The Women in Law and IP Summit: NYC
The Women in Law & IP Summit explores the career obstacles, risks and rewards on the path to a fulfilling and productive career for women lawyers – particularly when practicing in intellectual property and technology hubs. What is the best way to manage your career? What are the best approaches for promoting yourself? Where can you take your career? Are companies doing enough to promote high-potential executives?
This one-day-only conference will provide networking and learning opportunities on topics including mentorship, gender equity and career management.
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- Gender Equity in IP & Law: The Current Landscape
- Work-Life & Career Management: Creating the Right Blend for Your Goals and Life
- Developing Your Work Style Approach and Strengths
- Self-Advocacy & Career Development: Effective Networking and Bonding
- Lessons Leanred from Female Litigators
- Who is My Mentor and Developing a Sponsor
- Chief IP Counsel
- VP & Director of IP Strategy
- Chief, Deputy and Associate General Counsel
- Intellectual Property, Trademark and Copyright Counsel
- Head of Litigation
- Director of Business and Legal Affairs
- Director/VP of Intellectual Property
- Director/VP of Licensing
- IP Counsel
- Patent Counsel
- VP & Director of Intellectual Asset Management
Erika is Vice Preisdent and Associate General Counsel at Pernix Therapeutics. Pernix Therapeutics is a specialty pharmaceutical business with a focus on acquiring, developing and commercializing prescription drugs primarily for the U.S. market. Erika brings over a decade of legal experience and insights.
Denise is Chief of Staff to GC at Boston Scientific. Previously she held IP Counsel responsibilities at Velcro and Partner at Preti Flaherty.
She's a charismatic, dedicated, and occasionally witty intellectual property counsel and former first-chair patent and trademark litigator. Denise is experienced with a wide range of patented technologies, including medical devices, software, chemical, plastics, and biochemical materials.
Specialties: Intellectual property portfolio strategy and prosecution management; complex patent, trademark, and trade secret litigation; IP transactions and licensing; and, mergers and acquisitions.
Boston University School of Law, JD
Carolyn helps businesses and institutions achieve their strategic priorities around the globe through her work as an intellectual property attorney. She has substantial experience in all areas of the intellectual property practice, including patent prosecution, enforcement and litigation, licensing, trademarks, and IP portfolio management strategies.
In her work, Carolyn has counseled clients across a wide range of industries, from startups and solo inventors to Fortune 500 companies and major research institutions, in obtaining protection for and enforcing their rights to their intellectual property assets. She also has extensive experience in complex patent litigation and has been involved in numerous large-scale litigation matters.
Protecting Intellectual Property in a Global Economy
Carolyn has extensive patent and trademark prosecution and litigation experience both domestically and on matters with international aspects. She has obtained more than 200 patents for her clients, across a range of technical fields, including the chemical, chemical engineering, biotechnology, mechanical, medical and electromechanical arts. Prior to joining Preti Flaherty, Carolyn had maintained a practice in the Boston region since 1994, including having recently worked at one of the city's largest international law firms.
Before embarking on her legal career, Carolyn worked for several years as a chemical engineer and brings that applied technical knowledge to her work for clients. During this period, she worked as an engineer and consultant for several major companies and research institutions, including the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Electricite de France and Arthur D. Little.
Carolyn is the author of several publications and has for the past several years taught international business students the fundamentals and global dimensions of intellectual property law as a Visiting Professor of Intellectual Property at the University of Applied Sciences in Deggendorf, Germany. Carolyn also is fluent in French.
Dolly von Hollen is Vice President, Corporate Counsel for Intellectual Property for Prudential, overseeing all trademark, patent, copyright, trade secret, and domain name issues for the company. Previously, she was an Assistant General Counsel with Nike, Inc. in Oregon, where she was responsible for a variety of trademark, copyright, and domain matters. Dolly has practiced law in the intellectual property groups of several general practice and intellectual property boutique firms in New York City. She was on the trial team in Hershey Foods Corp. v. Mars, Inc., an early trademark dilution case, and is the co-editor of the book Law and the Environment: A Multidisciplinary Reader, published by Temple University Press. She graduated with a BA in English from Yale University, and a JD with honors from the University of Maryland School of Law, where she was an associate editor of the Maryland Law Review. She also has a Masters of Science in Conservation Biology from the University of Maryland.
Recognized as a leading expert in the field of intellectual property, Dr. Janice M.K. Jaferian has garnered a reputation for success in global profit-and-loss management, intellectual asset management, international business, marketing and product development. Backed by over two decades of industry experience, Dr. Jaferian now lends her talents to Manitowoc Foodservice. There, she works to achieve revenue, profit and marketing share growth, all the while leading highly productive, cross-functional teams in a wide variety of industries including petrochemicals, telecommunications, business and consumer electronics, and food service equipment. She is directly responsible for overseeing the strategic management of intellectual assets and aligning technical, business and intellectual property strategies. Dr. Jaferian utilizes her expertise to create patent portfolios, handle open innovation management, assess third-party inventions, provide litigation support, and mange external counsel for patent prosecution and annuities.
Diane is Senior Managing Counsel for J. C. Penney Corporation, Inc., responsible for all patent litigation matters. Prior to joining J. C. Penney Corporation, Diane was a shareholder as Winstead PC in Dallas, Texas and a member of its Intellectual Property and Commercial Litigation Practice Groups. She practiced at Winstead for more than 25 years before leaving private practice to join JCPenney. During her tenure at Winstead, Diane represented clients that were patent owners, defendants accused of infringement by competitors, as well as clients accused of infringement by NPEs.
Polly Grunfeld Sack joined GateHouse Media as its chief legal officer in May 2006 after 14 years with sports, media and entertainment company IMG. From 2001 until joining GateHouse, she served as IMG’s Senior Vice President and Director of Mergers and Acquisitions.
In addition to earning her law degree from Stanford Law School, Polly also has degrees in math and civil engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has her certification as a professional engineer. She is a board member of several animal rescue groups across the country.
As General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Buzzfeed, Inc., Rhonda Powell leads a team of professional and administrative staff that supports all areas of the company’s rapidly growing digital media business. In her role, Rhonda provides both strategic and legal guidance to the organization on corporate and commercial transactional matters, compliance, employment and labor relations, risk management and intellectual property use and protection. Ms. Powell joined Buzzfeed in September 2018 from Complex Networks, where she previously served as Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary.after twelve (12) years in various roles at Scripps Networks.
Ms. Powell is graduate of Harvard University (magna cum laude w/ summa honors in major) and The University of Michigan School of Law, where she was named a Clarence Darrow Merit Scholar. Ms. Powell serves on the Boards of Directors of PowerMyLearning, which has as its core mission the use of technology and creation of partnerships among parents, teachers and children to enhance and enrich the learning experience and the Food Education Fund, which supports Food and Finance High School, the only New York City public school providing students with a comprehensive culinary education. She is a mentor to several young women and men throughout the New York metropolitan area, including high school, college and law school students, as well as junior lawyers and has taken an active role in efforts to celebrate and enhance diversity in the corporate workplace and workforce.
Karen Lorenzo is General Counsel of Tribeca Enterprises, which owns and operates a number of branded media and entertainment platforms including the Tribeca Film Festival. Prior to joining Tribeca, Lorenzo was Chief Privacy Officer and Corporate Counsel for CMP Media, a subsidiary of United Business Media. Previously, she was an associate in the technology transactions group of a top-tier Silicon Valley law firm and started her career with a boutique New York entertainment law firm. Lorenzo graduated from The Johns Hopkins University (B.A., 1992) and The New York University School of Law (J.D., 1995).
Pam’s intellectual property representation includes counseling patent pools and other IP owners in developing strategic licensing programs. Her work involves the creation, negotiation and enforcement of licenses and related agreements, as well as representation in regulatory approval proceedings, standards, audit support and analysis, import/export and counterfeiting issues, privacy, review of advertising and promotional materials (for regulatory compliance), sweepstakes and promotions, celebrity endorsements and litigating related business disputes.
am also serves as an adjunct member of the faculty of American University’s Washington College of Law, where she teaches IP Licensing. She is active in numerous professional associations. She holds membership in the American Bar Association’s Science and Technology and Intellectual Property Law sections, the District of Columbia Bar Association, and the Pennsylvania Bar Association. Additionally, she is a member of the NY Intellectual Property Lawyers Association, and the Licensing Industry Merchandisers Association. Since 2005, she has served as Vice Chair of the ABA Section of Science and Technology, Committee on Technical Standardization and Infrastructure. Pam served on the Editorial Board and as the Trademark Licensing Columnist for the Licensing Journal for nearly twenty years.
Pam is listed as a Super Lawyer and in Who’s Who. She has received notable awards, including: American Lawyer Media and Martindale-Hubbell Washington DC’s Women Leaders in the Law (2013), Managing Intellectual Property IP Stars - Top 250 Women in IP (2013 and 2014), Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers (2013 Edition), International Asset Management –IAM’s Top 250-The World’s Leading Patent & Technology Licensing Lawyers (2010 and 2011), Washington College of Law’s Women in Law Leadership Award (2008), the American University Alumni Recognition Award (2000) as well as the DC Women’s Bar Association Recognition Award for Mentoring (2000). Pam is also recognized as an "IP Star" by Managing Intellectual Property.
Helen Wu is a commercial, intellectual property and advertising lawyer. Her primary areas of expertise are advertising law, social media platforms, trademarks and copyright, privacy and commercial contracts. Helen has worked in the advertising and travel industries as in-house counsel at Orbitz Worldwide in Australia, The Publicis Group agency, MRY and presently at JetBlue. Prior to working as in-house counsel, she was in the Contracts Dispute Resolution group at DLA Piper in Australia and a Judge's Associate at The Supreme Court of New South Wales. Helen regularly advises on a full spectrum of legal issues related to social media including use of user-generated content, mobile marketing, influencers and bloggers, social media platform's terms of use and privacy policies, sweepstakes and promotions on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram and counsels on all aspects of promotions including drafting and reviewing rules, promotional agreements and vendor contracts. Helen has been involved in the review of advertising and creative copy and counsels on false and deceptive advertising, claim substantiation, email marketing, endorsement and testimonial issues as well as intellectual property matters involving copyright, trademarks and rights of publicity. Helen has drafted and negotiated a wide variety of agreements including sponsorship contracts, agency-client agreements, licences/releases/waivers and technology contracts.
Kim Youngberg is Screenvision Media’s General Counsel overseeing all legal matters for the company. Throw anything at her and she’ll sort it out, but she geeks out the hardest when she works on deals that involve previously unknown technologies and platforms.
Prior to joining Screenvision Media, Kim was SVP of Business and Legal Affairs for Wind-Up Records where she did deals with actual rock stars as well as wannabe rock stars. Before working at Wind-Up, Kim was in private practice at Davis Shapiro & Lewit, a music law firm, enjoying the heady years at the apex of the music industry before technology took it down. Right after law school Kim was an associate at Bermans, a firm of English barristers and solicitors, practicing international litigation and working ungodly hours.
Kim came to love New York City above all while studying at Fordham University School of Law, but had a ridiculous amount of fun in Ann Arbor while earning her BBA from the University of Michigan.
Jennifer Dumas is Vice President of Legal at Chef Software Inc. in Seattle. She brings nearly twenty years of solving complex legal issues for high growth, disruptive companies to her role as Chef's principal legal advisor. She joined Chef from B-Line, LLC, a financial services company, where she was general counsel. Prior to that, she was the global contracts lead at Avanade Inc., where she directed and managed complex commercial agreements and gained a reputation for speedy, pragmatic results. Ms. Dumas began her career in the New York office of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and still has difficulty falling asleep without horns and sirens outside her window.
Cindy Huang is an IP Counsel with the Intellectual Property Law Strategy team of American Express. She advises on a multitude of IP issues, including but not limited to, IP provisions in agreements, IP diligence on investments and acquisitions, and IP threats and litigations. Additionally, Cindy manages the company patent portfolio.
Prior to joining American Express, Cindy held senior counsel and counsel positions at various law firms, where she, among other responsibilities, prepared and prosecuted hundreds of domestic and foreign patent applications, prepared IP strategies, and provided clearance and non-infringement opinions for large Fortune 100-types of companies to small startups. Cindy received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and her J.D. from Loyola University of Chicago.
A partner in Venable's Intellectual Property Group and Co-Chair of the IP Litigation Practice Group, Megan Woodworth focuses her practice on patent litigation and appeals. She has significant litigation experience spanning a vast array of technologies, including medical devices, software, telecommunications and automotive technologies. Ms. Woodworth has represented clients in cases before numerous district courts, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and the International Trade Commission. She has also authored and co-authored dozens of appellate briefs, and has argued several cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Lisa T. Simpson, a partner in the New York office, is a member of Orrick's Intellectual Property and Litigation Groups and currently serves on the firm's Management Committee. Her practice focuses on the representation of retail, entertainment, technology and pharmaceutical companies.
Lisa has handled a variety of matters in state and federal trial and appellate courts, ranging from matters involving copyright, trademark, trade name, false advertising, rights of publicity, libel and defamation; to product liability and consumer class action litigation; to domain name, contract and licensing disputes. Lisa served as trial counsel to Oracle in the recent Oracle v, Google jury trial regarding whether Google's use of the Java APIs in Android was fair use under the Copyright Act. She also served as counsel to DISH Networks, LLC in its copyright litigation with the broadcast networks over various features offered by DISH's Hopper DVR, including AutoHop and Sling, defeating three preliminary injunctions, obtaining favorable rulings on both AutoHop and Sling from the Ninth Circuit and obtaining a favorable summary judgment decision which considered Aereo as it relates to DISH's Sling feature. Lisa also served as counsel to Supap Kirtsaeng on his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, securing a 6-3 decision in Mr. Kirtsaeng's favor on the issue of copyright's first sale doctrine and its applicability to good manufactured abroad, and was on the trial team that secured a jury verdict for MGA Entertainment, Inc. in its copyright and trade secret dispute over the Bratz dolls.
Lisa has been recognized as a "Top 250 Women in IP" and has received recognition for her legal achievements from Benchmark, American Lawyer and Super Lawyers. Lisa currently serves as Partner-in-Charge, Firmwide Campus Recruiting and Hiring Partner for the New York Office. Lisa is also a member of the Professional Development Committee (PDC).
Amanda Williamson focuses her practice on complex intellectual property litigation in the Life Sciences Industry relating to pharmaceuticals, biologics, biosimilars and medical devices. Clients have entrusted Amanda to handle patent litigation that involves their billion dollar a year products and “bet-the-company” cases.
Amanda has experience representing companies in US District Courts across the country, the Federal Circuit as well as other Circuit Courts, and the International Trade Commission (ITC). Amanda also works with clients on post grant proceedings, including inter partes reviews and ex parte reexamination, and provides clients with strategic advice on patent portfolio management, freedom to operate analysis, and IP due diligence.
Outside of the Life Sciences, Amanda has been involved in patent infringement cases with a variety of technologies, including, mining equipment, RFID capable devices, networked devices and related software, cellular devices and related features and functionalities, and standard essential wireless technologies.
Following law school, Amanda served as a judicial law clerk to Judge James B. Zagel of the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She also previously worked as a consultant at an accounting firm, where she assisted financial expert witnesses in analyzing and calculating damages in cases involving patent infringement and breach of contract claims.
Heidi is associate General Counsel for IP at Xerox. She is a legal professional with over 25 years experience in diverse practice environments, including in-house roles at multinational corporations and private practice in an AMLaw Global 100 law firm as well as in smaller, specialty practice settings. She is passionate about knowing the business and deploying legal skills to ensure commercial success.
Her experience includes intellectual property (patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret) transactions, litigation, strategy and due diligence; commercial counseling, drafting and negotiation; commercial and product liability litigation; employment matters; product safety and a variety of other issues facing today's growing companies. Seasoned manager capable of leading diverse teams of legal professionals, technical specialists and paraprofessionals.
She earned her B.A. in History and Political Science from the University of Rochester and her J.D. from Boston College Law School.
Naomi B. Waltman is Executive Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Litigation, of ViacomCBS Inc., a leading media company that creates and distributes content across a variety of platforms to audiences around the world. She serves as the Company’s chief litigation counsel, overseeing litigation for ViacomCBS and its business units in a broad range of matters, including intellectual property, defamation, and general commercial disputes. Earlier in her career, Naomi was a litigation associate at Kaye Scholer LLP (now Arnold & Porter) in New York City and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Warren W. Eginton of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.
Naomi is a well-recognized leader in the legal profession and is frequently honored by external legal and professional organizations. She has been recognized as a National Woman in Law (Technology, Media, and Telecom) by Corporate Counsel, a Leading Woman Lawyer by Crain’s New York Business, and a Woman of Influence by Best Lawyers Magazine.
Naomi received a B.A. with Distinction from Stanford University and a J.D. from Stanford Law School.
Cathy has been responsible for legal issues with respect to Worldwide Marketing and ecommerce at MasterCard. Prior to working at MasterCard, Cathy was General Counsel for Agency.com, a digital marketing and technology company, (Agency.com was initially a start up when Cathy joined the company and then became part of the Omnicom Advertising Network). Prior to working for Agency.com, Cathy worked as Counsel for Computer Associates International, Inc., a software company where Cathy worked on a variety of issues including those related to marketing, public relations, development agreements and software licensing. Cathy started her career a deKeiffer, Dibble and Horgan, an international intellectual property law firm in the District of Columbia and held clerkship in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Cathy graduated with honors from Washington College of Law at American University and Smith College.
Nyree is Vice President and Senior Counsel with Amex Bank of Canada. She has a broad range ofexperience in many areas of commercial law with particular expertise inintellectual property, technology, privacy and advertising law. Nyree alsoprovides legal as well as strategic advice on social media policies andinitiatives. Nyree practiced as a technology lawyer with Herbert Smith, aleading international law firm, in London, England from 1998 - 2005. Nyree joined TELUS on her return to Canada in2005 as part of the legal team that supports TELUS’ consumer solutionsportfolio across Canada. In January 2011, Nyree joined the General Counsel'sOffice of Amex Bank of Canada where she advises the Merchant Services lineof business in Canada and advises on efforts in Canada and internationally tosupport digital capabilities for American Express. Nyree holds an honours degree in Geography and French from the University of Guelph and a CPE/LPC (Distinction)from the College of Law, London. She isadmitted as a solicitor in England and Wales (2000) and obtained an LL.M. in Computer and Communications Law from the University of London (2002). Nyree was admitted to the Ontario Bar in2008.
