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  • Sheppard 200 Sheppard, Christal A.

    University of Nebraska College of Law | Law Professor

    Dr. Christal Sheppard has over 3 decades of science, intellectual property law and policy experience covering a large proportion of the IP ecosystem. Her experience includes serving as chief counsel of patent and trademarks in the United States House of Representatives, as the first Director of the first USPTO Regional Office, as a member of the Administration's Public Patent Advisory Committee, and in the International Trade Commission’s General Counsel’s Office. Currently she is Lecturer at University of Nebraska College of Law, and has served as a Distinguished Fellow at the Nebraska Governance and Technology Center.
  • Sherman, Audrey

    3M | Division Scientist

    Ms. Sherman has over 30 years of experience with all aspects of R&D Laboratory Operations, organic synthesis, and addition/condensation polymerizations. Her experience covers the synthesis and characterization, to large scale manufacturing polymerization processes including Reactive extrusion/coating/Solventless extrusion processing and release liner technologies. She holds over 160+ US Patents and is the first and only woman at 3M to hold 100 patents.
  • Shier, Vincent K.

    Haynes Boone | Partner

    Vincent K. Shier, Ph.D. is a partner in the Intellectual Property Practice Group in Haynes Boone’s Washington, D.C. office. Vince holds a doctorate degree in biological chemistry and has practiced IP law for more than two decades, preparing and prosecuting patent applications, counseling clients in strategic IP considerations, IP due diligence, and representing clients in post-grant proceedings at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
  • shimabuku_hope_bio_1500 square 200 Shimabuku, Hope

    United States Patent & Trademark Office – Texas Regional Office | Regional Director

    As the Regional Director of the Texas Regional United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Hope Shimabuku carries out the strategic direction of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, and is responsible for leading the Texas regional office. Focusing on the region and actively engaging with the community, Ms. Shimabuku ensures the USPTO’s initiatives and programs are tailored to the region’s unique ecosystem of industries and stakeholders.
  • Sholder, Scott

    Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP | Partner

    Scott Sholder is a partner with Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP in New York and co-chairs the firm’s litigation group. His practice focuses on litigation, counseling, and dispute resolution in connection with entertainment, media, and intellectual property matters. Scott represents and advises clients ranging from individuals and small business to major corporations and A-list talent across various industries (including music, publishing, visual and fine arts, film, and television) in copyright, trademark, right-of-publicity, unfair competition, and commercial and business disputes, as well as defamation defense. He is a frequent writer and speaker on topics landing at the intersection of new technology and IP law, particularly the impact of generative AI on copyright law, and has experience litigating cases on the cutting edge of copyright law, including several of the pending generative AI copyright infringement class action lawsuits.
  • Shukla, Darcy

    Shumaker & Sieffert, P.A | Principal

    Darcy is a registered patent attorney focusing on patent prosecution in the electronics, software, computer architecture, and wireless communication arts.
  • Siders, Benjamin J.

    Lewis Rice, LLC | Member

    Ben serves as Practice Group Leader for the Intellectual Property practice group at Lewis Rice in St. Louis, Missouri. Ben enjoys a diverse intellectual property practice that includes patent and trademark prosecution, technology licensing and compliance, and copyright licensing and enforcement. Ben is an avid gamer and former C software engineer, and he now enjoys a niche practice working with video game and board game companies, and he holds a patent on "parallel reality" games (No. 9,078,103). Within AIPLA, he is the current Chair of the Copyright Law Committee and the copyright liaison to the AI Task Force, and he was the lead author on AIPLA’s amicus brief in Warner Chappell v. Nealy. He also co-hosts a podcast called A Lawyer’s Guide to the Galaxy, which explores the intersection of geek culture and the law (but is mostly an excuse to talk about Star Wars).
  • Siegal, Kyle N.

    Skysong Innovations | Senior VP of Life Sciences and Chief Patent Counsel

    Kyle joined Skysong Innovations in January 2017 and serves as Senior VP and Chief Patent Counsel.
  • Silverman200 Silverman, Andrew

    Orrick | Partner

    Andrew Silverman is an appellate lawyer focusing on high-stakes, precedent-setting cases nationwide. A distinguishing feature of Andrew’s practice is that clients routinely call on him in the trial court to win the case long before the appeal.
  • Silverman, Eric E.

    BioMarin Pharmaceutical | Director, Chemistry Intellectual Property Counsel

    Eric E. Silverman, PhD has nearly twenty years of experience in intellectual property. His expertise spans a wide array of intellectual property matters, including patent preparation, prosecution and strategy, trade secret protection, counseling, licensing, and diligence. Eric has counseled clients in a wide array of technologies including pharmaceuticals, industrial chemistry, adhesives, oil and gas, biological testing, food science, and consumer products. Eric is currently a Director, Intellectual Property Counsel at BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc in San Rafael CA.
  • joshua-simmons Simmons, Joshua L.

    Kirkland & Ellis, LLP | Partner

    Recognized as a “Next Generation Lawyer” (Legal 500), Joshua Simmons focuses his practice on intellectual property litigation and counseling, as well as regulatory and legislative policy.
  • Simpson, Toby

    Hoffmann Eitle | British and European Patent Attorney, UPC Representative

    Toby Simpson's patent practice lies principally in the fields of pharmaceuticals and chemistry. He specialises in drafting and prosecuting patent applications directed to pharmaceutical products (including new chemical entities, peptide and antibody therapeutics, pharmaceutical formulations, polymorphs, salts, new medical uses and dosage regimes), cosmetic products, personal care products, medical devices, polymers, energy storage devices and fuels. He also advises clients in relation to SPCs, orphan drug designations, clinical trial exemptions and regulatory data protection. A keen problem solver, Toby is frequently entrusted by clients with technically and legally challenging cases.
  • Singer, Neil

    ZeroWheel, LLC | CEO, CTO, and Founder

    Neil Singer, PhD is the CEO, CTO, and founder of ZeroWheel, LLC, based in Armonk, NY. ZeroWheel is a high-end, motorized, fitness product, focused on making core development efficient, and accessible for users of all levels. Dr. Singer is an optimization expert specializing in dynamic systems and motor control technology. He received his BS in 1983, SM in 1985 and PhD in 1989, all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Mechanical Engineering department. Dr. Singer’s research focuses on machine design, dynamics, control and optimization of dynamic systems. He has published 39 technical papers, holds 19 patents, and his Input Shaping® technology for machine vibration reduction is taught in dozens of universities and used in millions of machines worldwide. He has also taught several courses at MIT.
  • Skulikaris, Yannis

    European Patent Office | Director Operations in the field of Information and Communications Technology

    Yannis Skulikaris works in the European Patent Office as Director Operations in the field of Information and Communications Technology.
  • Slifer, Russ

    Black Hills IP | CEO

    Russ Slifer is the CEO of Black Hills IP and is also a registered patent attorney and principal of Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner. He has focused exclusively on intellectual property law since 1994 helping a wide variety of clients build patent portfolios to protect their innovations, including individual inventors, universities, and Fortune 100 companies.
  • Sloane Photo Sloane, Wendi

    Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg, LLP | Partner

    Wendi concentrates her practice on intellectual property law and complex commercial litigation.
  • Smaby, Jonathan

    Texas Center for Legal Ethics | Executive Director

    Jonathan Smaby has served as the Executive Director of the Texas Center for Legal Ethics in Austin since 2009. The Center promotes the ethical practice of law by attorneys and educates the public regarding legal ethics and the justice system. The Center also administers the Justice James A. Baker Guide to Ethics and Professionalism in Texas CLE course, a four-hour program required of all newly-licensed attorneys by the Supreme Court of Texas.
  • Smalley, Laura W.

    Harris Beach PLLC | Partner

    Laura W. Smalley is a partner in the Intellectual Property Practice Group of Harris Beach PLLC, one of the leading law firms in New York State as ranked by the National Law Journal. She was selected as one of the Best Lawyers in America and represents clients in patent licensing, litigation and prosecution. Laura focuses on protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights and clients’ development of their technology. She has litigated numerous patent infringement suits involving medical devices, electronic components and imaging technology, including acting as trial counsel in a patent infringement action over key components for pacemakers and implantable defibrillators that resulted in a $27 million judgment.
  • Smith Photo Smith, Bridget

    Relativity Space | Assistant General Counsel and Head of IP

    Bridget Smith is Assistant General Counsel and Head of Intellectual Property at Relativity Space, an American aerospace manufacturing company that develops manufacturing technologies, launch vehicles, and rocket engines for commercial orbital launch services.
  • Smith, James Donald

    Ecolab USA | Deputy General Counsel - Litigation & IP

    James Donald Smith serves as Deputy General Counsel of Ecolab USA. In his current position, Smith oversees the company’s general litigation function (mass torts, products liability, personal injury, etc.) and its global operations relating to patents, trademarks, and copyrights, and other matters related to protection of Ecolab innovation. Early in his career, Smith served as a judicial clerk to now retired Chief Judge Paul Michel at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He also practiced with Arnold White & Durkee and, later, Dewey Ballantine, serving as the office managing partner of Dewey's Texas office. Mr. Smith, who is also a former Assistant Dean of the law school at Emory University in Atlanta, has experience both as a patent litigator and patent prosecutor, and he has led in-house IP teams for three multi-national corporations, serving as Lexmark’s Chief IP Counsel, Nokia’s Global Director of Licensing, and as Associate General Counsel and Chief IP Counsel of Baxter.