We’re slowly starting to pack our bags for Madrid and are making sure to leave room for the inspiration, relationships and knowledge that we’ll be leaving with (perhaps also some swag from exhibitors?) 13 days until the official Welcome Reception - it's not to late to make plans to join us! Register at www.lesi2024.org. Don't miss out!!

• April 16 - "Current Patent Legislation and the Small Inventor: Deja vu all over again" (LES USA-Canada) ONLINE
• April 17 - "What’s the Gen? An Overview of Global Trends in Generative AI Litigation and Practical Use Cases for IP Professionals" (LES Britain-Ireland) EDINBURGH
• April 25 - "From Problem to Profit: AI-Driven Innovation and Licensing" (LES USA-Canada) SANTA CLARA
• April 26 - "2024 World IP Day Celebration" (LES USA-Canada) ONLINE
• April 28 - "Train-The-Trainer" (LES Spain-Portugal) MADRID/ONLINE
• April 28-30 - 2024 Annual Conference (LESI) MADRID
• May 8 - "Trade Secrets, Data and AI: Assets for Growing Business and Generating Revenue" (LES USA-Canada) ONLINE
• May 15 - "Navigating Improvements in Licensing and Innovation Collaborations" (LES Austria) ONLINE
• May 20 - "Avoiding Litigation Through Lessons Learned In Licensing" (LES USA-Canada) AMES
• May 20 - "20th Annual Silicon Valley Conference - AI Unleashed: Unicorn or Trojan Horse?" (LES USA-Canada) REDWOOD SHORES
• May 28 - "Trade Secrets: A European Perspective" (LESI YMC) ONLINE

Details on these events are posted below and on connect.lesi.org.

See the full list of upcoming events on the LESI website.

View information on previous LES events.

To get more involved in LESI, consider joining a committee.

LES USA-Canada

"Current Patent Legislation and the Small Inventor: Deja vu all over again"

Tuesday, 16 April 2024

12:00pm - 1:00pm (EDT)

ONLINE

Current bills before the House and Senate can dramatically effect the state of patenting in the United States. As with the American Invents Act (AIA), touted to be a panacea to all but a bane to innovation, these bills, although directed at curing problems in the patent process, are being lobbied by big tech and others to instead further curtail the rights of U.S. inventors, particularly the small or independent inventor.

The first bill is the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (PERA), which seeks to provide better clarity over patent subject matter eligibility under Section 101 of the Patent Act.

The second bill is the Promoting and Respecting Economically Vital American Innovation Leadership (PREVAIL) Act to reform practices of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and promote fair treatment for inventors in these proceedings.

Join LES USA-Canada's DC Chapter for a session with Paul Morinville, Founder and Executive Director of US Inventor, Inc.

This event is FREE to LES members.

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LES Britain-Ireland

"What’s the Gen? An Overview of Global Trends in Generative AI Litigation and Practical Use Cases for IP Professionals"

Wednesday, 17 April 2024

5:30pm - 7:00pm (BST)

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND

Join LES Britain-Ireland's Scotland Committee in EDINBURGH on 17 April!

Mark Cruickshank, Managing Legal Counsel at NatWest, will talk about NatWest’s GenAI global case tracker they have compiled, pull out some key themes from the litigation and offer a few thoughts on where it might end up and what the impact will be.

Anoop Joshi, Chief Trust Officer at Trustpilot, will talk about some Practical Use Cases of GenAI that Trustpilot and share his view on the opportunities it presents for them.

This event is FREE to LES members.

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LES USA-Canada

"From Problem to Profit: AI-Driven Innovation and Licensing"

Thursday, 25 April 2024

11:00am - 2:00pm (PDT)

SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA

Learn how AI is helping to accelerate innovation and commercialization by re-shaping problem-solving, invention, and licensing, impacting research, development, manufacturing, and supply chain ecosystems.

Join LES USA-Canada's Silicon Valley Chapter (LES-SVC) for a session featuring seasoned industry experts, including representatives from Hyundai New Horizon Studio, Owl Autonomous Imaging, Iprova, Dolcera, and KPMG. Together, they will guide you through the journey from identifying problems areas (or opportunities to innovate) and novel solutions to turning them into profitable licensing opportunities. This event is perfect for professionals in the technology and intellectual property licensing field, as well as inventors, entrepreneurs, and business leaders seeking innovative solutions that generate profits.

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LES USA-Canada

"2024 World IP Day Celebration:

Building Our Common Future with Innovation and Creativity"

Friday, 26 April 2024

2:00pm - 3:30pm (EDT)

ONLINE

To build our common future and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) we need to re-think how we live, work and play. World IP Day 2024 is an opportunity to explore how intellectual property (IP) encourages and can amplify the innovative and creative solutions that are so crucial to building our common future.

Speakers:

• Kathy Vidal, Director, USPTO
• Dr. Gary Michelson, Founder and Co-Chair at Michelson Philanthropies
• Judge Pauline Newman
• Paul Redmond Michel, Former Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
• Dr. Vinton Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist, Google
• Raymond Van Dyke, Attorney, Van Dyke Intellectual Property Law

This event is FREE to participants.

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LES Spain-Portugal

"Train-The-Trainer"

Sunday, 28 April 2024

11:00am - 2:00pm (CET)

MADRID, SPAIN / ONLINE

Are you interested in teaching the LES 100, a One-Day introductory Licensing course for your Local Chapter or at LES Meetings? Now is your chance!

LES Spain-Portugal and other chapters are currently recruiting instructors. To be eligible, you will need to take the half day TTT course and attend the LES 100 course. The Train-the-Trainer (TTT) is a course developed by Licensing Executives Society International (LESI), that will provide you with the necessary information to organize and teach a LES 100 Course in your society.

View full details here.

Instructors:

• Danie Dohmen (LES South Africa) - Partner at Adams & Adams
• Maria José Huertas (LES Spain & Portugal) - Director and Co-Founder at The Lighthouse Team

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LES International

"2024 ANNUAL CONFERENCE"

Sunday-Tuesday, 28-30 April 2024

MADRID, SPAIN

We invite you to join us for our global Annual Conference, LESI2024 in Madrid, Spain, April 28-30, 2024!

Not only are our members global, but they come from a wide range of industries and professional experiences all with a common connection point – driving the business of technology forward through collaboration and tech transfer. LESI2024 is the place to gather unique information about technology development and build critical relationships to help you serve your clients and navigate your own business opportunities. Read the Top Reasons to Attend LESI2024.

The program includes engaging keynote speakers, timely, industry-led plenary panels, topical thought leadership sessions, fireside chats, workshops and roundtables. Topics include SEPs, Artificial Intelligence, Unified Patent Court (UPC) litigation, EU Data Act requirements, green tech, wearables food, and many flavors of Intellectual Property Management across a broad variety of fields and countries. Check out the program.

You will leave this meeting with tools and relationship that will help you navigate the future. Join us in Madrid!

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LES USA-Canada

"Trade Secrets, Data and AI: Assets for Growing Business and Generating Revenue"

Wednesday, 8 May 2024

12:30pm - 4:30pm (EDT)

ONLINE

Join LES USA-Canada to hear how non-patented assets, including trade secrets, data, and AI, have become prominent drivers of value and revenue across industries. Leading in-house and outside counsel and professionals will share real-life, practical tips and takeaways regarding legal and business strategies for protecting and monetizing these assets.

Learning Outcomes:

• Interrelationship between patent and other IP strategies
• Determining when to patent and when to retain as trade secret
• Operational, technological and legal/contractual steps for protecting trade secrets/confidential info
• Strategies for dealing with AI-created innovations
• Business models for licensing data
• Key issues in (do’s and don’t’s of) licensing non-patented assets (trade secrets, data, software, AI)

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LES Austria

"Navigating Improvements in Licensing and Innovation Collaborations"

Wednesday, 15 May 2024

4:00pm - 5:00pm (CET)

ONLINE

Elevate your understanding of IP improvements in licensing and collaborations.

Speaker: Ia Modin, Partner at Gozzo Advokater

Expert Ia Modin will guide you through best practices for managing and governing improvements and give hands on advice on how to structure, negotiate and draft terms to maximize commercialisation in licence and collaboration agreements.

This session is only open to LES members.

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LES USA-Canada

"Avoiding Litigation Through Lessons Learned In Licensing"

Monday, 20 May 2024

10:00am - 2:00pm (CDT)

AMES, IOWA

Morning Session: Learning from License Agreement Disputes: Insights and Lessons Learned to Improve Your Contracts and Mitigate Risk

Agreement language matters. Time and again parties end up in litigation when the language of their agreements proves ambiguous. In many cases the ambiguity might have been avoided during drafting, as sometimes small changes to language, or a careful extra eye in review, may have been all that was needed to avoid a dispute.

What should the drafter look out for? Does the complexity of the relationship matter, for example if the parties contemplate a long-term relationship that may involve multiple contracts? In comparison to a single-agreement relationship, broader multiple-contract relationships present some unique challenges when trying to craft language that will age gracefully, provide flexibility to the relationship, and control any later potential dispute. Using recent cases as a guide, including cases that we litigated and successfully presented to a jury, we identify specific contract drafting lessons related to the use of defined terms, the interplay of multiple contracts in commercial relationships, improving dispute resolution provisions, and defining the scope of a license. With these lessons from litigation in mind, we present strategies to help identify and address issues of ambiguity before they result in a dispute.

Afternoon Session: Lessons Learned in Licensing

This panel will discuss common issues in licensing and best practices to address IP licensing issues.

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LES USA-Canada

"20th Annual Silicon Valley Conference - AI Unleashed: Unicorn or Trojan Horse?"

Monday, 20 May 2024

8:00am - 5:30pm (PDT)

REDWOOD SHORES, CALIFORNIA



As AI continues to advance at an unprecedented pace, its impact on businesses, research, and on IP creation, protection, and commercialization is profound and far-reaching. This conference is designed to explore the depths of this dynamic relationship, offering insights, strategies, and discussions on the uses of AI, and how AI is not just influencing but actively reshaping businesses and the landscape of IP and licensing.

Key Themes:

• AI and Business: How AI is disrupting traditional modes of conducting business, and attracting capital in the process.
• Licensing in the AI Era: The evolving dynamics of licensing agreements in the age of AI, including the negotiation of AI-generated content and software.
• Future Frontiers: Look ahead to the future of AI, including emerging technologies, potential uses of AI, and the global landscape of IP rights in the digital age.

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LESI Young Members Congress (YMC)

Pan-European Webinar Series "Trade Secrets: A European Perspective"

Tuesday, 28 May 2024

2:00pm - 3:30pm (CET)

ONLINE



AGENDA:

• Introduction by LESI YMC Chair
• EU Overview
• National Specifics (trade secret protection and enforcement)
• Implementation
• Q&A

SPEAKERS:

• Marko Brumnik (Austria)
• Jan Vanbeckevoort (Benelux)
• Nicolas Le Pays du Teilleul (France)
• Tobias Baus (Germany)
• Emanuela Bianco (Italy)
• Cristina Espín Martí & Joana Maria Andion (Spain & Portugal)

View the flyer here.

This event is FREE to participants.