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Licensing Executives Society - Seattle Chapter Speaker Series

Licensing Realities in the Food Industry:
Adventures in the Cheese Biz

Speaker:
Kristi Johnson
Dickinson Wright PLLC
Bloomfield Hills, MI

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
(presentation 12:00 - 1:00)

* Please note the location for this meeting *
Avanade Inc.
2211 Elliott Ave.
Seattle WA 98121 (206) 239-5600

Kristi Johnson, a patent lawyer - turned cheesemaker - turned patent lawyer - will take you through a brief and exciting journey in technology licensing in the food business.  With her perspective as an attorney representing large and small companies - as well as her personal experience in owning an artisan cheese company, Kristi will talk about how to locate value components in a proposed food industry patent and/or deal, and how to poke around enough to know if the components will retain value after the patent is filed, and/or the deal is finalized.  The whirlwind tour of licensing in the food industry will touch upon: Types of intellectual property in the food industry and agricultural industry; Transferring value via licenses to food and agricultural technology, including how to value a license, and what you need to insist upon to make it work; Questions - who and what to ask during due diligence, and which answers you dismiss.
           
Kristi's story is one of careful plans, intellectual property protection, terrible trucking, international awards, fantastic customer relations, product disasters, family strength, employee loyalty, and downright dastardly deeds.  She will explore her company's trade secret misappropriation by a former employee and the dairy for which he went to work.   Learn from her experience.  Decide for yourself if she could have done more to prevent wandering recipes, and what you would have done differently if you had been in her cute white hat and ugly work boots. 

In addition, Kristi will comment on technology transfer from her fifteen years representing pharmaceutical, agriculture and food clients.  Most of her experience has been in patent consulting and prosecution for universities.  She also represents for-profit private and publicly-traded companies, including Kellogg, and can answer questions about the practical differences in pharmaceutical, biotech and food deals. 

**Please extend a special invitation to your licensing colleagues to attend this meeting. The educational component and the networking will be very worthwhile to attendees of all experience levels.**

One CLE Credit is pending approval for this program, sponsored by the Washington Law School Foundation, University of Washington School of Law.

Please pre-register to secure your place for this lecture and luncheon.

Registration prior to April 14, 2008 at noon: $15 – students /$20 - LES Members / $30 Non-Members
Registration after April 14, 2008 at noon: $20 – students / $25 - LES Members / $35 Non-Members

Online registration is now closed. Please register on-site.

Directions to Avanade Inc.
2211 Elliott Ave.
Seattle, WA 98121
206-239-5600

From I-5 either direction:
Take the Mercer St. exit
Bear right onto Fairview
Turn left at the light at South Lake Union (Valley St.)
Valley will turn into Broad St.
Take Broad St. all the way down to Elliott Ave.
Turn left onto Elliott (one-way street).   
Turn right into the Art Institute parking lot.

Parking will be validated for 2 hours.  Directions for Parking:
Art Institute of Seattle garage
Elliott Ave. entrance
Go down 1 ½ times until you see the sign for World Trade Center East
Bear right into the adjacent garage
Take the elevator to the lobby
The Avanade lobby is on the West side of the building (water side)

Contact Simmone Misra at smisra@microsoft.com or Gail Dykstra at gdykstra@u.washington.edu if you have any questions.