. Demain
Vice President, Communications
Nominated for Regional Vice President, U.S.A, Pamela was Vice President for Communications in 2008-2010, where she oversaw a major refocusing and tailoring of our messages and branding to the various target audiences of LES (USA & Canada). This included the launch of our new weekly e-newsletter, LES Insights and the creation of the first Editorial Board for LES (USA & Canada). As Trustee for Partnering in 2006 and 2007, she spearheaded the Power Networking initiative that debuted at the 2007 Annual Meeting. Pamela has been a member of the Health Care Committee since 2003 and involved in planning for the health care sector at LES (USA & Canada) Meetings and in Viewpoints. She has also been an active participant at meetings as a speaker and attendee.
Pam is Executive Director, Corporate Licensing at Merck & Co., Inc. She has been at Merck for twenty-nine years. For sixteen years, she has been negotiating transactions with companies, universities and institutions worldwide. She also heads up relationship development for licensing at Merck. Previously, Pam spent thirteen years in Global Marketing with positions ranging from leading the Business Information & Research Group to Product Management and Marketing Communications. Pam's pharmaceutical career began in the laboratories of Gruppo Lepetit, an Italian pharmaceutical company, which was then a subsidiary of the Dow Chemical Company. Ms. Demain is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, holds a MBA in international business from The American University in Washington, D.C. and is a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP™).
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Don Drinkwater
Trustee, Committees
Don Drinkwater is the High Tech Sector Chair for 2009-2010 and has been active in leadership positions in that sector. He was also Chair of the Computer Hardware and Consumer Electronics committee. Don has published articles in les Nouvelles (the Journal of the Licensing Executive Society International) and IEEE publications.
Don is the Director for Licensing at a major consumer electronics corporation. Previous to this assignment, Don directed licensing activities for 3Com Corporation, Digital Equipment Corporation, and Compaq Computer as well as serving as a director for PriceWaterhouseCoopers' Intellectual Asset Management practice.
Don holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in electrical engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, a Master of Science Degree in electrical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and a Master of Business Administration from Clark University. Don is a member of Eta Kappa Nu (the honor society of the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers ("IEEE") and won the Haskell Memorial Award for distinguished teaching at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, where he spent 15 years teaching. Don is also the inventor on multiple patents.
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Rimma Driscoll
Trustee, Meetings Content & Structure-Two Year Term
Rimma Driscoll is the Consumer Products Co-Chair for 2009/2010 and will continue on in the position for 2010/2011. She is also in her second year as the Awards Chair for LES (USA & Canada). This past year Rimma has worked with the organization to showcase LES to companies and highlight how the organization can benefit businesses and well as individuals. Rimma has been a active member of LES in the Health Care Sector and Consumer Products Sector for 11 years and been a speaker for sessions, as well as, organized sessions.
Rimma is currently in the Global Business Development group at The Procter & Gamble Company. She has been with the company for 16 year and has been a business development professional for the last 12 years. Over her tenure, Rimma has had Licensing and Acquisitions responsibilities for P&G Pharma Discovery Organization, P&G Pharma Development and Commercialization, P&G Consumer Healthcare Organization, and most recently GBD responsibilities for P&G's FutureWorks Organization (entrepreneurial engine for the company). Rimma also has corporate responsibilities for the Center of Excellence for External Relationship Management. She also serves as Board member for ASAP (Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals).
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William Elkington
Trustee, IP100/Corporate Communications
Nominated for Trustee, IP100/Corporate Communications, Bill has been Chair of the IP100 Committee for 2010-2011 and in that capacity led the effort to organize and put on the IP100 Meeting in New York City in April of 2011. Bill has been a member of the Aerospace and Transportation Committee of the High Tech Sector for several years. He has also been an active participant at LES meetings as both a speaker and attendee for a number of years.
Bill is Senior Director, Intellectual Property Management, at Rockwell Collins. He is responsible for protection, value extraction, and rights management strategies concerning Rockwell Collins’s strategic intellectual property. Bill holds the patent budget for the company. And his group works with the company’s business units to value IP and to structure both upstream and downstream licenses in the normal course of its business. He has held this position since 2003.
Prior to joining Rockwell Collins, Bill was co-founder and VP of Program Management at MeshNetworks, a wireless startup company established to commercialize ITT’s novel communication technology. MeshNetworks was sold to Motorola in 2004. Prior to joining MeshNetworks, Bill held positions in IP management, technology marketing, strategic and operations planning, and program management in ITT’s Aerospace/Communications Division (A/CD) and GE R&D organizations. Bill is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Michigan, and his advanced degrees are from Syracuse University.
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Tom Filarski
President
Tom Filarski has served on the Board of Trustees of LES (USA & Canada) since 2001 and is a member of the Life Science Sector. He has served as Treasurer, Secretary, Regional Vice President, and Vice President of Communications. He has led several committees, including the 2009 and 2002 Annual Meetings in San Francisco and Chicago.
Mr. Filarski is a partner in the Chicago office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where he is a member of the Intellectual Property group. Mr. Filarski's practice centers on litigation in patent, Hatch-Waxman, trade secret and International Trade Commission law. He represents companies in the pharmaceutical, medical device, biotech, chemical, electrochemical and mechanical industries.
He has been named in "The World's Leading Life Sciences Patent Litigators" by IAM Magazine, one of The Best Lawyers in America in 2010, an "Illinois Super Lawyer" in Intellectual Property Litigation, and was featured in the Business Edition of Leading Lawyers Network magazine in January 2009. He co-authored the chapter "Patent Defenses" in BNA Books' 2005 Patent Litigation Series Handbook, now in its second edition.
Tom holds a J.D. from DePaul University College of Law, a BA in chemistry and an MS in chemical engineering from Michigan Technological University.
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Robert Goldman
Treasurer
Robert is currently serving his second year as Trustee for Education, New Offerings, where he has helped introduce LES Education offerings, including Hot Topics webinars and monthly education webinars. Over the last several years in LES (USA & Canada), he has been an instructor for the LES Technology Transfer Seminar, served on the program committee for the 2007 Spring Meeting, participated in the CLP™ exam development process, presented numerous workshops and add-on sessions at LES (USA & Canada) meetings on various topics, including valuation, M&A due diligence, and the use of patent analytic tools for competitive intelligence.
Mr. Goldman is a Principal with Charles River Associates in Chicago where he assists clients with intellectual property and technology licensing, developing IP strategies, and valuations of intellectual property in a variety of contexts, including transactions, financial reporting, tax, restructuring, and damages in IP litigation matters.
Mr. Goldman earned both BS and MS degrees in engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and obtained an MBA in marketing and finance from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
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Panagiota Koutsogiannis
Trustee, Local Chapters, USA & Canada East
Panagiota (Betty) Koutsogiannis is an active member of LES (USA & Canada). She has served as Co-Chair of the Montreal Chapter for several years. Betty was also Arrangements Chair of the Spring Meeting held in Montreal in 2009. Betty has received the CLP™ designation. She is an attorney and partner with Robic, L.L.P. in Montreal, Canada.
Betty obtained a Bachelor in Civil Law (LL.L) and a Bachelor in Common Law (LL.B) from the University of Ottawa in 1995 and 1996, respectively, and was called to the Quebec Bar in 1998. She has oriented her practice towards business law, mergers and acquisitions, as well as the commercial aspects of intellectual property and corporate law. Her areas of specialization include the preparation and negotiation of M&A transactions, financings, technology transfers, complex licensing arrangements and joint ventures. She has authored and co-authored several articles pertaining to licensing, as well as mergers and acquisitions.
Professional memberships include the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) Executive Committee–Business Law Section (Quebec Division) as well as a number of other professional organizations. Betty is Editor-in- Chief of the firm’s quarterly newsletter. She is responsible for the recruitment of articling students at the firm. From 2004 to this year, Betty was vice-chairperson of the Board of Directors of Auberge Transition, a shelter for women and children victims of violence.
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Michael J. Lasinski
Past-President
Michael Lasinski has been on the Board of Trustees for LES (USA & Canada) since 2001. He has been the President-Elect, Treasurer, Trustee of Technology Transfer Seminars, Trustee of On-Line Service, Co-Chair of the Michigan Chapter, Co-Chair of the Valuation & Taxation Committee, Program Chair for the 2002 Annual Meeting in Chicago, and Co-Chair for the 2007 LES (USA & Canada) Annual Meeting in Vancouver. Mr. Lasinski has spoken internationally at LESI functions (and other educational organizations) on the topic of intellectual property valuation. Mr. Lasinski is a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP™).
Mr. Lasinski is a Founder of 284 Partners, LLC. Previous positions include Managing Director at Capstone, Managing Director at Ocean Tomo, Vice President at CRA, International, as well as positions at Coopers & Lybrand (now PriceWaterhouseCoopers) and Ford Motor Company.
His education includes both an MBA and BS in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan. Mr. Lasinski is a licensed C.P.A. in the state of Illinois. He is the former Vice-Chair of the Intellectual Property Owners Organization's Valuation and Taxation Committee and the current Chair of the American Bar Association's Intellectual Property Economics Committee.
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Michael Q. Lee
Vice President, Member Engagement
Mike Lee is a Director with Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox, an IP firm in Washington, D.C. He works with clients of all sizes to strategically patent and license their inventions to support and further their current and future business objectives. He has considerable technical experience in the areas of computer hardware and software, communications, particularly wireless, and digital and analog control systems. He is an experienced IP transactions attorney and is both a CLPTM and a member of the IAM Licensing 250; he is also on the CLP Board of Governors. He assists clients with a wide range of technology-related transactions, including joint development agreements, strategic alliances, license agreements, asset purchase agreements, contractor and services agreements, shrink wrap license agreements and manufacture/supply agreements.
Mike is Meeting Co-Chair of the 2011 Annual Meeting, which will be held October 16-20 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego. He has held a number of positions in past LES meetings, including Meeting Chair of the 2007 Winter Meeting (San Francisco), and Program Chair of the 2009 Annual Meeting (San Francisco); 2008 Annual Meeting (Orlando); and 2005 Spring Meeting (Raleigh).
Mike earned his law degree from Georgetown University, and holds Master and Bachelor degrees in electrical engineering from the Universities of Maryland and Virginia, respectively.
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Tanya Moore
President-Elect
Tanya served on the LES (USA & Canada) Board as Trustee for Partnering in 2008-2009 and 2010 meeting content direction and themes, including the IP100 Executive Forum. She joined the Foundation Board four years ago and serves as its secretary. Tanya is a frequent speaker at LES (USA & Canada) meetings and a variety of IP conferences, including LES (USA & Canada) and LESI.
At present, Tanya is the General Manager of Outbound IP Licensing in Microsoft's corporate Intellectual Property & Licensing group. Prior to assuming her position with Microsoft, she was a key member of IBM's Intellectual Property & Licensing organization. Tanya joined IBM in 1980 and spent the earlier part of her career in software development technical and management capacity, as well as business development.
In her IP career, Tanya has led and participated in a wide variety of transactions involving all forms of IP, and including licensing, collaborations, asset sales, divestitures and joint ventures. Her current responsibilities include formulating outbound technology licensing strategies, identifying and negotiating licensing arrangements in various Microsoft technology areas, including financial valuations, and leading a team of licensing executives.
Tanya Kaptsan Moore holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from Fordham University, and a Master of Science degree in computer science from Polytechnic University. She is also a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP™).
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Gary M. Nath
Secretary
Gary Nath currently holds the position of Secretary for LES (USA & Canada) and is an International Delegate to LESI where he is serving as Co-Chair of the Auditing Committee. He has previously served as Vice President for Membership, Trustee of Sponsorship and Trustee for Marketing. While he was the National Sponsorship Chair, Gary had been instrumental in raising over $2 million for LES (USA & Canada). He was Chair of the 2006 LES (USA & Canada) Winter Meeting in Pasadena, as well as active on several Annual and Seasonal Committees. He is a popular workshop speaker and has conducted more than 50 worldwide lectures on subjects of IP licensing.
Gary is a patent attorney, scientist and entrepreneur. He is the Founder and Managing Partner of The Nath Law Group. The Nath Law Group is an intellectual property law firm with over 50 professionals and offices in the Washington, DC and San Diego, CA areas. Prior to entering private practice, he was Assistant General Counsel, and Patent Counsel for Warner-Lambert, and held senior patent positions at NL Industries and FMC Corporation. He has been an Angel Investor, Officer and Director in over 15 startup companies.
Mr. Nath received a JD degree from American University, Washington College of Law and attended Temple University undertaking PhD studies in biochemistry. He was awarded a BS degree in biology and chemistry from Rider University, has been certified in molecular biology and immunology in 2005, and is a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP™).
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Mark Nawacki
Trustee, Marketing
Mark Nawacki joined LES (USA & Canada) in 2001 and immediately became involved in the former Health Care Committee, looking after membership interests. He is the outgoing past-Chair of the Life Sciences Sector where he has been actively involved in managing and planning life sciences sector activities and programming, including as LES Health Care Content Chair for the Vancouver Annual Meeting. He has also been an active participant on numerous panels, including the 2008 LES (USA & Canada) delegation to Latin America with LESI.
Mr. Nawacki joined Paladin in September 2003. He is responsible for business and corporate development activities at Paladin Labs Inc., a leading Canadian specialty pharmaceutical company. In this capacity, he has concluded in excess of 35 in-licensing, out-licensing, co-promotion, distribution and product acquisition agreements. His role also encompasses leadership of corporate M&A and the expansion of Paladin's geographic footprint into emerging markets. Prior to joining Paladin, Mark held senior leadership positions at Pharmacia, now part of Pfizer Inc.
Mr. Nawacki holds a BA in international relations and Russian and East European studies from the University of Toronto (Trinity), an MBA from the University of Toronto, and is a Canadian-designated Chartered Accountant. He is an active speaker on the subject of licensing and business development, and is Past President of the Canadian Healthcare Licensing Association. Mark also holds the CLP™ designation.
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Brian O'Shaughnessy
Regional Vice President, USA
Brian is the LES (USA & Canada) Trustee for Education, and an International Delegate to LESI. He has authored and upgraded several modules of the Professional Development Series, "Intellectual Asset Management," for which he has served as a faculty member for over eight years. Brian has additional professional affiliations with the Intellectual Property Owners Association, the American Intellectual Property Law Association and the American Bar Association's Section of Intellectual Property Law.
He is a registered patent attorney with over twenty years' experience in intellectual property law, and is a Shareholder and Chair of the Chemical and Pharmaceutical Practice Group of the law firm of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, PC, practicing in the firm's Alexandria, VA office. His practice emphasizes the protection of intellectual property through litigation, licensing, portfolio management, and special proceedings such as interferences.
He holds BS and MS degrees from the Department of Chemistry, Rochester Institute of Technology, where he now serves on its Board of Trustees. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Syracuse University College of Law in 1986.
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Stasia Ogden
Trustee, LES Content Creation, Capture & Delivery
Stasia Ogden has been a member of LES (USA & Canada) for over a decade. She restarted the St. Louis Chapter with Co-Chair Gary Kellmann and held that position from 1998-2000. She has been an active participant at meetings as a speaker and attendee; most recently as a Moderator and Panelist in May 2008 at the LES International Conference in Chicago on the topic of "Industries Around the World: Where is the Grass Greener."
Stasia Ogden is the Assistant General Counsel, Intellectual Property, Biotech for Baxter Healthcare Corporation in Deerfield, Illinois. Prior to joining Baxter, Stasia served as Associate Chief Intellectual Property Counsel with Becton, Dickinson and Company, Senior IP Counsel, Life Sciences Business Unit with Motorola, Inc., Assistant General Counsel, IP with Monsanto Company, and a Patent Attorney with Johnson & Johnson. Prior to that, she worked at the law firms of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner and Cushman, Darby & Cushman.
Stasia received a B.A. in biochemistry from Northwestern University; completed Ph.D. course work in immunology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, and her M.B.A. from the University of Missouri, St. Louis.
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Catherine Oyler
Trustee, Membership
Nominated to join the Board of Trustees serving on the Membership Committee, Cat Oyler is currently Past-Chair of the Life Sciences Sector. She has been a member of LES since 2002 and has served in a variety of roles, including Chair of the Life Sciences Sector, Co-Chair of the 2010 Spring Meeting and 2008 Life Sciences Sector Annual Meeting Chair. Cat has been an active LES participant and has led workshops at the regional and annual meetings.
Cat is Sr. Director, Emerging Technologies in the Corporate Office of Science and Technology at Johnson & Johnson. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, she is responsible for identifying, funding and nurturing emerging health care related technologies in the New England area, assessing their technical and business risk, and facilitating integration of these technologies into the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies and their product lines. Cat joined Johnson & Johnson from AstraZeneca where she was responsible for evaluating and in-licensing clinical and marketed oncology products. Additionally, she led the business development effort for out-licensing of AstraZeneca’s oncology assets and assisted with strategic planning for oncology business development.
Prior to joining AstraZeneca, she served in a progression of business development roles at Myriad Genetics, culminating in leading all diagnostic licensing for the Laboratories division of the company. In previous roles at Myriad, Cat worked on in- and out-licensing efforts for the pharmaceutical division, establishment of research collaborations and strategic assessment and divestment of a non-core business unit. With over twelve years in business development and nearly twenty years of experience in the life science industry, she has also held marketing and research scientist positions at Amgen, Alza and Alkermes.Cat received a Bachelor’s degree in biology from Williams College and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
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John C. Paul
Vice President, International
John Paul currently holds the position of Vice President-International for LES (USA & Canada), Chairs the LESI Engineering, Transportation, and Physical Sciences Committee, is a member of the Editorial Board of LES Insights, and is the Program Chair for the LES (USA & Canada) 2011 Annual Meeting. He led the Washington, D.C. Local Chapter for a number of years, chaired the LESI Americas Committee, chaired the Professional Development Committee during the launch of the IAM program, and organized speakers and arrangements for various LES (USA & Canada) Annual and Seasonal Meetings.
For many years he has co-authored a quarterly review of recent developments in licensing law for the Licensing Executives Society International Journal les Nouvelles and has been a frequent speaker at LES meetings. He has also held leadership roles in the ABA, the AIPLA and the ASME, and taught patent law as an adjunct faculty member of Catholic University. John recently received the CLPTM designation.
John is a lawyer and partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner and leads the firm's IP Management Section. He has over twenty-five years of experience in IP licensing, litigation and prosecution, and currently focuses on licensing, strategic IP management and due diligence investigations.
John holds a bachelor's degree in engineering from Brown University and a law degree from Case Western Reserve University.
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Paul A. Roberts
Vice President, Membership
Paul Roberts has been consistently active in LES (USA & Canada) since 1996 and a Trustee since 2004. Paul is currently the Vice President for Membership, which includes responsibility for maintaining membership levels and increasing the number of new members, as well as overseeing LES' sponsorship activities.
Previously, Paul was VP for Local Chapters and had been so for three years where he had led a successful membership drive at the chapter level to increase new member percentage and convert non-member attendees to active members.
In another previous role as the Industrial Sector Trustee, Paul regularized sector interaction with the LES (USA & Canada) Board. Paul was also formerly the Trustee for Web site matters and introduced new Web site functionality. Prior to that, Paul completed two terms as the Chair for the High Technology Sector. He has also been a Workshop and Add-On speaker, and has previously piloted an Advanced Legal Course as part of the Professional Development Series.
Moreover, Paul has led successful meetings for LES (USA & Canada). He was Meeting Chair for the 2009 Spring Meeting in Montreal, and as Meeting Co-Chair for the 2008 Annual Meeting in Vancouver.
Currently, Paul is the Lead of Global Patent Operations at Accenture, where he manages a growing staff of 12, as well as all outside patent counsel relationships. Other previous experience includes management of intellectual property assets through the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of a former Fortune 500 company and work as a United States Patent Examiner.
Paul holds a BS in electrical engineering from University of Maryland at College Park, MD and a law degree from Whittier Law School, in addition to an intellectual property certificate from Franklin Pierce Law School.
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Caroline Rockafellow
Vice-President, Local Chapters
Caroline is the Corporate Counsel for Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc. located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. In this role, Caroline is responsible for the management of the corporate legal department. Caroline has been active with LES (USA & Canada) for many years and previously served as a chair of the Research Triangle Park Chapter.
In 2004, Caroline was instrumental in relaunching this local chapter and in 2005 it was recognized by LES (USA & Canada) as the best reinvigorated chapter. Caroline remains active with the local chapter activities. She speaks and writes often on intellectual property and technology transfer matters. She also has professional affiliations with numerous local and national organizations, including the North Carolina Bar Association and the Association of University Technology Managers.
She received her J.D. and Masters in intellectual property from Franklin Pierce Law Center and earned her undergraduate degree in chemistry from Drury University.
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Peter M. Ross
Regional Vice President, Canada
Peter has been a member of LES (USA & Canada) since 2002, a member of the Board of Trustees since 2006 and participates in the Toronto Chapter. Peter is currently the Trustee, Local Chapters for USA West and Canada, and has been strongly supported by the Chapter Chairs in growing and expanding this region. Peter was active in the development and launch of the Certified Licensing ProfessionalTM initiative, and continued with CLP as Chair of the Examination Development Committee. Peter is also a Board Member of the LES Foundation, and focuses on University relationships and their participation in the International Business Plan Competition. He has participated in licensing seminars highlighting university-industry transactions, and has previously been active as a member of the Conference Board of Canada's "Leaders' Roundtable on Commercialization."
Peter has recently stepped down as Intellectual Property Counsel to Research Western at The University of Western Ontario in London, Canada, a role which supported technology transfer and licensing initiatives, management of intellectual property rights, ethics review and negotiations for sponsored research opportunities. Peter now continues this function independently, to support other institutional clients as well as early stage initiatives. He is a former General Counsel to a publicly traded, real property company which operated throughout Canada.
Peter holds an Honours Business Administration degree from Wilfrid Laurier University; a Bachelors of Laws from The University of Western Ontario; a Masters of Laws (Intellectual Property) from Osgoode Hall Law School, York University; and a certificate in alternative dispute resolution through the University of Windsor.
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Hilton Sue
Trustee, USA-Canada West
Hilton has served on the Board of Executives of the LES Vancouver Chapter since 2003, becoming its Treasurer in February of 2004, Chapter Chair in 2005 (through 2007), and Past Chair in 2007 (through the present); in those capacities, he has contributed to reviving and then running what has become a successful chapter. Hilton has also served on the LES (USA & Canada) 2007 Annual Meeting Committee (local promotion and local recruitment of volunteers), 2009 Winter Meeting Committee (workshop chair), and 2012 Annual Meeting Committee (workshop co-chair).
Hilton is a partner of Oyen Wiggs Green & Mutala LLP, an intellectual property law firm based in Vancouver, Canada. Hilton has practiced exclusively in the field of intellectual property law since 1993, focusing on patent and trademark prosecution and intellectual property commercialization and licensing, especially in the high tech field. Hilton is also a registered patent agent and registered trademark agent. He is also a Certified Licensing Professional. Hilton has been named to the list of the "Best Lawyers in Canada" in Intellectual Property (multiple years).
Hilton studied electrical engineering (computer engineering option) at the University of British Columbia before also completing his law degree at UBC. Since being called to the British Columbia Bar in 1993, Hilton has been very active in the Canadian intellectual property field. Hilton is a Fellow of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (professional association of patent agents, trademark agents and intellectual property lawyers in Canada), and he was elected to its governing Council for two terms (2006-2008), with responsibility for IPIC’s Licensing Committee, Technology Transfer Committee and Information Technology Committee. Hilton currently serves on the IPIC’s Patent Joint Liaison Committee with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office.
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Jeff Whittle
Trustee Sponsorship
Jeff is currently serving as an International Delegate for LES (USA & Canada) for 2009-2010. He has been an active member of the Education Committee as a faculty member/trainer with LES University. He has taught numerous courses in the PDS 100 and 200 series nationally and internationally (2009-2010). Jeff has also served as a judge for the student business plan competition (2010), has been a member of the High Tech Industry Sector, and has served as Houston Chapter President (2007-2008) and Chapter Board Member (2009-2010). He has also been an active participant at LES Winter, Spring, and Annual Meetings as a speaker and attendee.
Jeff is a partner and the national/international Head of the Intellectual Property Section of Bracewell & Giuliani, LLP. He has been practicing law since 1991 and has been negotiating technology transactions with companies, universities and institutions worldwide for about 18 years.
Jeff is a graduate of Vanderbilt University (BEEE) and received his MBA and JD from Wake Forest University, he is licensed to practice law in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina and before numerous federal district and appellate courts, he is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and he is a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP™).
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