LOT NETWORK BRIDGE
MEMBER MEETING
Speakers
John A. Squires is the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). As chief executive, he leads one of the largest intellectual property (IP) offices in the world—almost a $5 billion operation with over 14,000 employees located across the 50 states and Puerto Rico. He is also the principal IP advisor to the President and Administration, through the Secretary of Commerce.
Prior to joining the USPTO, Mr. Squires served as Partner and Chair of the IP and Emerging Companies Practice at Dilworth Paxson LLP and an adjunct law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law. He has extensive experience in all aspects of IP and emerging companies, across a vast array of scientific and technology disciplines, including patent and trademark asset creation, procurement and acquisition, transactions, licensing, corporate formation, governance and structuring, high-stakes litigation and regulatory, and risk management matters.
Mr. Squires led the creation of the United States’ first patent asset-backed finance platform for one of the world’s leading funds. He also led the founding, launch, and was a board member of numerous IP and risk-related businesses, including iQ4, the Risk Assistance Network + Exchange (RANE), and FinClusive.
David J. Kappos is Co-Chair of the Intellectual Property Practice. He is widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost leaders in the field of intellectual property, including intellectual property management and strategy, the development of global intellectual property norms, laws and practices as well as commercialization and enforcement of innovation‑based assets. Mr. Kappos advises Cravath’s clients on a wide range of their most complex intellectual property issues, including those pertaining to artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptoassets and fintech, as well as cybersecurity and data privacy.
From August 2009 to January 2013, Mr. Kappos served as Under Secretary of Commerce and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In that role, he advised the President, the Secretary of Commerce and the Administration on intellectual property policy matters. As Director of the USPTO, he led the Agency in dramatically re‑engineering its entire management and operational systems as well as its engagement with the global innovation community. He was instrumental in achieving the greatest legislative reform of the U.S. patent system in generations through passage and implementation of the America Invents Act, signed into law by President Obama in September 2011.
Prior to leading the USPTO, Mr. Kappos held several executive posts in the legal department of IBM, including litigation counsel, Asia Pacific IP counsel and, from 2003 to 2009, Vice President and Chief Intellectual Property Lawyer responsible for all patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret matters worldwide.
Ruud Peters is the Co-Director of the Center for Intellectual Property (CIP), and CEO at Peters IP Consultancy B.V. ; Former Chief IP Officer and Executive Vice President at Koninklijke Philips N.V.
He is an IP business leader and entrepreneur with both strategic and operational capabilities, who created and managed one of the world’s leading and most successful IP businesses as Chief Intellectual Property Officer of Philips for a period of 15 years till the end of 2013. In 2014 he established his own IP Consultancy company providing consultancy in IP strategy and organizational matters to enterprises and institutes around the globe. In addition, he is acting as board member/advisory board member/advisor for Iprova Sarl, Lausanne, Switzerland; School of Management, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China; Institute for Intellectual Property Management, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China; Center for Intellectual Property (CIP), Gothenburg, Sweden; AI Patents, North Carolina, USA and Arbell Energy, Tel Aviv, Israel. In 2017 he was appointed as Guest-Professor at the School of Management, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
He was inducted into the IP Hall of Fame in 2010 and he received an Outstanding Achievement Award for his lifetime contributions to the IP field from Managing Intellectual Property magazine in 2014 . He frequently speaks at major international IP conferences/webinars and also writes regularly articles in leading IP and business magazines. Ruud has a background in physics (Technical University Delft, The Netherlands).
Dr. Bowman Heiden is the Founding Faculty Director of the Open Innovation Labs at the Institute for Business Innovation, UC Berkeley.
Dr. Heiden is the Co-Director of the Center for Intellectual Property (CIP) at University of Gothenburg, which is a joint platform between academia and industry focused on the transformation of knowledge into wealth and welfare. He is also the Executive Director of the Tusher Strategic Initiative for Technology Leadership at UC-Berkeley and co-chair of the Technology, Innovation, and Intellectual Property program at the Classical Liberal Institute at the NYU School of Law. Dr. Heiden was recently a member of the European Commission Expert Group on Standard Essential Patents.
Previously he was a visiting Professor at UC Berkeley and the Innovation Director for the Qatar Science & Technology Park, where he was responsible for driving innovation strategy and intellectual property policy. Over the past ten years, Dr. Heiden has managed over 100 innovation projects with industry, university research institutes, healthcare providers, and start-up ventures.
As Co-Director of CIP, Dr. Heiden currently manages the internationalization of the CIP platform and strategic collaborations with industry and university partners. In this role, Dr. Heiden has co-founded and developed the Intellectual Capital Management (ICM) and Business Creation and Entrepreneurship in Biomedicine (BCEB) master’s level programs, CIP FORUM, the Business of Intellectual Property executive program, and the CIP Internship Program.
Dr. Heiden holds degrees in engineering, technology management, and economics, and his research is at the interdisciplinary interface of economics, law, and innovation, in particular, intellectual property and open innovation in knowledge-intensive sectors. Before turning his focus to the field of knowledge-based business, Dr. Heiden played professional basketball in a number of European countries.
Gene is an experienced lead counsel who is known for his thoughtful work and dedication to clients.
Gene Lee is an IP litigator who works on disputes involving patents, trade secrets, technology agreements, trademarks, and copyrights in federal courts, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). He also advises clients on licensing, patent portfolio analysis, and the IP aspects of corporate transactions.
Gene’s work has covered a wide range of technologies, including computer systems and software, telecommunications and wireless communications, medical devices, blockchain and cryptocurrency, solar energy, video games, pharmaceuticals, financial services, chemistry, semiconductors, and geoscience. He is regularly engaged by major U.S. and Asian companies in high-stakes disputes. Gene recently represented a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) in the first patent lawsuit against a DAO, and also represented through trial the world’s largest alcoholic beverages company in the first investigation in the ITC pilot program for potential early disposition of cases. He also represented Taiwan’s first innovator drug company in a major licensing dispute.
Recognized for excellence by Chambers Global, IAM Patent 1000, and Managing IP, Gene regularly speaks, publishes, and offers commentary on recent trends and important issues in patent law and IP litigation.
Maria Čulić Anderson excels in developing robust patent and trademark portfolios while guiding clients through the complexities of intellectual property law and litigation. She brings three decades of experience in the field to DWT, where she represents a broad range of IP stakeholders—from individual innovators to the top Fortune 500 companies—in industries from software and electronics to medical devices to food + beverage. Trained in computer science, Maria also understands many technical aspects of her clients’ innovations, with particular expertise in cloud computing and AI.
Named one of the “World’s Leading Patent Professionals” by Intellectual Asset Management and recognized by The Legal 500 and others for her IP work, Maria counsels clients on all challenges and opportunities throughout the IP lifecycle. She strategically grows and develops patent portfolios both domestically and internationally, including supporting the expansion of one company’s global patent portfolio from under 100 issued patents to 30,000+ over the course of a decade. In addition, she develops strategies for U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) litigation before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) for defensive purposes, focusing on inter partes review (IPR) and post-grant review (PGR). Maria also has a keen eye for brand protection and has helped numerous clients establish and defend their trademarks in competitive markets. With over 30 years of experience to draw from, Maria expertly manages multimillion-dollar legal budgets to provide a full spectrum of IP support for large clients and maximizes the value of modest budgets for individuals and startups.
Beyond client work, Maria is an active participant in professional organizations and a frequent speaker at industry conferences, where she shares her insights on IP law trends and best practices. Before joining DWT, Maria worked at a U.S.-based IP law firm and co-founded its Seattle office. She also mentors up-and-coming attorneys from diverse backgrounds.
Michael D. Specht is a director and chair of Sterne Kessler’s Electronics Practice Group.
He has a unique combination of over twenty-five years of telecommunications, electronics and Internet-related technical, legal, and business development experiences. His practice spans high value patent prosecution and inter partes matters, including Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”), district court, and International Trade Commission (“ITC”) litigation. His extensive patent prosecution and technical experiences provide a formidable advantage in inter partes proceedings. Additionally, he counsels clients on the development and implementation of intellectual asset management plans to maximize the economic potential of their intellectual property through portfolio development, licensing, and litigation strategies.
Mike has long been a leader in post grant proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, such as ex parte reexaminations, inter partes reexaminations, inter partes reviews (“IPR”), covered business method reviews (“CBM”), and post grant reviews (“PGR”). He was the co-creator and editor of the award-winning website, www.reexaminationcenter.com, which was the most sought out industry source for reexamination decisions and analysis. He subsequently was a contributing author to the seminal treatise, Patent Office Litigation and is also a contributing author to Patent Litigation Strategies Handbook Third Edition 2014 Cumulative Supplement, “Patentability Challenges at the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office.” Mike has served as counsel in nearly 100 IPRs, CBMs, and PGRs, with more than 50 representations on behalf of petitioners, and more than 40 appearances on behalf of patent owners. Whether challenging or defending patents before the PTAB, Mike’s lead counsel track record is superior to the PTAB averages on the basis of challenged claims instituted and instituted claims cancelled at final written decision.
Mike has served as an advisor to associates participating in the PTAB’s Legal Experience and Advancement Program (LEAP), which provides associates with training and development opportunities in PTAB proceedings, including oral argument.
Mike’s primary areas of technical experience include telecommunications networks, broadband communication systems, wireless communications, GPS location-based services, Signaling System 7 (“SS7”), VoIP, communications protocols, e-commerce and Internet applications, graphic processors, and automotive technologies.
Alex Yu helps clients manage and grow their patent portfolios and handles disputes before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and the Federal Circuit. This broad experience enables him to support his clients through the full range of proceedings available at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and resulting appeals.
In his patent prosecution and portfolio management practice, Alex emphasizes deeply understanding his clients’ technology and business goals to help them develop protection strategies that cover the lifecycle of their patents. Beyond prosecution, Alex also works with his clients to guide innovation strategies and mitigate risk through strategic counseling, freedom-to-operate studies, and due diligence investigations.
In contentious matters, Alex represents clients in disputes before the PTAB and in appeals to the Federal Circuit. His appellate practice is backed by lessons learned as a clerk for the Honorable Raymond Chen of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Alex has advised clients ranging from individual inventors and start-ups to multinational companies and has worked on matters spanning technologies including robotics and autonomous vehicles, medical devices, machine learning, manufacturing, semiconductors, software, and video encoding and graphics processing.
Before practicing law, Alex conducted graduate research at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering on wearable robotics and served as a research and development engineer for a large medical device company.
Agenda: Thursday, October 1, 2026
| 8:15 AM | Breakfast opens |
| 9:00 AM | Check-in |
| 9:15 AM | Remarks from the CEO (Ken Seddon, CEO, LOT Network) |
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9:45 AM
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Keynote Presentation: A Directors’ Fireside Chat with John Squires and David Kappos |
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10:30 AM
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Networking break
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11:00 AM
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PTAB, patent litigation, with post-grant/ex partes reexams (Ashurst Perkins Coie) |
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11:45 PM
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Lunch
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12:45 PM
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Elevating IP: Strategies that move IP leaders into the boardroom (Sterne Kessler) |
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1:30 PM
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Networking break
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2:00 PM
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What in-house counsel need to know about AI (Davis Wright Tremaine) |
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2:45 PM
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Networking break
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3:15 PM
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Working smarter: How IP teams are using tools to meet the metrics that matter (Fish & Richardson) |
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4:00 PM
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ADAPT
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4:20 PM
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Closing remarks
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4:30 PM
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Networking reception
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*Sessions and details are subject to change.