The IP Strategy Summit: Texas
The IP Strategy Summit – Texas
Houston | October 22, 1025
Texas’ leadership in energy, aerospace, and life sciences places it at the forefront of high-stakes IP strategy. As organizations expand R&D and navigate hybrid work, high mobility, and cross-border enforcement, legal teams face growing complexity in protecting innovation.
The IP Strategy Summit: Texas convenes senior in-house counsel and IP leaders to explore the legal and operational realities of managing portfolios, mitigating risk, and responding to disruptive technologies. With a focus on patents, trade secrets, copyright, and brand enforcement, the program offers a grounded view of how leading organizations are adapting.
Built for professionals operating at scale, the summit blends expert panels, real-world case studies, and peer discussion to deliver actionable insights. Attendees will leave with tools to align protection strategies with business value—while staying ahead of evolving threats and opportunities.
+ CLE Pending Approval TX
- Portfolio Management & IP Strategy: Aligning Business Goals
- Copyright in the Streaming and Content Boom
- Patent Litigation Trends
- AI, Generative Content, and IP — Who Owns What?
- Global Brand Protection: Winning Strategies Across Jurisdictions
- Trade Secrets in 2025: Prevention, Protection & Internal Education as Core Strategy
- Patent Enforcement: Balancing Risk, Value, and Business Impact
- Chief IP Counsel
- Chief Legal Officer / General Counsel
- Deputy, Associate, or Assistant General Counsel
- VP or Director of IP Strategy
- Head of Intellectual Property or Licensing
- Patent Counsel / IP Counsel
- Trade Secret Counsel / Confidential Information Officer
- Trademark & Brand Protection Counsel
- Copyright or Digital Rights Counsel
- Director of Business and Legal Affairs
- Director or VP of Legal, Product, or R&D Counsel
- Head of Litigation / Litigation Counsel
- Corporate or Commercial Counsel
- Legal Operations Leaders Supporting IP Strategy
- Innovation or Technology Counsel
Agenda
One-to-One Meetings begin. If interested in participating, email info@centerforceusa.com
A strong IP portfolio doesn’t just protect innovation—it drives strategic growth, competitive advantage, and long-term business value. Legal teams are evolving their patent and trade secret strategies to better align with corporate priorities, R&D investment, and global expansion. As innovation cycles accelerate and budgets tighten, IP leaders are rethinking how to measure value and make tradeoffs across portfolios. From early-stage idea capture to monetization and divestment, portfolio management is becoming more integrated with corporate planning.
This panel will discuss:
- How to assess and adjust portfolio strategy based on evolving business needs
- Balancing patenting, trade secret protection, and licensing in a resource-constrained environment
- Governance models that improve visibility across R&D, legal, and commercial teams
- Metrics and tools that help IP leaders demonstrate value to the business
With the explosion of digital content creation, licensing, and distribution, copyright law is being tested like never before. Streaming platforms, user-generated content, and AI tools have upended traditional content ownership and royalty models. This panel will unpack current copyright challenges facing companies that create, license, or distribute media and content. Panelists will explore recent legal disputes, legislative developments, and enforcement trends that in-house counsel must stay ahead of. Topics include derivative works, platform liability, international rights management, and AI-generated works. Whether you’re in media, tech, or entertainment, this session offers practical insights into managing copyright in the age of rapid creation and consumption. Expect real-world takeaways from leaders in the field.
This panel will discuss:
- Copyright risks and considerations in streaming and digital content
- Enforcement trends and platform responsibilities
- Strategies for rights management and licensing in global markets
- The role of AI in content creation and implications for ownership and infringement
If interested in participating, email info@centerforceusa.com
Patent litigation remains a moving target, shaped by venue preferences, new case law, litigation funding, and shifts in global enforcement. This panel will explore how in-house counsel are preparing for and responding to litigation threats amid increasing complexity and cost. From NPEs to competitor suits to ITC actions, litigation strategy now demands faster decision-making, budget transparency, and collaboration across teams.
This panel will discuss:
- Top patent litigation risks and emerging venue trends in 2025
- Strategies to reduce exposure and increase leverage in active litigation
- The impact of litigation funding and how to prepare internally
- Key legal developments and decisions shaping patent litigation outcomes
The rise of generative AI has shaken foundational assumptions about intellectual property ownership. When AI models produce text, images, inventions, or code who owns the output? This panel will dissect the intersecting challenges across copyright, patent, and trade secret law, with a focus on how in-house counsel are navigating uncharted territory. From employee use of AI tools to vendor contracts and internal model development, new questions are emerging about authorship, originality, and protection. As the law lags behind the technology, corporate IP leaders must define their own playbook.
This panel will discuss:
- Legal theories of ownership for AI-generated content across IP types
- Internal policies for managing employee and third-party use of generative AI
- Risks to trade secrets and confidential information in AI training and outputs
- Contract clauses and governance strategies to future-proof IP rights
If interested in participating, email info@centerforceusa.com
John Lynn co-leads Kirkland’s Technology & IP Transactions Practice and heads the practice on the West Coast out of the Bay Area office and in Texas out of the Austin office. John is on the forefront of understanding the complex relationships between intellectual property and technology, on the one hand, and business matters and risk, on the other hand.
Emma L. Flett heads Kirkland’s Technology & IP Transactions Team in London. Emma’s practice is focused on complex intellectual property and technology-related transactions, carve-outs and business separations, EU data protection and emerging technologies including artificial intelligence.
Emma’s experience in the technology, intellectual property and data field is extensive. She is a deal lawyer with a deep understanding that covers the full spectrum of intellectual property and technology transaction-related work, from patents, data and designs, to trade marks, copyright, software and AI, most notably in complex, high-value M&A transactions and private equity investments. She brings a depth of knowledge across a broad range of industry sectors, including software, pharmaceuticals/life sciences, retail/fashion, media/entertainment, travel, consumer goods, hospitality, real estate, energy and infrastructure, and manufacturing, amongst others.
Emma works on a wide variety of transactions in which intellectual property, information technology and data privacy play a key role, including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, private equity investments, financings and secured lending, bankruptcies and restructurings. Emma also assists clients with a wide range of commercial contract negotiations, such as joint ventures and strategic alliances; intellectual property and technology transfers and licences; service agreements (including transitional service arrangements); development and collaboration agreements; data transfer and sharing arrangements; and supply and distribution agreements.
In addition, Emma routinely counsels clients on data protection compliance, AI and cybersecurity laws (including with regard to the EU and UK General Data Protection Regulation and the EU AI Act) and brings EU experience to Kirkland’s Cybersecurity & Data Privacy Practice.
Emma was named to the IAM Patent 1000 and is recommended for the United Kingdom. Her practice is Ranked Tier 1 in Legal 500 Technology Media and Telecoms – IP: Patents (contentious and non-contentious), heading the transactional practice. She was also recognised by Lawdragon in the 2024 list of the “500 Leading Global Cyber Lawyers” and by Financier Worldwide as a “Power Player: Cyber Security & Data Privacy 2022 – Distinguished Adviser.”
Emma is a frequent guest speaker at technology, intellectual property, AI and data protection seminars and conferences across the globe including in New York, Chicago, Texas, Washington, DC, London and has presented at Cambridge and Stanford University. She publishes widely in the area and regularly contributes to publications such as the Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, European Intellectual Property Law Review, the Entertainment Law Review, Digital Business Lawyer, BNA’s World Data Protection Report, and the Computer and Telecommunications Law Review. Prior to joining Kirkland, Emma was a lawyer at Clifford Chance LLP, London, where she also trained.
Daisy Darvall is a technology & IP transactions partner in the New York and Austin offices of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. She advises leading global private equity firms and strategic clients on a wide variety of commercial transactions involving intellectual property and technology, and has acted as a key advisor on some of the largest global technology deals in recent years. Daisy is highly experienced in a broad range of issues that arise in general corporate transactions, including private equity, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, equity and debt financing transactions and commercial agreements.
Daisy has particular interest in software, AI, open source, privacy and data security, and IP protection issues, the latter arising from her background in media and entertainment. She has counseled global clients on IP protection and ownership issues in the context of collaborations and joint-ventures, and is recognized as a thought leader in the intersection of technology, ESG and AI. In addition to technology and software, Daisy’s advisory experience extends to a significant array of industries, including media, music, entertainment, fashion, advertising, sports and education. Daisy is qualified to practice in New York, Texas and Australia.
Protecting your brand across global markets has never been more critical or more complex. From counterfeit enforcement to online infringement to navigating local trademark regimes, brand protection requires coordination between legal, compliance, and marketing teams. We will explore how companies are evolving global brand protection strategies in response to regulatory shifts, ecommerce challenges, and enforcement gaps. With brand equity increasingly tied to IP enforcement, this session delivers timely insights for cross-border success.
This panel will discuss:
- Trends in global brand enforcement and jurisdiction-specific risk factors
- Online enforcement strategies and platform collaboration models
- Working with customs, local counsel, and global enforcement teams
- Building a scalable and proactive brand protection program
As threats to confidential information grow more complex, trade secret protection is becoming a top priority for in-house legal teams. From employee mobility and hybrid work to increased vendor access and generative AI, the risk of trade secret leakage has never been higher. In 2025, prevention is the new defense, with leading organizations embedding trade secret awareness across engineering, product, and business units. Legal teams are also strengthening internal policies, training programs, and cross-functional collaboration. We will examine the real-world strategies companies are using to map, label, and protect proprietary know-how.
This panel will discuss:
- How to operationalize trade secret protection with internal stakeholders
- Legal and technical controls to mitigate risk across distributed workforces
- Real-world lessons from recent trade secret litigation and investigations
- Embedding trade secret education and accountability into employee workflows
Christian Grofcsik is the Associate General Counsel of Next Insurance, a leading technology-first Property & Casualty insurer focusing on the specific needs of U.S. small business owners. Through its proprietary technology stack and its digital underwriting platform, the company offers simple digital insurance coverage. Christian is an accomplished corporate attorney who provides counsel and manages a legal team on matters of privacy, data protection, intellectual property, artificial intelligence, litigation, reinsurance, insurance, marketing, contracts, legal operations, corporate and commercial affairs.
Previously, Christian was a trial attorney with multiple jury trials taken to verdict and a fractional general counsel for early stage tech start-ups. Christian has appeared before State, Federal, and Appellate Courts in multiple jurisdictions, licensed in Louisiana, Texas, and Colorado and admitted before the United States District Courts for the Middle and Eastern Districts of Louisiana.
Patent enforcement is no longer just about legal wins—it’s about protecting competitive advantage, justifying investment, and aligning with business priorities. As budgets tighten and litigation risks rise, in-house counsel must assess which patents are worth enforcing, where to enforce them, and how to maximize impact without overextending resources. Panelists will share how companies are building smarter patent enforcement strategies by aligning business objectives, potential outcomes, and reputational risk, while sharing real-world approaches to portfolio segmentation, litigation readiness, enforcement venues, and evolving trends in damages, injunctions, and litigation funding to help shift enforcement decisions from reactive to strategic.
This panel will discuss:
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How to identify and prioritize patents for enforcement based on business value and risk
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Strategic use of enforcement venues: district court, ITC, and international jurisdictions
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Evolving trends in remedies, settlements, and litigation outcomes
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When and how to leverage litigation funding or other alternative models to support enforcement
If interested in participating, email info@centerforceusa.com
Rotating, 20-minute discussions hosted by a topic expert
RT 1: Competitor vs. Competitor IP Litigation: Offensive and Defensive Strategies
Speakers
John Lynn co-leads Kirkland’s Technology & IP Transactions Practice and heads the practice on the West Coast out of the Bay Area office and in Texas out of the Austin office. John is on the forefront of understanding the complex relationships between intellectual property and technology, on the one hand, and business matters and risk, on the other hand.
Emma L. Flett heads Kirkland’s Technology & IP Transactions Team in London. Emma’s practice is focused on complex intellectual property and technology-related transactions, carve-outs and business separations, EU data protection and emerging technologies including artificial intelligence.
Emma’s experience in the technology, intellectual property and data field is extensive. She is a deal lawyer with a deep understanding that covers the full spectrum of intellectual property and technology transaction-related work, from patents, data and designs, to trade marks, copyright, software and AI, most notably in complex, high-value M&A transactions and private equity investments. She brings a depth of knowledge across a broad range of industry sectors, including software, pharmaceuticals/life sciences, retail/fashion, media/entertainment, travel, consumer goods, hospitality, real estate, energy and infrastructure, and manufacturing, amongst others.
Emma works on a wide variety of transactions in which intellectual property, information technology and data privacy play a key role, including mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, private equity investments, financings and secured lending, bankruptcies and restructurings. Emma also assists clients with a wide range of commercial contract negotiations, such as joint ventures and strategic alliances; intellectual property and technology transfers and licences; service agreements (including transitional service arrangements); development and collaboration agreements; data transfer and sharing arrangements; and supply and distribution agreements.
In addition, Emma routinely counsels clients on data protection compliance, AI and cybersecurity laws (including with regard to the EU and UK General Data Protection Regulation and the EU AI Act) and brings EU experience to Kirkland’s Cybersecurity & Data Privacy Practice.
Emma was named to the IAM Patent 1000 and is recommended for the United Kingdom. Her practice is Ranked Tier 1 in Legal 500 Technology Media and Telecoms – IP: Patents (contentious and non-contentious), heading the transactional practice. She was also recognised by Lawdragon in the 2024 list of the “500 Leading Global Cyber Lawyers” and by Financier Worldwide as a “Power Player: Cyber Security & Data Privacy 2022 – Distinguished Adviser.”
Emma is a frequent guest speaker at technology, intellectual property, AI and data protection seminars and conferences across the globe including in New York, Chicago, Texas, Washington, DC, London and has presented at Cambridge and Stanford University. She publishes widely in the area and regularly contributes to publications such as the Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice, European Intellectual Property Law Review, the Entertainment Law Review, Digital Business Lawyer, BNA’s World Data Protection Report, and the Computer and Telecommunications Law Review. Prior to joining Kirkland, Emma was a lawyer at Clifford Chance LLP, London, where she also trained.
Daisy Darvall is a technology & IP transactions partner in the New York and Austin offices of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. She advises leading global private equity firms and strategic clients on a wide variety of commercial transactions involving intellectual property and technology, and has acted as a key advisor on some of the largest global technology deals in recent years. Daisy is highly experienced in a broad range of issues that arise in general corporate transactions, including private equity, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, equity and debt financing transactions and commercial agreements.
Daisy has particular interest in software, AI, open source, privacy and data security, and IP protection issues, the latter arising from her background in media and entertainment. She has counseled global clients on IP protection and ownership issues in the context of collaborations and joint-ventures, and is recognized as a thought leader in the intersection of technology, ESG and AI. In addition to technology and software, Daisy’s advisory experience extends to a significant array of industries, including media, music, entertainment, fashion, advertising, sports and education. Daisy is qualified to practice in New York, Texas and Australia.
Christian Grofcsik is the Associate General Counsel of Next Insurance, a leading technology-first Property & Casualty insurer focusing on the specific needs of U.S. small business owners. Through its proprietary technology stack and its digital underwriting platform, the company offers simple digital insurance coverage. Christian is an accomplished corporate attorney who provides counsel and manages a legal team on matters of privacy, data protection, intellectual property, artificial intelligence, litigation, reinsurance, insurance, marketing, contracts, legal operations, corporate and commercial affairs.
Previously, Christian was a trial attorney with multiple jury trials taken to verdict and a fractional general counsel for early stage tech start-ups. Christian has appeared before State, Federal, and Appellate Courts in multiple jurisdictions, licensed in Louisiana, Texas, and Colorado and admitted before the United States District Courts for the Middle and Eastern Districts of Louisiana.
Jason is a leader in Vorys intellectual property (IP) group with a national practice. He co-chairs the firm’s trademark and copyright teams, and is a lead trial lawyer for clients involved in patent, copyright, branding and corporate confidential information cases, including trade secret and technology matters.
For two decades, Jason has counseled clients on a wide array of IP matters including federal court litigation, appellate litigation, and international protection and enforcement. He routinely provides guidance and counseling on all aspects of trademark and copyright prosecution and the IP aspects of commercial transactions. Jason has also represented clients in proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a registered patent attorney.
Sponsors
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Kirkland is one of the world’s leading law firms with more than 3,000 lawyers representing clients in complex corporate transactions, litigation, restructuring and intellectual property matters from 18 offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
Kirkland’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion begins with its leaders, who understand that diverse teams produce the best results, hold relationships as a core value and prioritize community and belonging. As such, DEI at Kirkland is a strategic imperative that influences every business function at the Firm.
We are proud to sponsor the “Driving Diversity in Law” conference.
Vorys
Vorys was established in 1909 and currently has nearly 375 attorneys across 10 offices in Ohio, Washington, D.C., Texas, Pennsylvania, California, London and Berlin. We are ranked as one of the 200 largest law firms in the United States by American Lawyer magazine. Our success stems from our ability to provide unique solutions to problems, often in ways that differ from other law firms.
Vorys represents employers of all sizes in the full spectrum of labor and employment matters, from serving as national counsel in high-stakes class action litigation to advising on day-to-day employment and traditional labor issues impacting businesses’ local, regional and national operations. We have built decades-long relationships with our clients by ensuring responsiveness and providing pragmatic, customized service at the highest levels.
Venue
TBA
Houston, TX
Pricing
| Register By | In House Counsel | Law Firms & Vendors |
|---|---|---|
| October 22, 2025 | $395.00 | info@centerforceusa.com |
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