How Does a Company Manage Its Intellectual Property Estate?: Perspectives From In-House Counsels
Even in the earliest stages, generating and securing intellectual property is a critical component of a company’s business plan. Many early-stage companies rely on outside counsel to do the heavy lifting, but what should be done (or not done) internally with respect to IP? What can a company do to help maximize its relationship with outside counsel, while keeping a realistic budget? How can a company best manage its research and develop teams to capture IP? When is it time to start building an internal IP team? What can be done internally to help prepare for a financing? Where can things go wrong? Here’s your chance to learn from the best: Join our August 28 panel with Randy Wu of 10x Genomics, Yina Dong of Veracyte, Rachel Herder of Mammoth Biosciences and Aric Ledford of Freenome, moderated by Ali Alemozafar and Adam Cole of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati.
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About the Speakers
Yina Dong is Deputy General Counsel at Veracyte, where she manages global contracting and IP strategy. Yina started her legal career at Latham & Watkins’ life sciences technology transactions group, handling licensing and partnering transactions and advising on IP matters in M&A, IPOs, follow-on offerings, and private financings. After joining IQVIA, Yina went to the dark side and became an M&A attorney, leading over 25 M&A, JV and other strategic transactions. Upon closing several acquisitions at Veracyte, Yina is now a recovering M&A attorney and is happy to be back to her roots as an IP transactions attorney. Yina has a Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering from UCSD and received her JD from Stanford Law School.
Rachel Herder is the Vice President of Intellectual Property and Associate General Counsel at Mammoth Biosciences. Co-founded by Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna, Mammoth Biosciences is a pre-clinical, next generation CRISPR company harnessing the diversity of nature for therapeutics, diagnostics, agriculture and beyond. Prior to joining Mammoth Biosciences, Rachel was Director of the Intellectual Property Clinic at Penn State Law and an associate patent attorney at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Rachel earned her J.D. and Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology, and Genetics from the University of Minnesota where she studied neuropeptide regulation of steroid hormone biosynthesis in Drosophila melanogaster.
Aric Ledford is a biotech-focused attorney having supported a diverse set of clients in the development and execution of IP protection strategies. His practice includes portfolio development, conducting freedom to operate and patentability analyses, analyzing competitive landscapes, and performing due diligence related to financing or IP monetization. He also has wide-ranging experience in supporting biotech companies in technology in and out-licensing, product development and marketing activities, mergers and acquisitions, strategic partnerships; and regulatory support. He’s a graduate of SCU School of Law and resides in the Bay Area.
Randy Wu is the Vice President of Intellectual Property and Litigation at 10x Genomics, where he has been in-house counsel since 2016. In his role, he is responsible for all aspects of patent procurement and enforcement, including prosecution, litigation, and licensing matters relating to a variety of cutting edge and interdisciplinary genomic technologies. Prior to his legal career, Randy was a scientist – he obtained a Ph.D. in bioinformatics from USCF relating to chromatin structure and gene regulation.
