IP Protection and Legal Issues for Early Stage Companies

Entrepreneurs’ Network

This meeting is co-sponsored by IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society, Boston Chapter.

The legal environment is constantly changing because of new laws and evolving interpretations of existing laws and regulations. Founders and executives of early stage companies have to address numerous legal questions in this changing environment; for instance:

– How to use provisional, utility, and design patents, trademarks, and other IP protections
– How copyrights, and trade secrets can be used to protect intellectual property and build value for investors and employees
– Where to incorporate, how to apportion founders equity and granting employee stock options, restricted stock and other equities
– How employer/employee agreements can benefit both investors, founders, and
employees. Employee agreements may include terms of employment, compensation including benefits and independent contractor agreements.

Our panel of legal experts will address these fundamental issues that early stage companies must consider during their earliest days in order to lay a strong legal foundation for success.

Agenda:
6:30 – 7:30 PM – Registration & networking
7:30 – 7:40 PM – ENET Chairman’s announcements
7:40 – 7:55 PM – E Minute – Up to 3 Startup companies’ presentations
7:55 – 8:45 PM – 3 expert speakers on the night’s topic
8:45 – 9:00 PM – Audience / Speakers Q & A
9:00 – 9:30 PM – Final networking includes meeting presenting speakers
A question and answer session follows the presentation, and panelists will be available afterwards for responses to individual questions.

Speakers:

Jeremy Cohen, Gesmer Updegrove

Jeremy Cohen is an attorney at Gesmer Updegrove, LLP, a firm specialized in the representation of emerging technology companies. His focus is on business creation, development, transactions, financings, and assisting with any other advice you need to help your business grow. Jeremy’s experiences and background have helped him develop a practice that is broad as well as deep, including: Business formation and organization: advising start-ups on how to best begin their business while looking to future growth. Mergers & Acquisitions: from spin-outs and carve-outs to complex transaction structures or outright sales of companies, Jeremy has experience in a variety of transaction structures and can bring insight and know-how to any situation. Financings: Whether the funding is coming from a bank, a professional investor or a relative, Jeremy can help guide the process to a successful financing.

Mike Attisha, Associate, Wolf Greenfield & Sacks

Mike Attisha is an attorney at Wolf Greenfield, a boutique law firm that is focused entirely on intellectual property. Mike counsels clients on their patent portfolio in a wide range of technology areas, including electronics, additive fabrication (3D printing), display technologies (LCD, OLED, electrophoretic), software, semiconductors, optics, medical devices, electronic music, automated hardware testing, and signal processing. He has an extremely broad technical knowledge drawn largely from his experience working in experimental physics and as a software consultant. Prior to joining Wolf Greenfield, Mike worked at Ab Initio Software assisting clients with their enterprise data processing applications. During his graduate studies at Brown University, Mike worked on the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) experiment located a half mile underground in northern Minnesota.

Moderator and Co-Organizer:

Bob Weber, Managing Director, Patent Kinetics, LLC

Robert Weber is a successful intellectual property professional, inventor, serial entrepreneur, management consultant, and senior executive. Presently, he is Managing Director, Patent Kinetics, LLC, a company that helps entrepreneurs and patent owners build and monetize valuable patent portfolios. Weber is an inventor with 28 issued US patents and a number of foreign counterparts assigned to Intertrust Technologies, where he served as SVP Business and Technology Strategy, 1996-1999. The Intertrust portfolio was characterized in the Wall Street Journal as a once in a generation billion dollar licensing opportunity. (Intertrust is presently a joint venture of Sony and Philips.) Weber has also been a Principal Consultant at Northeast Consulting Resources, Inc. At NCRI, his consulting practice focused on the intersection of business and technology. Weber divides his time between Boston and Silicon Valley. He is a former Vice Chair, Programs, of the Boston Entrepreneurs Network and is a member of the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Licensing Executives Society.

Co-Organizer: William R. Byrnes

Bill’s legal practice assists entrepreneurial companies with the legal issues they face with a focus on day-to-day commercial issues involving customers, vendors, and other third party relationships. Bill received his undergraduate degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from Boston University, a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School, and a L.L.M. degree in Taxation from Boston University Law School, Graduate Tax Program. He is also a Boston Entrepreneurs’ Network board member.

E-Minute Presentations will be given at the start of the meeting. These very short presentations enable young startup entrepreneurs to gain experience in presenting their summary business plans to expert panels and audiences.

Meeting Location: Microsoft Technology Center, 5 Wayside Road, Burlington, MA 01803

To expedite sign-in for the meeting, we ask that everyone — members as well as non-members — pre-register for the meeting online. Pre-registration is available until midnight the day before the meeting. If you cannot pre-register, you are welcome to register at the door.