About the 2018 Intellectual Property (IP) Event Series
In 2018, CRASH Space member, L15A, organized a series of Intellectual Property (IP) events. Topics were geared towards “DIY” makers & independent inventors/entrepreneurs within the Los Angeles area.
CRASH Space is a 501(c)3 non-profit. These educational events are free and open to the public.
Who Should Attend?
Anyone within the Los Angeles area who is interested in learning about IP for Independent Inventors and/or start-up entrepreneurs.
An independent inventor is an individual who creates outside the context of a company, university or government institutions…[1] They are usually without connection to universities, who do not have access to incubators or science parks, who’s inventive activity is conducted separately from an established firm, and who does not have an obligation to invent.[2]
With 20+ years of international experience within the biotechnology, chemical, medical, software, printing, and wireless device industries Sue brings her large firm experience to Hankin Patent Law, APC and is eager to provide the attentive and personalized service our clients expect. Her areas of expertise include intellectual property counseling, protection, and portfolio management, competitive analyses, IP-based due diligence, R&D advisor, licensing arrangements, and building value in IP assets.
June 27, 2018 – Pamela Banner Krupka of Krupka Law
[list style=”arrow-right”]
[li] Achieving the right balance between the interests of innovators and the wider public interest[/li]
[li] R&D, innovation and patents[/li]
[li] Software and business methods[/li]
[li] Common IP mistakes of first time inventors[/li]
[/list]
With over 30 years of engineering and legal experience, Pam offers practical guidance to clients making decisions regarding their intellectual property. Her prior engineering work at Texas Instruments, Inc. gives her insight to real world factors affecting business decisions involving intellectual property. This real world experience, combined with her litigation, appellate and counseling background, enables her to provide cost effective, practical IP advice.
Pam managed the preparation and prosecution of global patent portfolios for Fortune 100 innovating companies, allowing her to provide guidance on what to protect and how to protect it, focusing on the broadest possible coverage in light of developing law. In her practice, she often acts as in-house intellectual property counsel, providing oversight, guidance and an independent perspective.
Pam also renders patent opinions, including infringement and validity studies, and serves as a witness when her opinion is relied on during litigation. She also provides clearance and right to use studies, and renders product design advice to avoid infringement. She has worked in most aspects of electronics, mechanical devices, software, bioinformatics and medical devices.
[list style=”arrow-right”]
[li]Patent litigation[/li]
[li]IP research and filing strategies[/li]
[li]Considerations and legal resources[/li]
[li]Licensing[/li]
[li]Patent infringement[/li]
[li]Patent trolls[/li]
[li]Lessons learned from IP litigation[/li]
[li]Public health and patent[/li]
[/list]
Described as “One of the top trial lawyers in the country,” Bob tried over 75 cases to judgment, including 18 jury trials to verdict, during his 39 year career at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Teams he led obtained verdicts totaling over $1 billion and recovered over $3 billion in settlements, including one of the largest patent settlements in history – $1.35 billion.
He worked for top Fortune companies and highly innovative individuals on trials involving myriad technologically complex subject matters ranging from software to semiconductors, chemical processes to computers, and smart phones to pharmaceuticals.
Bob now acts as an advisor on complex business, intellectual property, and litigation issues. Bob’s trial and appellate experience yields creative solutions to unusual challenges, jury trials, and appeals.
August 22, 2018 – Benjamin Kuo, Esq. of Patents by Benasaur
Eventually, every inventor is confronted with the decision to protect his technology by ways of a utility patent. Understanding the magnitude of the undertaking as well as the process and pitfalls involved can greatly reduce costs and (worse) avoid obtaining a useless patent.
In this talk, given by a patent attorney and former USPTO Examiner, the informed inventor will learn to distinguish patents from other forms of intellectual property, how to read a patent disclosure, the patent prosecution process and timeline, decide when and what to file, inner workings of the PTO black box, and how to find and work with a patent attorney.
About the Presenter
Benjamin Kuo is a patent attorney and former computer engineer with a solo IP practice based in Los Angeles, specializing in helping smaller entities obtain IP protection. In addition to patent filings, he also supports litigation and consults with practitioners on Patent and Trademark Office issues.
Before forming his own practice, he was a patent examiner for the USPTO, examining hundreds of computer networking applications and conducting numerous interviews with outside attorneys. Before working at the USPTO, he practiced at various law firms in the fields of patent prosecution, IP litigation, antitrust litigation, and federal corrupt practices act investigations. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and is licensed in California and before the USPTO. See more at benasaur.com/law
October 3, 2018 -John Cabeca
West Coast Director of the Silicon Valley United States Patent and Trademark Office
As the Director of the Silicon Valley United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), John Cabeca, 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 USPTO’s west coast regional office in Silicon Valley. Focusing on the region and actively engaging with the community, Mr. Cabeca ensures the USPTO’s initiatives and programs are tailored to the region’s unique ecosystem of industries and stakeholders.
A veteran of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for over 26 years, Mr. Cabeca previously served as the Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO. In this role, he worked closely across the Agency’s leadership to implement the policies and priorities for the USPTO. He began his career at the USPTO as a patent examiner after graduating from Widener University with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. Mr. Cabeca became a Supervisory Patent Examiner in 1997 and joined the Senior Executive Service in 2008 serving as a Patent Technology Center Director over the semiconductor and electrical systems technologies.
Mr. Cabeca has dedicated much of his career to the USPTO’s outreach and education programs focusing on small businesses, startups and entrepreneurs. Over the years, he served in the Office of Petitions, the Office of Patent Legal Administration, the Office of Governmental Affairs and the Office of the Under Secretary. In 2006, Mr. Cabeca was appointed a Department of Commerce Science and Technology Fellow and served on special assignment to the Executive Office of the President in the United States Trade Representative’s Office. At USTR, he worked with multiple agencies on a variety of international intellectual property rights issues and played an integral role in the Free Trade Agreement negotiations with the Republic of Korea.
Eventually, every inventor is confronted with the decision to protect his technology by ways of utility or design patents, and every entrepreneur begins to accumulate protectable IP long before any deals are closed or products shipped. Understanding the magnitude of the undertaking as well as the process and pitfalls involved can greatly reduce costs and potential liability. In this focused, substantive presentation and QnA session, the attorney panel will speak on patents and other forms of IP, discussing their various roles in ways that are relevant to the startup entrepreneur as well as common pitfalls to avoid.
The panel will offer strategies to minimize costs as you build your business, when and what to obtain at various stages of the business, what to do when threatened with litigation, and how to leverage the intellectual property that you have built. The panel will also cover what to look for in a good IP attorney, and the distinction between patent attorneys, patent agents, and general attorneys. Find out the basics of IP law before the law finds you!
SPEAKERS
Benjamin P. Kuo(Patents by Benasaur) is a former computer engineer with a solo IP practice based in Los Angeles, specializing in helping smaller entities obtain IP protection. In addition to patent filings, he also supports litigation and consults with practitioners on Patent and Trademark Office issues. Before forming his own practice, he was a patent examiner for the USPTO, examining hundreds of computer networking applications and conducting numerous interviews with outside attorneys. Before working at the USPTO, he practiced at various law firms in the fields of patent prosecution, IP litigation, antitrust litigation, and federal corrupt practices act investigations. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and is licensed in California and before the USPTO. https://www.benasaur.com/
Stephen Vegh(Vegh IP Legal) has been a trusted advisor to individuals, start-ups, small and mid-sized businesses, and Fortune 500 companies looking for a blend of litigation expertise and technical agility in complex intellectually property and business matters. For the last 12 years, Stephen was with a south Orange County IP law firm where he served as “lead counsel” in over one hundred patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret infringement actions throughout the federal district courts of California, Florida, Colorado, Arizona, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oklahoma, New York, E.D. Texas, and Connecticut, amongst others. Stephen has also represented clients in over eighty proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board, either opposing the registration of new trademarks or seeking the cancellation of existing trademarks. Stephen also counsels clients on domain name issues and disputes under the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy guidelines of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). https://veghlaw.com
Excited to share our first-ever "Hacking IP" panel event last night was a great success! Huge thanks to our incredible panelists, Dana Nasser, Nathan Khalil, Benjamin Kuo, Thomas Peistrup, and Carmen Palafox, as well as to our cohost Santa Monica College and our partners at Bixel Exchange, Crash Space LA (crashspace), and GRID110.
On October 24,2018, The Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property and Santa Monica College hosted a free educational event about Intellectual Property which included a panel discussion of industry experts. CrashSpace, Bixel Exchange and Grid110 were partners of this event.
Every business has a name, a logo, a website, a database of contacts and more, therefore, every business has intellectual property (IP). In today’s digital economy these intangible assets are integral to the survival and success of a business. But how much do our entrepreneurs know about IP? And more importantly, how much do they know about protecting their IP to support long term competitive advantages?
Now, more than ever, a poorly formulated IP strategy poses great threats to our innovation economy. Join us for a high leverage session focused on the real world application of IP topics that can support independent inventors and entrepreneurs in the city of Los Angeles and learn how your IP assets can help you compete more effectively in the marketplace.
PANELIST
DANA NASSER
Dana is a professor at Santa Monica College where she teaches Business Law, Advanced Business Law and courses in the Administration of Justice. She is one of the leaders for SMC’s Pathway to Law School Program.
She has taught on ground and online classes at the community college level for over 12 years. Dana received her J.D. from Loyola Law School. She is a licensed attorney in California and formerly practiced in the area of civil litigation.
NATHAN KHALIL
Nathan is an Adjunct Professor at Santa Monica College, where he teaches Intellectual Property for the Entrepreneur, Business Law, Advanced Business Law, Administration of Justice, and Law for the Entrepreneur. He practiced law as an associate of Jones Day, New York.
His work included assisting clients with prosecuting patent applications, clearing products for market, and litigating patent disputes. The sectors in which he has worked include medical devices, automotive technologies, pharmaceuticals, and consumer products (such as sporting equipment and personal-hygiene products). Nathan earned his B.S. in Civil Engineering from UCLA, and his J.D. from Cornell Law School.
BENJAMIN KUO
Benjamin Kuo is a patent attorney and former computer engineer with a solo IP practice based in Los Angeles, specializing in helping smaller entities obtain IP protection. In addition to patent filings, he also supports litigation and consults with practitioners on Patent and Trademark Office issues.
Before forming his own practice, he was a patent examiner for the USPTO, examining hundreds of computer networking applications and conducting numerous interviews with outside attorneys. Before working at the USPTO, he practiced at various law firms in the fields of patent prosecution, IP litigation, antitrust litigation, and federal corrupt practices act investigations. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and is licensed in California and before the USPTO.
CARMEN PALAFOX
Carmen is an Investment Partner at MiLA.vc, an accelerator and venture capital fund that invests in tech-enabled hardware, e.g., Internet of Things, robotics, wearables, Industry 4.0, frontier tech. Carmen’s focus at MiLA.vc is coaching entrepreneurs on finance and strategic planning; and managing venture fund operations. She was formerly Vice President at Dimensional Fund Advisors, where she scaled operations into new markets including Latin America, Canada, and Europe.
Carmen has an MBA from Berkeley-Haas, an MA in sports management from USF, and a BA in economics from USC. She is a board member of CCEO YouthBuild, and on the advisory board at Santa Monica City College’s Business Department and Insikt, a venture capital backed Fintech startup. Carmen chairs the NextGen Latino’s initiative for the LA Latino Chamber of Commerce and is an Aspen Institute Ricardo Salinas Scholar.
Carmen has an MBA from Berkeley-Haas, an MA in sports management from USF, and a BA in economics from USC. She is a board member of CCEO YouthBuild, and on the advisory board at Santa Monica City College’s Business Department and Insikt, a venture capital backed Fintech startup. Carmen chairs the NextGen Latino’s initiative for the LA Latino Chamber of Commerce and is an Aspen Institute Ricardo Salinas Scholar.
THOMAS PEISTRUP
Thomas Peistrup is a lawyer with extensive experience in intellectual property (copyright, trademark, trade secrets), information security, and related fields. His practice includes privacy, data security and breach, and risk management. He also has specialized expertise in anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting management and litigation, with subject-matter experience in film, television, music, print, technology, direct response and consumer goods.
Thomas presently serves as General Counsel for two consumer goods companies while maintaining a private law practice. Thomas is a board member at a cybersecurity organization and serves as an editor of the annually-updated treatise “California Intellectual Property Laws.” Thomas graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Virginia and earned his JD at UCLA. He has also studied at the Freie Universität Berlin and the Claremont Graduate University.
Provides instructors, students, and creators with first-of-a-kind resources about patents, copyrights, trademarks, and more — all for FREE
Protecting innovations and creative work is more crucial than ever in today’s Knowledge Economy. “Intellectual Property: Inventors, Entrepreneurs, Creators” teaches the basics of IP to ordinary citizens, making IP accessible to everyone, not just lawyers and CEOs.IP has grown from a narrowly specialized legal field into a major force in American social and economic life today. Today, IP comprises an astonishing 38 percent of total U.S. GDP , and represents 80 percent of the market value of all publicly-traded companies in the U.S.Indeed, IP has become the new watchword in almost any career . Look around and you’ll see IP’s imprint everywhere. From Silicon Valley startups to Fortune 500 board rooms, from MIT engineering labs to Wall Street trading desks, and from college business seminars to debates in Congress over global trade policy, IP issues now lie at the heart of almost every arena of modern life today.
As a result, any person today who does not understand at least the basics of intellectual property — and its value and role in science, business, arts, and the professions — will find him or herself at a distinct disadvantage in the world of tomorrow.
If you are an innovator, entrepreneur, or creator of any kind, this course will equip you with the necessary knowledge to protect and capitalize on your intellectual property (IP).“Intellectual Property: Inventors, Entrepreneurs, Creators” is based on The Michelson 20MM Foundation’s IP textbook The Intangible Advantage: Understanding Intellectual Property in the New Economy.
The Intangible Advantage is the first-ever intellectual property book written for ordinary citizens. Authored by Pulitzer Prize-nominated intellectual property expert David Kline, with former Undersecretary of Commerce and Director of the Patent Office David Kappos serving as executive editor.
The patent process can be challenging if you are not familiar with it. Here is basic information on the patent process.
Trademarks for Inventors and Entrepreneurs
The trademark process can be confusing for a beginner, so the links below provide useful information on registering a trademark with the USPTO.
Inventor and Entrepreneur Assistance
The Inventors Assistance Center (IAC) provides patent information and services to the public. The IAC is staffed by former supervisory patent examiners and experienced primary examiners who answer general questions concerning patent examining policy and procedure. The Trademark Assistance Center can answer general questions about the trademark process or provide guidance on the type of information to include on a form, but may not provide specific legal advice.
Education & Information
Guides and additional resources and information for inventors.
Scam Prevention
While the USPTO does not investigate complaints or participate in any legal proceedings against invention promoters/promotion firms, under the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999, the USPTO will provide a public forum for the publication of complaints concerning invention promoters/promotion firms.
Pro Se and Pro Bono
Are you an inventor or small business who has limited resources and needs help applying for a patent on an invention? If so, you may be eligible to receive pro bono (“for free”) attorney representation through the Nationwide Pro Bono Program.
Current Events
Information about conferences and conventions.
Other Federal Resources
Helpful resources for inventors and entrepreneurs from other federal agencies.
The Los Angeles Public Library is a member of the Patent and Trademark Resource Center Program and assists the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in disseminating patent and trademark information to the public.[/h1]
