2021 PILT Seminar Speakers and Materials
Presentations
The Future (of Diversity and Inclusion) in IP
Deidre A. Keller, Dean and Professor of Law, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Orlando, FL
Kenneth B. Germain, Of Counsel, Wood Herron & Evans, LLP, Cincinnati, OH
Robert S. Katz, Partner, Banner Witcoff, Washington D.C.
Vulnerability Disclosures: Law and Ethics in Security Research
Robert Carolina (Solicitor), Senior Fellow, Royal Holloway University of London, England
Vance V. VanDrake III, Partner, Ulmer & Berne LLP, Cincinnati, OH
Patent Strategies: Tools for Securing Patent Rights From Invention To Product Launch
Julie A. McConihay, Member, Frost Brown Todd LLC, Cincinnati, OH
Larry Huston, Patent Attorney, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, OH
David V. Croft, Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis, Cleveland, OH
Robert Eckman, Chief Information Security Officer, Kent State University, Cleveland, OH
Zachary S. Heck, Associate, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, Dayton, OH
Bruce F. Martino, Former Associate Legal Counsel, Gojo Industries, Inc., Akron, OH
Dean and Professor of Law, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Orlando, Florida
Deidré A. Keller is the Dean of the Florida A&M University (FAMU) College of Law in Orlando, Florida. Prior to joining FAMU, she was the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the Ohio Northern University Claude W. Pettit College of Law where she taught for ten years. Dean Keller writes at the intersection of intellectual property, personhood theory, critical race theory, and the Constitution. Prior to teaching, Keller practiced law in Atlanta, Georgia specializing in intellectual property counseling and procurement.
Senior Counsel, Wood Herron & Evans, LLP, Cincinnati, OH
Ken Germain has more than 45 years of varied experience in the trademark/unfair competition field and is a former full-time law professor. He focuses his practice on trademark counseling, consulting and litigation, including Early Neutral Evaluation. Ken is often retained as an expert witness on issues relating to trademarks and unfair competition, working on cases involving some of the nation’s largest companies in high-stakes, cutting-edge cases. He has testified in court over 15 times.
Partner, Banner Witcoff, Washington D.C.
Rob has benefited firm clients in the areas of utility patents and industrial designs. He has drafted and prosecuted to issuance numerous and significant utility patents in the U.S. and in foreign countries. These clients include Fortune 500 companies as well as many individual inventors and small companies who rely on strong patent protection in their marketplaces. The patents have been directed primarily to mechanical and electromechanical devices, and to software and computer-related inventions. Many patents drafted and prosecuted by Rob have been successfully enforced with some having served as the cornerstone for the successful sale of companies.
Partner, Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis, Cleveland, OH
As a former General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer, David Croft, a Partner with Meyers, Roman, Friedberg & Lewis in Cleveland, Ohio, offers a unique perspective on business law and understanding the needs of his clients. Chair of the Blockchain/Cryptocurrency practice group, David directs the firm’s multidisciplinary approach to representing clients in all aspects of cybersecurity, data privacy, blockchain technology, and cryptocurrency, including smart contracts, tokenized security offerings, government regulation, inventions, trademarks, brand protection, trade secrets, copyrights, commercialization, mining, energy procurement and licensing. David is a prolific speaker on emerging trends in cybersecurity, data privacy, blockchain/cryptocurrency, and medical cannabis.
Chief Information Security Officer, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio
Robert Eckman serves as Chief Information Security Officer at Kent State University where he leads an amazing team of information security and identity and access management professionals to protect the State of Ohio’s 2nd largest university in all things security. Prior to this role, Bob served as Security Principal and vCISO at MCPc Inc. a secured technology logistics and data protection company headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. There, Bob guided MCPc’s cybersecurity services, solutions and staff. He has over 25 years of experience in security, technology and project/program management.
Partner, Ulmer & Berne LLP, Cincinnati, OH
Vance VanDrake is an intellectual property, patent, trademark, and venture attorney in Ulmer & Berne’s Cincinnati office. He is the author of “The Patent Game,” a book written specifically for inventors, entrepreneurs, and business leaders that want to improve their patent knowledge – or, as Vance refers to it, IP IQ – to leverage patents as a key driver of business value. Vance has worked in-house for a Fortune 500 company, has co-founded three startup companies, and is an active angel investor. Vance is a frequent keynote speaker and mentor for universities, startup accelerators, incubators, and technology groups. He is a past President of the Greater Cincinnati Venture Association, was appointed by the Mayor of Cincinnati to the Small Business Advisory Committee, and was recognized as one of Cincinnati’s “Top 40 under 40” by the Cincinnati Business Courier. Vance earned his J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law, and a Bachelor of Science from Butler University.
Patent Attorney, U.S. Air Force, Dayton, OH
Larry practiced IP law for 30 years at Procter & Gamble and is now a civilian patent attorney for the US Air Force. His practice covered important aspects of U.S. and international patent preparation, prosecution, appeals, freedom to practice, portfolio management, licensing, infringement opinions, validity opinions, M&A due diligence, counseling, trade secret and trademark/trade dress matters. Larry’s experience includes litigation and ADR. Larry has a strong engineering background and worked in a broad range of technology areas including paper products, cleaning products, diapers, sanitary napkins, packaging, control systems, satellite communications, manufacturing processes and machinery.
Member, Frost Brown Todd, Cincinnati, Ohio
Julie’s technical and legal background as well as her hands-on work in consumer products companies and research settings provide immediate value to her clients. Julie’s experience is wide-ranging and includes a depth of experience in the chemical, biotech and light mechanical arts at all stages of product development – from ideation to commercialization. As a member in the Frost Brown Todd’s Intellectual Property Practice, Julie focuses her practice in the areas of domestic and foreign patent preparation and prosecution, patent infringement, market clearance, validity opinions, patentability studies, licensing, IP due diligence for M&A and creating and implementing intellectual property strategies. Julie represents fortune 500 companies, start-ups and individual inventors. Prior to joining Frost Brown Todd in 2012, Julie spent nine years as a patent attorney for the intellectual property practice at The Procter & Gamble Company. Julie also spent time in various research settings including as a research associate in the Department of Pathobiology and Molecular Medicine at the University of Cincinnati.
Associate, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, Dayton, Ohio
Zach’s practice focuses on privacy and data security. Specifically, Zach assists clients in the areas of privacy compliance, defense litigation, class action defense and guidance in the aftermath of an information security event, including data breach. Zach has experience advising clients with respect to FTC investigations, federal privacy regulations such as HIPAA, FCRA, TCPA, and GLBA, as well as state laws governing personally identifiable information. For his clients, he also provides regulatory analysis, risk management, policy development, training and audits. Zach speaks and writes regularly on cutting-edge data privacy and cybersecurity issues and is a Certified Information Privacy Professional in the field of United States laws and regulations.
Bruce Martino is an attorney and privacy professional. He has nearly 20 years experience working on client privacy issues while with LexisNexis, IBM and GOJO Industries. Bruce is admitted to practice in New York and Ohio. He is a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals and holds CIPP/G and CIPM certifications from the IAPP. He has spoken and written about privacy issues, most recently for the Association of Corporate Counsel, Northeast Ohio Chapter on European data transfers. Bruce earned his B.S. at the City University of New York, John Jay College and his J.D. from the University of Dayton School of Law.
Senior Fellow, Royal Holloway University of London, England
Robert Carolina is a Senior Visiting Fellow with the Information Security Group at Royal Holloway University of London, where he has taught legal and regulatory aspects of cyber security since 1999. He is the author of the “law and regulation” chapter of CyBOK: the Cybersecurity Body of Knowledge. Robert maintains a legal practice with Origin Ltd in London. He has extensive experience advising on ICT-related commercial transactions and related legal and regulatory risks, including data protection, interception of communications, and online banking and payment systems. Robert is a graduate of the University of Dayton, Georgetown University Law Center, and the London School of Economics.
