News
Licensing Executive Society Names Jeffrey S. Whittle the Frank Barnes Mentor Award Recipient
Oct 21 2019
For His Outstanding Work as Mentor in the Field of Licensing, Whittle Will Be Honored During the Society’s Annual Meeting Award Ceremony, October 22, in Phoenix
RESTON, Va. – Oct. 22, 2019 -- The Licensing Executives Society (U.S.A. and Canada) today announced that it has selected intellectual property (IP) attorney Jeffrey S. Whittle, LES past president and a former member of the LES Board of Directors, as the recipient of the 2019 LES Frank Barnes Mentor Award. Whittle is the managing partner of Womble Bond Dickinson’s Houston office and a co-lead of the law firm’s Energy Sector team. His longtime mentorship activities in the field of licensing have qualified him for one of the highest honors that LES can give to a member of the licensing community. He joins a long and distinguished line of winners who, like Frank Barnes himself, advanced the LES mission by generously sharing their time and talents to support their colleagues.
Established in 2000 by LES to memorialize Barnes' contributions to the field of licensing, the award is presented annually to one LES member who has dedicated considerable time and energy to mentoring fellow licensing professionals. Whittle will be honored at the LES Annual Meeting Frank Barnes Award Celebration held during today’s Keynote Speaker Luncheon with Microsoft for Startups Managing Director Shaloo Garg, from Noon to 1:00 p.m., at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa. All attendees are welcome.
"This year by wide acclaim, the award selection committee is pleased to present Jeffrey with the 2019 LES Frank Barnes Mentor Award. Jeffrey is a natural mentor and has devoted his entire career to inspire and encourage further innovation in the licensing sector. Additionally, Jeffrey has always been a trusted advisor and mentor for our community," said Don Drinkwater, chair of the Frank Barnes Award Committee, former LES Board of Directors member and past president of the LES Foundation. "In addition to embodying many of Frank Barnes' estimable mentor qualities, his service to LES has been truly admirable. Congratulations to Jeffrey from the whole organization."
Whittle is a past president and chair of LES (2015-2016), and he served on the LES Board for over seven years. He is currently Co-Chair of the Americas Committee for Licensing Executives Society International (LESI). He was named 2018 Global IP Attorney of the Year by Legal Era and received the 2015 Distinguished Service Award from the University of Houston Law Center. A Certified Licensing Professional, he is a frequent and highly sought-after speaker and author, nationally and internationally, on various intellectual property, licensing, and technology topics.
Whittle’s IP practice serves U.S. and international clients in the energy and high-tech industries. He advises on strategic and complex technology transactions, licensing, patent protection, portfolio analysis, and other contentious and transactional intellectual property matters including inter partes reexaminations, post-grant reviews and derivation proceedings, among other disputed cases.
About Licensing Executives Society (U.S.A. and Canada), Inc.
Established in 1965, Licensing Executives Society (U.S.A. and Canada), Inc. (LES) is a professional society of 2,500 members engaged in the creation, commercial development and orderly transfer of intellectual property rights; protection and management of intellectual capital; and intellectual capital management standards development. LES members are accountants, business leaders, business model innovators, consultants, dealmakers, economists, engineers, IP valuation experts, lawyers, licensing executives, lobbyists, merger and acquisition experts, public policy leaders, scientists, strategic planners, supply chain managers, tax specialists, and technology transfer specialists. These members represent innovation-centered enterprises of all sizes and kinds -- such as government laboratories, professional services firms, universities, operating companies, regulatory authorities, licensing specialty firms and trade associations. LES is a member society of the Licensing Executives Society International, Inc. (LESI), which has 32 sister societies representing 8,000 members in 90 countries. For more information about LES, go to www.lesusacanada.org.
