Coffee Break the Podcast

Will you come out strong? COVID-19 will eventually pass, life and business will return to "normal." Which companies will come out ahead? As we work remotely through this pandemic, we must find ways to remain connected to our teams as we continue to innovate. How can you incentivize your innovators during these unprecedented times? Sandy Chan speaks with Diane Gabl Kratz, Senior Intellectual Property Counsel at Seagate Technology.

As we work remotely during Covid-19, we face the challenge of ensuring smooth legal operations. This includes not only managing risk and monitoring compliance, but also helping drive business. For IP professionals, this includes maintaining a smooth invention process and IP portfolio management. Some companies entered Covid-19 better positioned than others to meet the challenges of remote work. What can we learn from these companies to ensure overall success? Our guests share valuable insights: Jennifer Karr at Microsoft, Vesper Hubbard at Loon, Stephanie Sanders at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, and Annya Dushine at CPA Global.

As we work remotely during Covid-19, we face the challenge of ensuring smooth legal operations. This includes not only managing risk and monitoring compliance, but also helping drive business. For IP professionals, this includes maintaining a smooth invention process and IP portfolio management. Some companies entered Covid-19 better positioned than others to meet the challenges of remote work. What can we learn from these companies to ensure overall success? Our guests share valuable insights: Jennifer Karr at Microsoft, Vesper Hubbard at Loon, Stephanie Sanders at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, and Annya Dushine at CPA Global.

When do startups and younger companies need to start building their patent portfolios? When do you transition from trade secret to patent? Will a patent portfolio help you secure funding? What are investors looking for? How can a startup continue portfolio building during an economic downturn? Karina Levitian has advised startups as in-house and outside counsel. She leads this discussion with Kent Richardson of Richardson Oliver.

The uncertainty around Covid-19 has caused our economy to stumble. Unclear when we will return to normal, some companies are beginning to reduce their patent budgets and conserve cash. How does this impact your intellectual property strategy? Sandy Chan at IP Counsel Cafe speaks with Jim DeCarlo at Greenberg Traurig and Jonah Probell at Soundhound. How do you build a patent portfolio during an economic downturn? How do you cut costs?

The business landscape was complicated by the US China trade war that began in 2018, posing new challenges for IP Counsel. The emergence of Covid 19 late last year has further complicated the landscape. Mark Cohen and Thomas Chia discuss the impact of Covid 19 on US China relations and globalization, what we can expect on the global IP licensing side, and how IP Counsel can stay updated on Chinese IP law developments in light of the dearth of publicly available information.

China is a key market for important technologies such as 5G, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning, and Blockchain. Despite the US-China Trade War and Covid-19, China remains a key part of many companies' foreign filing strategies. A great deal of manufacturing is conducted by Chinese companies, so American companies with Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) must be prepared for cross-border negotiations. We heard a great deal about the US-China Trade War in 2019, but there has been little news coverage this year. What is the status? Have supply chains shifted? And what can we expect in this Presidential Election Year? Sandy Chan speaks with Mark Cohen, head of the Asia IP Project at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology at Berkeley Law School, and Thomas Chia, Senior Director of Patents at Via Licensing.

The world and our economic engine have hit pause as we shelter in place through Covid-19. Once we are past the health pandemic and return to business as usual, the economic landscape may look very different. Companies must understand how the landscape is changing and adjust their IP filing strategies to ensure their businesses and intellectual property can succeed in the new landscape. Sandy Chan speaks with Miku Mehta at Procopio and Scott Pojunas at Google. Hear how companies are weighing the impact of Covid-19, the US-China Trade War, and the looming economic downturn.

Countries are in lockdown as we battle Covid-19. Sandy Chan at IP Counsel Cafe speaks with Kanda Ishihara, Director of Intellectual Property at Veritas Technologies, an enterprise software company based in Santa Clara, CA with offices around the world. We ask Kanda how Covid-19 and the lockdown are impacting her job.