Licensing Deal Structure
Thursday, January 18, 2007
6:00 - 8:00 p.m. (reception to follow)
Center for Design & Business
169 Weybosset St., First Floor, Room 103
Meeting Location Map
Registration for this event is now closed.
How can entrepreneurs take full advantage of their intellectual property? Many individuals and companies possess assets such as patents or designs they wish to realize into pure profit, but they are often overwhelmed by the lengthy license agreements filled with arcane jargon. At this event, you will hear from licensing experts about what components of a licensing agreement are most important for maximizing gain for the licensor and what specific areas can be successfully negotiated.
The speakers will address the due diligence that is necessary in preparing for a licensing deal and a general strategy that licensors should take in negotiating a deal. We will look at real license agreements and breakdown important sections piece by piece. Also, we will hear war stories from entrepreneurs who have navigated this process.
Cost: $25 non-members; $15 members; students & sponsors free
Host: Bill Foulkes, Executive Director, Center for Design and Business
Moderator: Larry Green, Wolf Greenfield & Sacks
Panelists:
Elizabeth Pierotti, Inventor and Product Developer
Elizabeth Pierotti is an experienced inventor, strategic product developer, and project director specializing in consumer goods for the sports and fitness industry. Ms. Pierotti has designed and developed product innovations on behalf of Fortune 500 Companies, distributors, retailers and individual inventors. Her clients include Reebok International, Speedo America, International Marine Industries and Toys 'R Us.
Liza Vertinsky, Associate, Wolf Greenfield & Sacks
Click here to download Liza's presentation (PDF)
Liza Vertinsky is a member of the firm’s Biotechnology, Chemical, and IP Transactions Practice Groups and specializes in licensing and, more generally, in the implementation of intellectual property strategy through agreements. Liza works with life science, chemical, materials, software, and other high tech clients and media clients of all sizes and stages of development, including biotech and pharmaceutical companies, university clients, individuals, and companies moving through their life cycle from start up to mature manufacturing and out-licensing.
She has particular experience in assisting entrepreneurs and emerging companies with strategic issues involving the development, acquisition, leveraging, and other use of intellectual property, including strategic partnerships and joint venture counseling and technology transfer counseling. She has supported the New England entrepreneurship community through her involvement in non-profit entrepreneurship organizations such as WEST (Women Entrepreneurs in Science and Technology) and NFTE (National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship), as well as active involvement in MIT e-club and MIT 50K mentoring, and has a strong interest in social entrepreneurship and development.
Ralph Beckman, President, Design Lab
Ralph Beckman has worked for 35 years as an architect, engineer, product designer, inventor and entrepreneur. As founder and president of Design Lab, a Providence, RI firm specializing in product invention and design, he brings his broad business background, technical abilities and well developed design skills to the Design Lab team. Prior to the creation of Design Lab (1986) he was the founder and CEO of Aeolian Kinetics, Inc., a respected manufacturer of innovative scientific instruments and data acquisition hardware. His prize-winning architectural firm, Beckman, Blydenburgh and Associates, successfully created numerous innovative projects including the Davol Square Marketplace, the Hedison Building, and the Urban Environmental Laboratory at Brown University, to name a few. He has taught architectural and industrial design technology at the Rhode Island School of Design and frequently lectures and is a studio critic at both RISD and Brown University. Mr. Beckman is an expert in the field of appropriate design and technology and has served as consultant to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), NASA, and the governments of Botswana and the Marshall Islands. Mr. Beckman studied engineering, architecture and industrial design at the University of Michigan and the Rhode Island School of Design. He is a registered architect and a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA).
