Womble Bond Dickinson will be well-represented at the Licensing Executives Society (LES) 2022 Annual Meeting.
WBD Partners Chris Mammen, Karthika Perumal, Carrie Richey and Jeff Whittle all will be in attendance at the annual gathering of intellectual property, technology, and business development professionals from across the U.S. and Canada. In addition, Mammen and Richey both will be speaking.
Mammen will take part in a panel discussion on “New Modes of Contracting – Including IP Licensing.” The panel will discuss both smart contracts and open-source, standard-form contracts as models as alternatives to the traditional licensing/contracting model.
Richey will speak in a panel titled, “Inclusive Initiatives to Support the Innovation Ecosystem.” This session will address:
- Data and research findings that highlight the significant gender gap and racial divide in access to early-stage funding, networks, and valuation;
- Inclusive initiatives to provide access to funding and professional networks; and
- Actionable items that can be implemented and utilized to help close the equity gap.
Perumal will moderate a panel discussion on “Intersection of ESG and Innovation.” This panel will discuss how energy and chemical firms, who are traditionally associated with lower Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scores, are transforming the conversation and the role of ESG considerations in driving innovation. Recent research indicates that the energy sector has a large and growing percentage of their entirety of patenting activity dedicated to green and sustainable innovation. Panelists will also discuss examples of these technologies and public policies driving the innovation to achieve ESG goals.
Finally, Perumal, who currently is President-Elect of the LES, will be elected and installed as LES President for 2022-23 at the Annual Meeting.
The LES 2022 Annual Meeting takes place Oct. 16-19 in San Francisco. The theme of this year’s event is “Commercializing Innovation.”