Speakers

RLT Global Consulting LLC

Dr. Thurston earned his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia, having defended successfully his dissertation on China's Civil Law Reform Movement, 1912-1930. He earned his JD from Rutgers School of Law, Camden Division, where he minored in IP law. He also attended Soochow School of Law, Taipei, Taiwan, on a non-degree program. Fluent in Mandarin, he has spent the past 40+ years managing and supporting intellectual property matters at the intersection of global corporate transactions. Dr. Thurston has taught both law and business classes at: SMU School of Law (Dallas, TX); University of Texas, Dallas; Soochow University (Taiwan); National Chiao Tung University (Taiwan); and National Cheng-Chih University (Taiwan).

Till, Mary

Finnegan Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP | Of Counsel

Mary C. Till is of counsel in Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP’s Washington, DC office. She leverages her over 30 years of experience in patent law to provide patent prosecution counseling services to a broad range of clients. Drawing on her insider’s perspective with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), her capabilities range from the representation of large corporations to startups and universities needing patent procurement, portfolio evaluations, and portfolio management and strategy services.

Tilley, Doug

Braun Hagey & Borden | Partner

Doug Tilley is a Partner at Braun Hagey & Borden, a nationally recognized litigation boutique with offices in San Francisco and New York. Doug represents plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes commercial disputes, including trade secret, employee mobility, fiduciary duty, contract, fraud, and intellectual property matters. He has substantial jury trial and arbitral hearing experience, and always crafts litigation strategies with that audience in mind. Doug also helps clients proactively minimize risk by advising on employment issues, intellectual property strategies, regulatory interpretation, and corporate governance.

Timberlake, Edward

IP and Transactions Clinic at Franklin Pierce Center for IP | Clinical Professor

Ed Timberlake currently teaches Trademark Searching in the Hybrid JD program at UNH Law and is a clinical professor and interim director of the Intellectual Property and Transactions Clinic at the Franklin Pierce Center for Intellectual Property.

Tishler, Sarah

Beck Reed Riden LLP | Partner

Sarah Tishler is a partner at Beck Reed Riden LLP, a nationally-recognized boutique litigation firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. Sarah’s practice is concentrated on trade secret and restrictive covenant advising and litigation, employee mobility, and commercial litigation. Sarah has won successful outcomes for clients on both sides of these disputes in all stages of litigation, including the preliminary injunction stage, jury trials, and mediation. Sarah has also counseled clients on the identification and protection of trade secrets, and the enforceability of noncompetes and other restrictive covenants. Sarah was named by the Legal 500 in 2023 and 2024 in the area of Trade Secrets, and by Best Lawyers in 2026 as Ones to Watch for Commercial Litigation.

Tittemore, Lisa

Sunstein LLP | Partner

Lisa is a partner at Sunstein LLP, a Boston-based intellectual property law firm. As Chair of the firm’s Litigation Practice, Co-Chair of the DEI Committee, and a member of the Management Committee, she is regularly engaged in matters involving innovation. Lisa is an experienced litigator, serving as lead counsel in patent, trademark and copyright litigation in federal courts throughout the United States. Lisa has extensive experience in intellectual property matters, providing strategic counsel to clients on both domestic and international issues and guiding the firm’s efforts in protecting and enforcing clients’ valuable brands and ideas.

Tom DeSimone

MiMedx Group, Inc. | Senior Counsel

Tom DeSimone focuses his practice on intellectual property litigation and patent office trials.

Toppin, Catherine J.

Clements Bernard Walker

Catherine Toppin began her career as an Examiner with the USPTO before joining a Boston based law firm, as an Associate. Prior to joining CBW, Ms. Toppin previously held the role of Senior Patent Counsel and Manager, within the Global Patent Operation of General Electric’s Corporate legal department.

Ernie Torain

ITW | Deputy General Counsel at ITW

Toru Matsuoka

Japanese Patent Office

Tostmann, Holger

Casalonga | Partner

With over 25 years of experience in European and US- patent prosecution, as well as extensive practice in opposition and appeal proceedings, where he has achieved well above-average success rates, Holger focuses on patents in the fields of pharma, polymers, materials science and batteries. He provides strategic advice on patent portfolio management, aligning deep technical expertise with legal experience to support clients’ commercial objectives.

Tottis, Kevin

TottisLaw | Managing Partner

For the better part of the past four decades, Kevin’s litigated commercial and intellectual property cases throughout the United States for foreign and domestic clients. He currently heads up TottisLaw, a Chicago litigation boutique he started after several years as a partner in a national law firm. For the second year in a row since Chambers inaugurated its Chicago “Regional Spotlight Guide” of small and midsized law firms, TottisLaw has been recognized for its IP practice.

Towers, Cindy

JURISolutions Legal | Co-Founder, President, CEO

Cynthia (“Cindy”) Funaro Towers, Esq. is Co-Founder, President, and CEO of JURISolutions Legal (JSL), an award-winning legal services innovator and one of the largest WBENC-certified legal services and recruitment firms in the country. Since 1997, JSL has specialized in the development and strategic utilization of legal talent, and JSL’s newest service line, jurisADVANCE, offers customized DEI consulting services for law firms and corporate legal departments.

Townes, Nicole

Friedland Cianfrani LLP | Partner

Nicole Townes is a partner in the Irvine office of Friedland Cianfrani LLP. Nicole has represented a wide range of clients in trademark, trade dress, copyright and licensing counseling and litigation, as well as false advertising, unfair competition, trade secret and patent litigation. Her practice includes domestic and international trademark selection and clearance, prosecution, and procurement.

Traphagen, Mark

Traphagen Law PLLC | Principal

Mark Traphagen is the principal of Traphagen Law PLLC and practices copyright, trademark and unfair competition, privacy and publicity rights, and advertising law. He teaches International Intellectual Property at George Washington University Law School and Entertainment Law at George Mason University Law School, and he is the author of the U.S. chapter of the treatise Copyright Throughout the World.

Trask, Tara

Tara Trask LLC | President of Trask Consulting

Tara Trask is the President of Trask Consulting, a boutique litigation strategy, jury research and trial consulting firm with offices in San Francisco, Houston and New York. Ms. Trask’s practice focuses on civil litigation with an emphasis on complex commercial litigation; including intellectual property, (patent and trademark infringement, trade secret misappropriation) antitrust, securities, breach of contract and fraud.

Traub, Florian

Pinsent Mason | Partner

Florian heads Pinsent Masons' trade mark and brand protection team based in our London office, with extensive experience in domestic and international filing, prosecution and portfolio management. This includes worldwide trade mark and design clearance, filing and prosecution, contentious registry proceedings including opposition, invalidity and revocation actions in the UK, EU, Germany and throughout the world, brand exploitation and commercialisation and advice on infringement matters as part of the broader IP team.

Tribble, Max L.

Susman Godfrey, LLP | Partner

Max Tribble, a permanent member of Susman Godfrey’s Executive Committee, is well-recognized as one of the premier trial lawyers in America.

Tridico, Anthony

Finnegan | Partner

Anthony Tridico, Ph.D. is a U.S. patent lawyer and a partner in Finnegan's Washington, DC Office. He spent many years as Managing Partner of Finnegan's European Offices, where he gained significant knowledge of the European Patent Convention (EPC) and the diversity of laws and practice among the European national systems. His knowledge of the various legal systems and how they differ from the U.S. allows Anthony to effectively counsel clients across life sciences industries with global interests in intellectual property.

Tripodi II, Paul D.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP | Partner

Paul is a partner in the Irvine and Los Angeles offices, where his practice focuses on intellectual property (IP) litigation, including patent litigation, trade secret misappropriation, and related licensing and contract disputes. He has been involved in both bench and jury trials in federal district courts, as well as proceedings before various international tribunals, the International Trade Commission (ITC), the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Paul has served as a pro bono prosecutor in nearly a dozen criminal matters, including as lead counsel in numerous related jury trials.

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