Intellectual property is one of the most valuable fruits of entrepreneurship’s labor, and has been the foundation upon which thousands of successful business enterprises have been built.   This session will cover the legal issues surrounding intellectual property and its importance throughout a company’s lifespan.  A team consisting of an IP lawyer and a startup corporate lawyer will provide a “crash course” on patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets; discuss IP issues commonly faced at the time of forming new businesses; explain how IP is exploited during the business development stage of a new business; explore the role of IP when a new business raises financing; and consider the impact of IP on an acquisition of the business.  Attend this session to gain a valuable understanding of how these most important legal concepts are applied in the business context, and you may avoid many of the common pitfalls that can damage or ruin your venture.

 

 

FEATURED SPEAKERS

 

TIMOTHY J. HARRIS

Mr. Harris joined Morrison & Foerster LLP in 1997 and is currently a partner in the firm’s Palo Alto office, where he represents public and private companies and venture capital firms in corporate and securities matters.

In his private company practice, Mr. Harris specializes in advising start-up and emerging growth technology enterprises from incorporation through acquisition or initial public offering in matters including venture capital financing, debt financing, equity incentive compensation and technology development (including licensing, joint development, distribution and other technology transfer matters). Mr. Harris also represents venture capital firms and angel investors in their investments in start-up companies.

Mr. Harris represents start-ups and venture capital investors in a variety of technology sectors with an emphasis on Internet- and software-based businesses, including the networking infrastructure, transaction processing, utility computing, online retailing, video games and gaming equipment, financial services, medical imaging, language translation services, telecommunications, online content syndication and semiconductor design industries.

 

 

MICHAEL A. STALLMAN

Michael A. Stallman is Of Counsel in the San Francisco office of Morrison & Foerster. In every respect, Mr. Stallman serves as a strategic business advisor to IP-driven companies, assisting clients through all phases of IP development and protection. He has more than 30 years of experience in the areas of business counseling, strategic IP planning, patent evaluation and due diligence, patent licensing, and IP litigation. His expertise includes cross-border issues involving foreign and multinational parties, as well as foreign tribunals and patent offices. The combination of his technical expertise, business savvy, and experience in every area of IP law enables him to efficiently provide his clients with innovative and practical solutions.

His adversarial practice also includes handling patent reexaminations before the USPTO. Through these reexamination proceedings, he has helped patent holders strengthen patents prior to licensing negotiations and possible litigation, as well as helped accused infringers attempt to invalidate alleged infringed patents.

Mr. Stallman is often retained to perform IP due diligence and investigate the strengths and risks of an acquisition target. In that role, he evaluates the strength of the patent holdings of the target and also studies the landscape of third-party patents to determine the level of risk to the acquirer. His extensive experience rendering legal opinions on a wide variety of patents has provided him with a comprehensive understanding of the patent landscape in a number of key optics and medical device fields.