Attention: Business, law, and technology writers and editors
What: “IP and Entrepreneurship,” a two-day symposium on the role of intellectual property in entrepreneurship, with a focus on patent law. Panelists will discuss when to seek a patent, how to secure financing, and how to license and enforce patent rights. Additional topics include assessing the value of a patent and the impact of a patent on collaborative activities such as open source software and interoperability.
Participants include scholars, venture capitalists, and attorneys who have been actively involved in information technology, biotech, pharmaceutical and green technology.
When: Friday, March 7, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 8, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Where: Booth Auditorium, UC Berkeley School of Law, at the corner of Bancroft Way at Piedmont Avenue. See campus map at: http://www.berkeley.edu/map/.
Who: Conference panelists and their topics include:
Craig Walker, senior product manager, Voice Products at Google, and former CEO of GrandCentral, on challenges entrepreneurs face when licensing patents;
Bassil Dahiyat, president and CEO of Xencor, on when to obtain patents and the impact of patent rights on investment decisions;
David Harnett, founder and leader of Microsoft’s IP Ventures Group, on assessing the scope and value of patents;
James Toupin, general counsel for the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, on patent reform;
Suzanne Michel, chief counsel, Federal Trade Commission, on patent reform;
Pam Samuelson, co-director of the law school’s Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, on business collaboration and innovation.
Details: The program is free and open to the media. Registration required by the general public. For more info, contact David Grady:dgrady@law.berkeley.edu, 510.642.3702.
The event is co-sponsored by the law school’s Berkeley Center for Law & Technology and the Berkeley Technology Law Journal.