Womble Bond Dickinson attorney Preston Heard joined a panel of In-House Counsel in a presentation at this year’s Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Annual Meeting. Originally scheduled to take place in person in Philadelphia, the ACC pivoted to a virtual meeting and provided five days of content and networking October 12-16.

Preston joined Melissa Fruge, Chief Legal Officer, Financial Force; Rebecca Samakow, Director, Legal, IP - Licensing, Media & Entertainment, WeWork; Tryn Stimart, Chief Legal Officer/General Counsel, AbCellera Biologics Inc; and Pervin Taleyarkhan, Legal Counsel, Whirlpool Corporation as the moderator of  “The Basics of IP for Start-ups and Other Small Enterprises.”    

The session covered the Top 10 IP basics to advise start-up or small companies and/or the 10 IP basics a larger organization should be looking for in a smaller target/collaborator. The Panelists, from organizations both large and small, covered the good, the bad, and the ugly IP-related items companies look for in M&A activities. The panel also imparted their lessons learned as their organizations evolved beyond start-ups into larger and/or publicly-traded companies.