2026 AIPLA Virtual Corporate Practice Institute

Join us for the 2026 Virtual Corporate Practice Institute!

Presented by the AIPLA Corporate Practice Committee

A two half-day online CLE program designed for corporate in-house counsel, including attorneys and patent agents.

The program covers a variety of topics related to intellectual property law, including attorney-client privilege, university technology transfer, trade secrets, data privacy, and working with in-house and product counsel.

The Corporate Practice Institute provides in-depth insight for in-house corporate counsel and agents to learn about wide ranging legal issues affecting their practice from experienced practitioners. It is designed for experienced in-house attorneys and new in-house attorneys learning to manage new corporate environments and challenges not taught in law schools or private practice. The Institute also helps private practice attorneys, especially associates, prepare for potential in-house career moves. The program also provides valuable networking opportunities to connect with each other and learn from each other's experiences.

Program Agenda:

Tuesday, January 13

12:00 - 1:00 pm: In-House Ethical Challenges - In-house legal situations present unique and sometimes complicated ethical challenges. This talk will center around common situations that present conflicts of interest and ethical challenges in an in-house setting.   Presented by: Patrick Austin, Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black PLC; Merri Baldwin, Rogers Joseph O'Donnell, Jennifer Burdman, SIMIP Inc., Moderated by: Kathleen Ranney

BREAK

1:30 - 2:30 pm: Working with Universities, including contracts and working with non-attorney managers -Leading corporations need access to unique technical expertise and resources found at universities for cutting-edge technology development. Patent counsel at leading institutions will discuss the legal aspects of university technology transfer mechanics, how to avoid common pitfalls that slow negotiations, and what companies can do to build lasting strategic partnerships.  Presented by: Dev Narasimhan, UW CoMotion; Adam Litteken, UIUC

BREAK

3:00 - 4:00 pm:  Trade Secrets and Confidential Information - Contracting Best Practices in Research Collaborations - A businesses' most valuable IP can often comprise trade secrets, which can complicate research collaboration partnerships - what comprises trade secrets vs know-how, and which entity owns the new IP? This talk will discuss several scenarios involving partnerships with third parties that implicate trade secret issues and how to best contract with those issues in mind. Presented by: Barbara A. Fiacco, Foley Hoag; Kevin E. Noonan, PhD, McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff; & Eric Silverman, Genentech, Inc.

4:00 - 5:00 pm: Networking Online Breakout Groups

Tuesday, January 20

12:00 - 1:00 pm: Updates on Data Privacy Law & Best Practices - Data privacy has established itself as a crucial component of any organization's success. This talk will examine trends and best practices for data privacy from both internal and external facing viewpoints. Presented by: Michael Wrobel, UIUC; and Susan Rohol, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP; Shoshana Gillers, TransUnion; Kat Robison, Nike, Inc.

BREAK

1:30 - 2:30 pm: IP Portfolio Partnerships - Balancing In-House and Outside Counsel Resources -  Managing a growing and diverse patent portfolio benefits from outside counsel expertise, but company brass often want to keep costs down. This talk will discuss how to best allocate resources between in-house IP professionals and outside IP counsel in the pursuit of strong patent and trademark portfolios. Presented by: David Schmidt Ph.D, and Jonathan Menkes Knobbe Martens, Rouz Tabaddor, First American and Bryan Wahl, M.D., Tarsus Pharmaceuticals.

BREAK

3:00 - 4:00 pm: Diversity in Innovation - 2025 In Review - This talk will recap the major developments in diversity-related initiatives in 2025, examine significant diversity-related cases, and discuss the potential impact of diversity on innovation in 2026. Presented by: Alex Barnett, Dani Hoyer-McWaters, and Emily Leiter of Alston Bird.

4:00 - 5:00 pm: Networking - Online Breakout Groups

as of December 17, 2025  - subject to change

Registration Rates:

AIPLA Members

      AIPLA Regular-Corporate Practitioner Member:  $99
      AIPLA Regular Member: $295
      AIPLA Junior Member: $99
      AIPLA Government Member: $99
      AIPLA Student/Academic Member: $45

Non-Member Corporate Counsel: $495 (Online registration not available - Click Here to register as a non-member in-house counsel)
Non-Corporate Counsel - Non-Member: $725

Registration includes access to all sessions on-demand after the live event!

Speakers

• Fiacco, Barbara A.

  Foley Hoag, LLP | Co-Chair, Patent Litigation Practice

  Barbara Fiacco is a Partner, co-chair of the Intellectual Property Department and co-chair of the Patent, Trade Secrets, and Related Rights Litigation Practice at Foley Hoag LLP. In her practice, Barbara handles complex intellectual property and business disputes in the life sciences industry. She has successfully litigated patent, trade secret, and inventorship disputes for global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, medical device manufacturers and research institutions.
• Silverman, Eric E.

  Genentech, Inc. | Senior IP Attorney

  Eric E. Silverman, PhD has over twenty years of intellectual property experience spanning a wide range of industries and technologies. Eric started his IP career as a patent examiner at the USPTO, where he became a primary examiner of patent applications in technologies including pharmaceutical formulations, drug delivery, medical devices, implants, and cosmetics. He then spent several years in large international law firms where his practice included IP litigation, prosecution, and due diligence in technologies such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, solar power, petrochemicals, oil and gas, and ceramics.
• Noonan, Kevin

  McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP | Partner

  Kevin E. Noonan is co-Chair of MBHB’s Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals Practice Group. Dr. Noonan is an experienced patent lawyer, molecular biologist and renowned thought leader in biotechnology and pharmaceutical patent law. Over the past 30 years, he has counseled some of the largest biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies in the world on intellectual property issues.
• Wrobel, Michael J.

  University of Illinois

  Michael is an IP attorney with over 15 years of experience counseling clients on patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, licensing, and transactions both as outside and in-house counsel. Michael currently serves as a member of the Privacy Team at the University of Illinois, where he advises on global privacy, data protection, and AI governance.
• Litteken, Adam

  University of Illinois | Patent Coordinator

  Adam is the Patent Coordinator at the University of Illinois, where he helps turn groundbreaking research into protected intellectual property. He manages patent preparation and prosecution for innovations in engineering, computer science, and the physical sciences, and works closely with licensing teams to make sure IP terms align with commercialization goals. Adam also supports entrepreneurial programs on campus and even serves as a judge for startup competitions.
• Rohol, Susan

  Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP | Partner

  Susan Rohol is a partner in Willkie's Privacy, Cybersecurity & Data Strategy and AI & Emerging Technologies groups and is based in Los Angeles.  Susan's practice is focused on advising clients on cutting-edge issues spanning privacy, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, content moderation, intellectual property, regulatory investigations and global government affairs.
• Austin, Patrick

  Woods Rogers | Counsel

  Patrick Austin is Counsel at Woods Rogers specializing in cybersecurity, data privacy, and AI governance issues. His clients span industries such as banking, healthcare, manufacturing, high-tech, and energy. Patrick helps clients navigate complex and novel regulatory compliance issues associated with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and other information technology laws and frameworks.
• Baldwin, Merri

  Rogers Joseph O'Donnell | Shareholder

  Merri Baldwin is a shareholder at Rogers Joseph O’Donnell in San Francisco, where her practice focuses on attorney liability and commercial litigation. She handles claims of legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty, as well as motions to disqualify and for sanctions. She regularly counsels lawyers and law firms on legal ethics and law practice management issues. She represents attorneys in disciplinary matters before the State Bar of California, and has extensive experience handling attorney-client fee disputes.
• Hoyer McWaters, Danielle

  Alston & Bird | Associate

  Danielle Hoyer McWaters is an associate in Alston & Bird’s Labor & Employment Practice Group. Dani focuses her practice on a wide variety of employment and commercial litigation matters, including contract disputes, workplace investigations, discrimination lawsuits, and collective bargaining agreement negotiations. Her practice also includes routinely counseling clients in a variety of industries on employment actions, policies, and practices; separation agreements; and compliance with federal and state laws.
• Ranney, Kathleen A.

  Attorney

  Kathleen has experience as a biotechnology IP attorney in the pharmaceutical industry, and has both in-house and law firm experience. Prior to practicing law, Kathleen started her career as a bench scientist (Molecular biology) including experience at Pfizer Inc. Kathleen has an Honor’s Biology degree from University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. She has an M.S. in Biology from University of Oregon, and a J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law.
• Gillers, Shoshana

  TransUnion | Head of US Compliance and Global Chief Privacy Officer

  Shoshana Gillers serves as the Head of US Compliance and Global Chief Privacy Officer at TransUnion. She leads a team of US compliance professionals and global privacy analysts, and oversees compliance with US law and global privacy laws across TransUnion’s global footprint. Shana joined TransUnion in 2019. Prior to joining TransUnion, Shana served as a data privacy attorney at JPMorgan Chase, as a federal prosecutor in the Northern District of Illinois, and as a litigator with WilmerHale.
• Leiter, Emily

  Alston & Bird | Associate

  Emily Leiter is an associate in Alston & Bird’s Labor & Employment Practice Group. She has experience handling a range of complex commercial matters, with a focus on employment litigation, arbitration, union negotiations, contract drafting, and compliance counseling. Before joining the firm, Emily interned with the general counsel of an impact litigation non-profit and assisted with a range of labor and employment matters and compliance reviews.
• Narasimhan, Dev

  Patent Attorney

  Dev Narasimhan is a registered patent attorney (70,051) with Bachelors and Masters degrees in Biomedical Engineering, specializing in Biomaterials and Cell and Tissue Engineering. Dev also has extensive experience as an in-house attorney, where he worked with inventors and stakeholders to obtain global patent protection and counseled on patent matters.
• Burdman, Jennifer

  Sauvegarder Investment Management | Managing Director

  Jennifer Burdman is Managing Director at Sauvegarder Investment Management, focused on intellectual property-based financing, investment and monetization opportunities. She is an IP strategist, former executive at biotechnology companies, and former partner in an international law firm. In her prior roles as Chief Intellectual Property Officer at a number of biotech startups, Ms. Burdman was the lead IP negotiator on $1.5B of equity investment and royalties in AI/ML drug discovery technology areas. 
• Robison, Kat

  Nike, Inc. | Director, Assistant General Counsel, Digital Policy & Privacy

  Kat Robison considers herself a privacy nerd who loves a good challenge. Kat started at Nike in 2015 as privacy counsel, focusing on privacy issues in the enterprise and sports research spaces, including the use of artificial intelligence, and also led the privacy program team for the company. In 2022, Kat transitioned to the Government & Public Affairs global policy team, as the subject matter expert in data protection, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and digital marketing. In this role Kat partnered across the enterprise to effectively advise on proposed legislation, rulemaking and related actions in these subject matter areas globally. Kat is currently transitioning to a new hybrid role between public policy and legal, focusing on privacy, AI, cybersecurity and digital marketing. This role will enable her to focus on both proactive policy work and bringing Nike’s compliance strategy to life.
• Lee, Dustin

  University of Maryland, Baltimore Office of Technology Transfer | Senior Patent Attorney

  Dustin Lee is a Senior Patent Attorney specializing in medical devices, software, and emerging technologies. Additionally, Dustin manages UMB’s Medical Device Prototype Lab. He was an engineer and patent attorney in private practice before joining the Office of Technology Transfer. Dustin received his BS in Engineering in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan. He began his career as a mechanical engineer, developing integrated robotics and material technologies, before earning a JD from Michigan State University. He earned an MBA from the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business, focused on innovation management and finance. He has experience in university technology transfer and patent boutique firms, in which he focused on patent prosecution, litigation, and counseling in the mechanical, computer, biomedical, and electrical arts. Dustin is an active member of the State Bar of Michigan, is registered to practice before the USPTO, and is the Chair of the AIPLA Corporate Practice Committee.
• Menkes, Jonathan

  Knobbe Martens | Partner

  Jonathan is a partner at intellectual property law firm Knobbe Martens. With over 14 years of experience, Jonathan Menkes provides strategic, responsive trademark and brand protection advice for global brands across numerous industries, as well as for professional athletes, actors, and entertainers. He is also the Co-Chair of the firm’s CBD and Legal Cannabis group.
• Schmidt, David Ph.D.

  Knobbe Martens | Partner

  Dave Schmidt is a partner at intellectual property law firm Knobbe Martens. Dave’s practice involves global strategic patent procurement, patent portfolio management, intellectual property due diligence, licensing, and general counseling on infringement, including pre-litigation strategy. Dave currently represents clients in a variety of technologies, with an emphasis on medical devices, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and materials. In the medical field, Dave has extensive experience in wound care, endoscopy, drug delivery, cardiovascular, and orthopedic technologies.
• Tabaddor, Rouz

  First American | SVP & Chief IP/Privacy Officer

  Rouz Tabaddor is the SVP & Chief IP/Privacy Officer at First American, where he leads the strategy and execution of intellectual property, privacy, and risk initiatives that drive innovation, reduce legal exposure, and create enterprise value. With over two decades of legal and business experience, Rouz specializes in aligning IP strategy with company growth, regulatory compliance, AI legal implications and data ethics.
• Wahl, Bryan. M.D.

  Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TARS) | General Counsel

  Bryan Wahl is a physician, attorney, and pharmaceutical executive, serving as the General Counsel at Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: TARS) since January 2021 and leading the Legal, Compliance, and Innovation teams. Tarsus has launched the first and only FDA approved treatment for Demodex blepharitis. Bryan is board-certified in internal medicine and also continues to practice medicine as a hospitalist physician since 2002, taking care of patients on the wards and in the ICU.

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