MIP International Women's Leadership Forum - West Coast 2021 │Overview

SPEAKERS

If you feel you have something to contribute or would like to position yourself as an expert in your field, please get in touch with Natalie Canter for in-house speaking enquiries or Melanie Petch for law firm or service provider opportunities.

Angela Wilson

Hallmark Cards

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Angela Wilson

Assistant general counsel, IP & licensing, Hallmark Cards

Angela Wilson is Assistant General Counsel, Intellectual Property and Licensing at Hallmark. In this role, Angela supports the global licensing business for Hallmark and Crayola. She also has responsibility for Hallmark’s trademark and copyright portfolio and advises the international business on a variety of IP and business issues.

Previously, Angela was senior counsel at GlaxoSmithKline where she managed a global trademark portfolio and managed GSK’s global anti-counterfeiting enforcement program in the Americas. Before joining GSK in 2013, she practiced in a boutique IP firm in Atlanta and during that time, was seconded to Coca-Cola for several extended stints.

Angela received her undergraduate and law degree from the University of Arkansas, receiving her JD in 2007. She is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Outside of the office, Angela enjoys reading, volunteering, traveling and spending time outdoors.

Speaking session

Navigating your IP portfolio in the digital world

Wednesday, February 24 - 09.20 - 10.00 PST

Jayanthi Simha

Invensense

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Jayanthi Simha

Patent engineer, Invensense

TBC

Speaking session

Navigating your IP portfolio in the digital world

Wednesday, February 24 - 09.20 - 10.00 PST

Kelly McCarthy

Sideman Bancroft

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Kelly McCarthy

Partner, Sideman Bancroft

Kelly McCarthy represents clients in relation to brand protection issues, trademark enforcement and portfolio management. Her clients include public and private entities, from emerging regional companies to global industry leaders.

Ms. McCarthy advises clients on a variety of trademark and brand protection issues, including matters involving product and corporate name selection; trademark availability and clearance; worldwide branding strategies; trademark related agreements including licenses; management and prosecution of worldwide and US trademark portfolios; disputes before the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board; domain name disputes and cybersquatting concerns; foreign, domestic and online anti-counterfeiting and enforcement measures; advertising, claims and promotions, and social media and Internet marketing issues.

Ms. McCarthy specializes in the development and implementation of customized and comprehensive brand protection programs that focus on global trademark portfolio growth while combatting product counterfeiting concerns and other infringements.

Prior to joining Sideman & Bancroft LLP, Ms. McCarthy was Of Counsel at Tomlinson Zisko LLP.

Speaking session

Diversity and inclusion in IP

Wednesday, February 24 - 10.20 - 11.00 PST

Misha De Larkin

Flex

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Misha De Larkin

Senior director IT legal, Flex

Misha De Larkin is Senior Director of IT Legal Compliance and is based out of Flex’s corporate office in San Jose. Misha manages a PMO team responsible for implementation of Enterprise IT solutions for teams such as the security operations center, data loss prevention, and network and telcom; as well as a global IT asset management that is responsible for license compliance, investigations, and remediation. Additionally, she is a member of the Flex Global Inclusion Council and leads the Global Employee Resource Group for “Women in Tech”. Prior to joining Flex, Misha spent 10 years at Cisco Systems and 10 years at Adobe Systems leading legal operations teams. Misha holds a Masters’ degree in Clinical & Counseling Psychology, with a certification in substance abuse and she volunteers her time working with clients who are victims of domestic violence.

Speaking session

Diversity and inclusion in IP

Wednesday, February 24 - 10.20 - 11.00 PST

Lyndsey Heaton

Sideman Bancroft

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Lyndsey Heaton

Partner, Sideman Bancroft

Lyndsey C. Heaton is a partner in the Brand Integrity and Innovations Group, the Litigation and Appeals group, and the Intellectual Property group. Ms. Heaton specializes in high stakes intellectual property litigation involving, trade secrets, trademarks, unfair competition, copyrights, patents, counterfeiting, and intellectual property theft. She also has a broad range of experience prosecuting and defending complex, commercial litigation. She has tried both bench and jury cases in the state and federal courts of California and New York and has handled appeals to the Ninth and Second Circuits.

Ms. Heaton counsels clients on strategies to protect their brands through unique and effective enforcement mechanisms. Ms. Heaton’s work focuses on trademark infringement, the sale of counterfeit goods, and employee frauds. Ms. Heaton has experience working with clients across all industries including: enterprise technology, networking, consumer electronics, wearable technology, internet service providers, textile manufacturing, industrial manufacturing, securities, and financial payments technology.

Prior to joining Sideman & Bancroft, Ms. Heaton was an associate at Hosie Rice LLP and Morgan Lewis and Bockius LLP, in San Francisco, where she concentrated on complex commercial and intellectual property litigation. While at Morgan Lewis, Ms. Heaton was a key member of a trial team that succeeded in obtaining a $70 million judgment for her client, one of the top 10 jury verdicts in California for 2016.

Ms. Heaton earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and then graduated from Columbia University School of Law, where she served as an editor for the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law. While in law school, Ms. Heaton also served as a judicial extern for the Hon. Elizabeth S. Stong, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Bankruptcy Court.

Ms. Heaton is admitted to practice in California and New York.

Speaking session

Diversity and inclusion in IP

Wednesday, February 24 - 10.20 - 11.00 PST

Lindsay White

Applied Materials

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Lindsay White

Director, global litigation & investigations & IP, Applied Materials

Lindsay is a Director of Global Litigation, Investigations & IP Protection at Applied Materials. She manages a broad range of litigation and works with internal stakeholders regarding a variety of internal / external investigations and insider / data security risks. She also leads Ops and eDiscovery for the Litigation team. Prior to Applied Materials she was a Senior Associate at Paul Hastings in the Intellectual Property Litigation Group managing complex cases involving patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret and breach of contract claims across a variety of technologies. She has litigated in various district courts and at the ITC. She has handled appeals to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and IPR/CBM proceeding at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Lindsay earned her B.S. in Materials Engineering from California Polytechnic State University SLO, and her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law. While in law school, she externed for Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker and interned at Sun Microsystems.

Speaking session

Leadership and managing your IP career during a pandemic

Wednesday, February 24 - 13.40 - 14.25 PST

Helen Tieh

Looker

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Helen Tieh

Former director, legal, Looker

TBC.

Speaking session

Leadership and managing your IP career during a pandemic

Wednesday, February 24 - 13.40 - 14.25 PST

Kanda Ishihara

Veritas Technologies

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Kanda Ishihara

Director – IP,, Veritas Technologies

Kanda Ishihara is director of IP at Veritas Technologies LLC, an enterprise data protection software company based in Santa Clara, California. At Veritas, Kanda’s responsibilities include patent portfolio development, risk mitigation, client counseling, patent portfolio review and classification, management of outside counsel, education of engineering teams, and trademark portfolio review.

Previously, she was a partner at Patent Law Works LLP, an IP boutique law firm specializing in patent, trademark, copyright, domain name procurement and strategic counseling. There, her practice focused on patent prosecution, client counseling and patent management, including all stages of the patent prosecution process, as well as management of patent portfolios and performing due diligence for patent assets. Her practice also involved patent licensing and infringement analysis. In earlier positions, Kanda has worked as an associate at Fenwick & West as well as Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.

Kanda has also worked in-house in the legal departments of Ariba, Inc. and Genentech. Her law practice covers a wide range of technology areas including computer software, web-based software applications and telecommunications.

As co-founder and past president and board member of Leading Women in Technology, a non-profit organization dedicated to unleashing the potential of professionals who advise technology businesses and executives, Kanda is also dedicated to helping empower female professionals in the tech industry through mentorship, skills development and networking.

Speaking session

Leadership and managing your IP career during a pandemic

Wednesday, February 24 - 13.40 - 14.25 PST

Deborah Sterling

Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox

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Deborah Sterling

Director, Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox

Deborah Sterling, Ph.D., is a director and chair of Sterne Kessler’s Biotechnology & Chemical Practice Group. Her practice is focused in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, where she is involved in all areas of patent procurement, exploitation and enforcement. Deborah’s experience includes representing clients in over 75 inter partes review and covered business method proceedings, and in multiple patent interferences and reexaminations. Her practice also includes counseling clients on intellectual property strategy, including evaluating patent portfolios, e.g., for invalidity, non-infringement, freedom-to-operate and due diligence analyses, and she has assisted clients in devising design-around strategies for issued patents. Deborah has also been involved in multiple pharmaceutical and biotechnology patent litigations, including those brought under the Hatch-Waxman Act.

Deborah’s intellectual property experience has been principally in technical areas such as biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, molecular biology, analytical instruments, agrochemicals and clean technology. She also counsels clients in emerging and regulated industries, including cannabinoid therapeutics. She has been recognized by Managing IP as an “IP Star” (2020); by LMG Life Sciences as a “Life Sciences Star” (2019-2020); by DCA Live as an “Emerging Women Leaders in Law” (2019); by Profiles in Diversity Journal as a “Women Worth Watching” (2019); by Lawyer Monthly with a “Women in Law Award - Biotechnology Category" (2016-2019); and by Corporate LiveWire as a "Biotechnology Lawyer of the Year, Washington, D.C." for her work.

Deborah is a contributing author of Patent Office Litigation, Second Edition, published in 2017, and the two-volume set Patent Office Litigation, published in 2012 by Thomson Reuters Westlaw. The first edition focuses on the new contested proceedings under the America Invents Act, while the second edition provides a fresh and comprehensive exploration of these proceedings. Both books examine how the proceedings interact with other aspects of patent procurement and enforcement, and deliver practical analysis and advice. She is also a contributing author on the “Patentability Challenges at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office” chapter in the Patent Litigation Strategies Handbook, 4th ed. published by the ABA in 2015 and authored a chapter of U.S. Chemical Patent Law: A Practical Guide, published by Bloomberg Law.

Deborah was previously the Chairperson of the firm's Professional Development Committee.

Deborah earned her J.D. from George Mason University School of Law, her Ph.D. in molecular and cellular physiology from the University of Alberta, and her B.S., with first class honours, in biochemistry from Heriot-Watt University.

Speaking session

A year in review – strategic updates for managing your litigation strategy

Wednesday, February 24 - 11.20 - 12.05 PST

Deirdre Wells

Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox

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Deidre Wells

Director, Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox

TBC

Speaking session

A year in review – strategic updates for managing your litigation strategy

Wednesday, February 24 - 11.20 - 12.05 PST

Natasha Daughtrey

Goodwin Procter

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Natasha Daughtrey

Partner, Goodwin Procter

To be confirmed.

Speaking session

Leadership and managing your IP career during a pandemic

Wednesday, February 24 - 13.40 - 14.25 PST

Kaelah Ford

Canva

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Kaelah Ford

legal counsel, Canva

Kaelah is Legal Counsel at Canva where she is primarily responsible for intellectual property matters, including content acquisition and patent portfolio management. She has advised on some of Canva's key product launches including Canva for Enterprise, Canva for Education and Pro Unlimited. Prior to joining Canva, Kaelah was a Senior Associate in the Intellectual Property team at Allens in Sydney where her practice included acting for technology and pharmaceutical clients in copyright, trade mark and patent infringement litigation.

Speaking session

IP strategies in product development

Wednesday, February 24 - 12.25 - 13.10 PST

Sonya Sigler

PractiGal

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Sonya Sigler

CEO, PractiGal

TBC.

Speaking session

Leadership and managing your IP career during a pandemic

Wednesday, February 24 - 13.40 - 14.25 PST

Marcela Robledo

Baker McKenzie

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Marcela Robledo

Partner, Baker McKenzie

Marcela Robledo is a partner in Baker McKenzie's Global IP and Technology Practice Group located in our San Francisco office. She has significant experience handling all intellectual property, data and technology aspects in a wide range of corporate and transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions, licensing, collaboration agreements and joint ventures, particularly in the software space. Marcela also counsels clients in stand-alone tech transactions, including development, collaboration and supply agreements for software, technology, AI and other matters. Marcela has practiced law in the United States and Colombia, and is a member of the American and California Bar Associations, as well as the International Trademark Association and the Hispanic National Bar Association. Marcela has a law degree from Universidad Javeriana (Colombia) and an LLM from New York University School of Law.

Speaking session

IP strategies in product development

Wednesday, February 24 - 12.25 - 13.10 PST

Sabiha Chunawala

Contentful

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Sabiha Chunawala

VP and deputy general counsel, Contentful

TBC.

Speaking session

IP strategies in product development

Wednesday, February 24 - 12.25 - 13.10 PST

Parijat Sharma

Facebook

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Parijat Sharma

AGC, product, Facebook

Parijat is Associate General Counsel at Facebook where she advises a diverse portfolio of product teams, ranging from Connectivity whose mission is to bring more people online to a faster internet, to Social Impact focused on how the company's products can create meaningful, positive impact on some of the most important issues in society (voter empowerment, public health issues, fundraisers, crisis response, to name a few). Prior to her work at Facebook, Parijat was in-house at Palantir Technologies, and an associate in the Corporate and IP Transactional Groups at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. She is a graduate of Michigan Law School and Cornell University.

Speaking session

IP strategies in product development

Wednesday, February 24 - 12.25 - 13.10 PST

Danielle Benecke

Baker McKenzie

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Danielle Benecke

Senior associate, Baker McKenzie

Danielle Benecke is a senior associate in Baker McKenzie's Global IP and Technology Practice Group, based in Palo Alto and San Francisco. Her practice focuses on US and global IP and technology issues, and includes product counseling, global expansion, handling complex technology disputes and transactions, and IP strategy. Danielle has particular expertise advising on the development and use of AI technologies, and is a key contributor to the World Economic Forum’s AI/ML platforms. A previous fellow of Stanford’s Legal Design Lab, she is skilled at applying human-centered design thinking methods to deliver practical and innovative advice and risk management.

Speaking session

IP strategies in product development

Wednesday, February 24 - 12.25 - 13.10 PST

Beverley Moore

Borden Ladner Gervais

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Beverley Moore

Partner, Borden Ladner Gervais

Beverley practises in all areas of intellectual property litigation, with a focus on complex patent litigation and actions under the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations.

She also advises clients on patent portfolio management, including how to navigate IP Regulatory issues such as listing patents on the Patent Register, and reporting patents to the Patented Medicines Prices Review Board, Certificates of Supplementary Protection, and the Register of Innovative Drugs as it relates to data protection.

In addition, Beverley advises on patent portfolio management, patentability, validity and freedom-to-operate issues, and aids in the prosecution of patent applications in Canada.

Beverley advises on Access to Information requests, in particular those made to Health Canada by pharmaceutical clients.

Beverley consulted on the implementation and application of the intellectual property provisions of Canada’s trade agreements, including the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

Beverley has advocated before the Federal Courts and Federal Court of Appeal, as well as the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board.

Beverley is National Leader of BLG’s Intellectual Property Litigation Group and serves on the firm’s thought leadership committee. She also mentors several of the firm’s students and associates.

Speaking session

IP strategies in product development

Wednesday, February 24 - 12.25 - 13.10 PST

Karen Lu

Cisco

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Karen Lu

Legal director, Cisco

Karen Lu is commercial litigation counsel at Cisco, covering a broad range of matters from defamation to counterfeiting to trade secrets, with the occasional car accident case thrown in. Karen joined Cisco after working at Bingham McCutchen and Franklin Templeton Investments.

Speaking session

Diversity and inclusion in IP

Wednesday, February 24 - 10.20 - 11.00 PST

Jessica Falk

Weil Gotshal & Manges

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Jessica Falk

Partner, Weil Gotshal & Manges

To be confirmed.

Speaking session

Navigating your IP portfolio in the digital world

Wednesday, February 24 - 09.20 - 10.00 PST

Monisha Deka

US International Trade Commission

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Monisha Deka

Investigative attorney, US International Trade Commission

To be confirmed.

Speaking session

A year in review – strategic updates for managing your litigation strategy

Wednesday, February 24 - 11.20 - 12.05 PST

Geovana Rosales

International Flavors & Fragrances

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Geovana Rosales

Senior counsel, International Flavors & Fragrances

To be confirmed.

Speaking session

A year in review – strategic updates for managing your litigation strategy

Wednesday, February 24 - 11.20 - 12.05 PST

International Women's Leadership Forum - West Coast 2021

February 24, virtual event | PST (Pacific Standard Time)

ABOUT THIS EVENT

The MIP International Women's Leadership Forum will be taking place virtually on February 24.

After the first successful virtual event in September 2020 for East Coast based lawyers in the US, the MIP International Women's Leadership Forum will host a day of interactive IP and career development discussions for women lawyers based in the West Coast on February 24, 2021.

Don't miss out - be part of what will be the largest online meeting of women counsel across the USA to share your thoughts, ideas and hear advice on how to support the advancement of women in IP.

ATTENDEE PROFILE

150+ WOMEN LAWYERS

IN-HOUSE IP AUDIENCE

700+ MEMBERS OF OUR WOMEN'S NETWORK WELCOME TO ATTEND

VIRTUAL EVENT FEATURES

Virtual Exhibition Hall

Meet sponsors at their virtual booths

Speaker interaction

Reach out to speakers taking part in their live Q&A after their session

Personal Programme

Create your own schedule with meetings and interesting sessions

On-demand Access

Watch at a more convenient time to suit your needs

Messaging and Video calls

Meeting someone new? Drop them a message or schedule a call

AI powered matchmaking

Meet new people in the event with AI recommendations

AGENDA

Wednesday, February 24

Navigating your IP portfolio in the digital world

Jessica Falk

Partner, Weil Gotshal & Manges (moderator)

Angela Wilson

Assistant general counsel, IP & licensing, Hallmark Cards

Jayanthi Simha

Patent engineer,Invensense

Short break

Diversity and inclusion in IP

Kelly McCarthy

Partner, Sideman Bancroft (moderator)

Karen Lu

Legal director, Cisco

Misha De Larkin

Senior director IT legal,Flex

Lyndsey Heaton

Partner, Sideman Bancroft

Coffee break and networking

Strategic updates for managing your litigation strategy

Deborah Sterling

Director, Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox (moderator)

Monisha Deka

Investigative attorney, US International Trade Commission

Geovana Rosales

Senior counsel, International Flavors & Fragrances

Deirdre Wells

Director, Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox

Networking break

IP strategies in product development

Marcela Robledo

Partner, Baker McKenzie (moderator)

Kaelah Ford

Legal counsel, Canva

Sabiha Chunawala

VP and deputy general counsel, Contentful

Parijat Sharma

AGC, product, Facebook

Danielle Benecke

Senior associate, Baker McKenzie

Lunch break and networking

Leadership and managing your IP career during a pandemic

Sonya Sigler

CEO, PractiGal (moderator)

Beverley Moore

Partner, Borden Ladner Gervais

Helen Tieh

Former director, legal, Looker

Kanda Ishihara

Director – IP,Veritas Technologies

Lindsay White

Director, global litigation & investigations & IP,Applied Materials

Natasha Daughtrey

Partner, Goodwin Procter

Closing comments

SPEAKERS

Assistant general counsel, IP & licensing,
Hallmark Cards

Patent engineer,
Invensense

Senior director IT legal,
Flex

Director – IP,
Veritas Technologies

Director, global litigation & investigations & IP,
Applied Materials