Speakers

  • Soroush, Ali

    United States Patent and Trademark Office | Primary Patent Examiner (TC1600)/ Assistant Outreach Detailee Silicon Valley Regional Office

    Mr. Soroush has served the USPTO for over 17 years as a patent examiner in the biotechnology area, with special focus on pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and herbicides. Also, Mr. Soroush contributed to several projects including the development of Global Dossier and the implementation of WIPO standard ST.26 (presentation of nucleotide and amino acid sequence listings using xml). Further, he was on detail with the Office of Solicitor and served as a trainer in the Patent Academy.
  • Southwick, Stephanie 200x200 Southwick, Stephanie

    Bentham IMF | Investment Manager, Legal Counsel

    Stephanie Southwick is an Investment Manager and Legal Counsel for Bentham IMF.
  • spangenberg200 Spangenberg, Erich

    IPwe | CEO

    Erich is the CEO and co-founder of IPwe, a company using blockchain and AI to create the patent asset class by making it easy and far less expensive to analyze, interact with and transact in patents. He is regularly recognized as one of the world’s top 50 IP strategists, credited with being one of the people that is changing the way people think about and use patents.
  • Spears_Photo_200 Spears, Steven

    Baker Hughes, a GE Company | Global IP Litigation Counsel

    Attorney specializing in patent, trade secret, and other technology-related controversies and litigation involving the biotechnology, chemical and petrochemical industries.
  • Spector, Elaine

    Harrity & Harrity LLP | Partner

    Elaine Spector is a partner at the IP boutique, Harrity & Harrity and the firm’s first female partner. She is a passionate advocate for women’s leadership in intellectual property and serves on the Board of IPO Education Foundation, US IP Alliance and Patent Pathways. With a background in mechanical engineering and close to three decades in patent law, Elaine empowers women in IP to build strong, authentic personal brands and break new ground in the field.
  • Spence, Nicole

    IBM Corporation | Counsel, Data, AI and Automation

    Nicole A. Spence is an IBM Brand Counsel for the Data, AI and Automation business unit. As a Brand Counsel, Nicole supports various IBM software and hardware products in the Data, AI and Automation portfolio, including IP, M&A, data privacy, marketing, AI and data governance, transactions and litigation. In addition, Nicole is one of IBM’s AI and IP Policy attorneys for North America.
  • Spraggins, Barrett

    Kennedy Lenart Spraggins LLP | Founding Partner

    Barrett Spraggins is a U.S. patent attorney and founding partner of the IP boutique Kennedy Lenart Spraggins LLP. As a seasoned attorney with over 15 years in the IP profession, Barrett provides a variety of IP services including patent portfolio creation, strategic counselling, IP portfolio evaluations, technology transactions, patent licensing and litigation support. As a trusted advisor for organizations of all sizes, Barrett has considerable experience in managing global IP portfolios for international companies, as well as creating new portfolios for startups. With a background in electrical engineering, Barrett practices in a wide range of industries and technologies, including software applications, electrical power and battery systems, autonomous vehicles, sensor design, distributed computing environments, medical devices, circuit design and fabrication, and all types of computer hardware.
  • Squires, Hon. John A.

    United States Patent and Trademark Office | Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director

    John A. Squires is the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). As chief executive, he leads one of the largest intellectual property (IP) offices in the world—almost a $5 billion operation with over 14,000 employees located across the 50 states and Puerto Rico. He is also the principal IP advisor to the President and Administration, through the Secretary of Commerce. Prior to joining the USPTO, Mr. Squires served as Partner and Chair of the IP and Emerging Companies Practice at Dilworth Paxson LLP and an adjunct law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law. He has extensive experience in all aspects of IP and emerging companies, across a vast array of scientific and technology disciplines, including patent and trademark asset creation, procurement and acquisition, transactions, licensing, corporate formation, governance and structuring, high-stakes litigation and regulatory, and risk management matters.
  • Srinivasamani, Vindhya

    Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan | Joint Partner

    Vindhya is a Joint Partner in the Technology Law Division at the firm. She is a registered advocate with the Delhi Bar Council with over 9 years of experience. She is primarily involved in IP opposition & litigation matters and regularly appears before the Trademark Office, Patent Office, PVP Registry, High Courts and the Supreme Court. She is also involved in advising clients on various aspects of IP and allied matters. She is also actively involved in litigation pertaining to Environmental law matters and advising clients regarding the same.
  • Srinivasan Photo Srinivasan, Kalpana

    Susman Godfrey, LLP | Partner

    Ms. Srinivasan tries high-stakes cases for plaintiffs and defendants in courtrooms across the country.
  • Sry, Jon

    3M | Senior IP Counsel

    Jon Sry is Senior IP Counsel at 3M, supporting multiple divisions within the Safety and Industrial Business Group. In addition, he serves as an office leader in AI, championing innovation and efficiency throughout the legal department. A skilled prompt engineer, Jon is continuously exploring cost-effective legal applications by harnessing the power of commercial large language models (LLMs). In his policy-focused endeavors, Jon was instrumental in drafting 3M’s generative AI use guidelines to ensure responsible and ethical implementation of emerging technologies. He also led the AI Governance Subcommittee on behalf of the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), benchmarking policies and best practices among top organizations.
  • St Clair Jones, Gregory

    Kilburn & Strode | Partner

    As a partner in the Tech & Engineering team at Kilburn & Strode, Greg thrives on resolving contentious issues often faced by his clients be it dealing with patent infringement threats, litigation, or acting before the European Patent Office. Having spent time on secondment working alongside a leading in-house IP team in San Francisco, Greg has developed a keen understanding of the commercial IP issues faced by in-house patent counsel. Greg regularly provides training sessions on European patent law for US in-house counsel, particularly in the area of patent-eligible subject matter at the EPO. He has also represented Kilburn & Strode extensively in the US having spent time working from the firm’s San Francisco office.
  • St. Amour, Mark

    Bejin Bieneman PLC | Associate

    As an associate with Bejin Bieneman PLC, Mark assists clients with patent prosecution in the US and internationally. He has experience with in a range of technology areas, including in the automotive, packaging, medical, and other industries, as well as litigation experience with patents, copyrights, and trademarks. Prior to his legal career, Mark was a mechanical engineer in the powertrain department for a major automotive manufacturer, where he rotated though numerous positions that included manufacturing process engineering, production and assembly support engineering, and product engineering.
  • Stadheim, Theresa

    Marshall Gerstein & Borun LLP | Special Counsel

    Theresa Stadheim is a seasoned patent attorney who focuses her practice on drafting and prosecuting patent applications across a wide range of technologies, including wireless communications, artificial intelligence, machine learning, memory devices, and computer architecture. With a background as an electrical engineer in both hardware and software development, she brings a deep technical perspective to her legal work.
  • Placeholder Image Male Stanton, Brian

    Stanton Consulting | Principal

    Brian R. Stanton, Ph.D. trained as a molecular geneticist specializing in cancer research. After post graduate work utilizing embryonic stem cell technology to study animal development, he joined the US Patent and Trademark Office where he spent 12 years working in biopharmaceutical patenting.
  • Stearns, Susan

    PayPal | Director, Trademark and Brand Enforcement

    Susan Stearns is Director, Trademark and Brand Enforcement for PayPal, Inc., where she provides global legal support to PayPal’s marketing, customer trust, and Brand teams, and manages PayPal’s soft IP team. Before joining PayPal, Susan was Senior Counsel, Trademarks and Copyrights for Coinbase, Inc., the leading cryptocurrency exchange platform. At Coinbase, she managed and led the global trademark/copyright programs and its NFT marketplace IP compliance program. Before Coinbase, Susan was Trademark counsel at Amazon, where she supported and managed the trademark portfolios for Amazon’s private label brands, retail website, Amazon Pay, Whole Foods, and Audible.
  • Stefanou, Constance

    Morgan Lewis | Associate

    Constance Stefanou focuses her practice on protection and enforcement of matters related to trademark, false advertising, unfair competition, copyright, anticounterfeiting, and customs in the United States and globally. Connie advises Fortune 100 companies and emerging businesses across different industries on all aspects of intellectual property (IP) portfolio management at a global level, including issues involving trademark selection, clearance, registration, maintenance, and enforcement. Connie assists clients in protecting their valuable brands through administrative proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and in defending such actions brought by third parties.
  • Stein Photo Stein, James

    Lee & Hayes | Patent Attorney/Partner

    With nearly 15 years of experience, James has a diverse practice spanning all areas of patents, including post-grant proceedings (e.g., inter partes review and reexamination), strategic counseling, prosecution, litigation, and transactions.
  • -Steiner-AF-David-square200 Steiner, Dave

    Meister & Steiner PLLC | Founding Partner

    Dave Steiner has been advising clients for over 20 years on technology, media and intellectual property deals as well as trademark, copyright and art-related matters. Dave is also a working artist, and has had solo shows in New York, Los Angeles and Copenhagen. His work has been featured in The New Yorker, The Guardian, The Huffington Post and Hyperallergic.
  • Adam-Steinert Steinert, Adam R.

    Fredrikson & Byron, PA | Shareholder

    Adam tries patent and trade secret cases on behalf of inventors and corporate clients, enforcing and defending his clients’ intellectual property in a wide range of technologies, from software and semiconductors to medical devices.