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This Symposium brings together leaders in Intellectual Property law and practice to assess the latest Supreme Court cases, policies and trends concerning the constantly evolving roles of intellectual property rights and their impact on individuals and corporations, shaping conversations on culture and corporate identities.

AGENDA

PRESENTER BIOS:

Sharon R. Barner, Cummins, Inc.
    Sharon Barner is Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and Corporate Secretary for Cummins Inc., where she is responsible for worldwide legal matters and oversees a team of lawyers, paralegals and other professionals.
    With more than 30 years of experience in the legal profession, Sharon primarily specializes in intellectual property law. Prior to joining Cummins, she served as Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). During the two years she spent in that role, Sharon led 15 foreign missions to meet with government representatives, as well as leaders in academia and industry to raise awareness about the impact of intellectual property on business and innovation.   
    She has spent the majority of her career in private practice, most recently at the law firm of Foley & Lardner in Chicago, where she led the firm’s Intellectual Property Department, a team of more than 200 intellectual property lawyers.
    Sharon received the 2013 American Inns of Court Professionalism award for the 7th Circuit and the 2011 Women of Vision award from the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois. She was named one of the 50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers in America by the National Law Journal in 2008 and an Illinois “Super Lawyer” by Law & Politics Media Inc. (2005-2011) for her intellectual property litigation work.
    She is a graduate of Syracuse University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and went on to receive a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.

Dean Karen E. Bravo, IU McKinney
    Karen E. Bravo is the IU McKinney Dean and Gerald L. Bepko Professor of Law. She was appointed Dean of the law school in July of 2020, after a national search. A well-known international law scholar and expert in the study of human trafficking, Dean Bravo’s research interests include labor liberalization, personhood, slavery, and human trafficking. She is the founder and leader of the Slavery Past, Present and Future project.
    Dean Bravo previously served as IU McKinney faculty and spearheaded IUPUI’s NextGeneration 2.0, a campus-wide leadership development and leadership succession-planning program dedicated to the preparation of women and underrepresented faculty and staff for positions of leadership and opportunities for advancement in higher education.
    Dean Bravo practiced corporate law with international law firms in New York and Massachusetts following her graduation from Columbia Law School, and later worked with the American Bar Association’s Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (ABA/CEELI) in the Republic of Armenia.
    While at Columbia Law School, Dean Bravo was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar (1995-1997) and was a staff member and Articles Editor of the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems. In 2004, she received the Jerome Lipper Prize for outstanding achievement in the field of international law from New York University School of Law.

R. Trevor Carter, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath
    Trevor Carter has litigated complex patent and other intellectual property matters for more than two decades in courts across the United States. Working closely with his team and clients, he has achieved successful results for clients in federal district courts, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the International Trade Commission (ITC) and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
    Trevor is active in the patent litigation community through board and committee work, speaking and writing. He is a member of the executive committee and membership chair for the S. Jay Plager Intellectual Property American Inn of Court and, since 2007, has been a member of the Local Rules Committee for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Trevor has been a contributing author to the American Bar Association's Intellectual Property Law Newsletter since 2004 and has also served on IP advisory boards for Law360 and Patent Strategy & Management.

Troy J. Cole, Ice Miller; IU McKinney
    Troy Cole (T.J.) is a partner in the Intellectual Property Group. He is a registered patent attorney with a broad-based intellectual property practice. T.J. assists clients with obtaining protection for their intellectual property by securing patents, trademarks and copyrights, as well as intellectual property licensing, enforcement and defense.
    T.J. has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering as well as a minor in Theoretical and Applied Physics from Bradley University. He received his juris doctorate from Southern Methodist University School of Law in 1994. Prior to law school, he gained over five years of technical experience as an electrical engineer, specializing in classified high frequency military electronics, at Texas Instruments, Inc.
    T.J. has represented clients ranging from entrepreneurial start-ups to Fortune 100 corporations in intellectual property categories including patent, trademark, trade dress, trade secret, trade name, domain name, cybersquatting, noncompete, and copyright matters. He also has extensive experience with negotiating settlements and license agreements in both U.S. and foreign jurisdictions.
    T.J. routinely assists clients with the development of in-house intellectual property protection programs and recommends and implements protection strategies for core intellectual property assets. Through these programs and strategies, he provides clients with business planning to protect and enhance the value of their intellectual property.
    He has worked with clients in a wide range of fields, a small sampling of which includes: scientific laboratory instruments, telecommunications, gas turbine engines, wireless technology, internet music and gaming, automotive (with significant concentration in the motorsports arena), and complex electronic systems fields. He also has significant patent experience in software and intellectual property relating to the internet.
    T.J. is also an adjunct professor of Patent Law at the Indiana University McKinney School of Law. He is a frequent lecturer on a wide variety of intellectual property topics and is a highly sought-after speaker for both internal corporate meetings and at attorney continuing education symposiums.
    Away from the office, T.J. enjoys the exact opposite of his professional life, by spending time with his horses on his rural Indiana farm.

Angela B. Freeman, Barnes & Thornburg LLP
    Angela B. Freeman is an Intellectual Property (IP)/Patent Attorney and Partner in the Indianapolis office of the law firm of Barnes & Thornburg LLP.  Ms. Freeman is a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property Department and Life Sciences Practice Group.  She first began her practice as a law clerk while attending Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law at night.
    Ms. Freeman assists clients in procuring patent rights in the U.S. and worldwide for highly technical subject matter, particularly in the food, agricultural, pharmaceutical, and fuel cell industries.  Angela's practice also includes preparing contractual agreements and opinions, performing IP due diligence during sales, mergers, and acquisitions, as well as procuring trademark and copyright registration to protect her client's interest.  With a background of over 15 years as a “bench” biologist prior to her legal career, Ms. Freeman spent the majority of her scientific career as a genetic researcher and clinical scientist at Eli Lilly & Company (Lilly) with previous research experience at a Louisville, Kentucky area birth defects center.
    Throughout her career, Ms. Freeman has been a staunch advocate of increasing women, particularly diverse women, in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, and she has been recognized as a STEM and legal diversity champion.  For her career accomplishments, Ms. Freeman was recognized on the 2021 Best Lawyers in America Inaugural “Ones to Watch” list for Patent Law, with a Minority Achiever’s Award in Science & Technical Disciplines, an Up and Coming Lawyer Award, and was a law finalist for Indy’s Best and Brightest Award.  In the workplace, Ms. Freeman has also been recognized with Barnes & Thornburg’s Camille B. Conway Diversity Award and the Lilly Chairman’s Ovation Award for Global Leadership in Diversity.
    In her community, Ms. Freeman currently serves as Past President and proudly served as the first diverse and/or African-American President in the 20-year history of a local 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Women & Hi Tech (www.womenandhitech.org), who recognized her with the 2020 Inaugural Equity and Inclusion Champion Leading Light Award.  Ms. Freeman was humbled to also receive the 2020 Trailblazer Award from the Indiana Commission for Women.  In addition to being a member of several alumni and bar associations, Ms. Freeman is a graduate of the Stanley K. Lacy (SKL) XLIII Executive Leadership program, a Co-Chair of the 2020 Leadership Exchange (LEX) Advance 317 (A317) delegation, and a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. 
    Ms. Freeman is also a faithful wife and mother to two teenage sons.  In her limited spare time, Angela is a supportive basketball mom.  She is also an avid water/beach baby who loves to sunbathe and snorkel, as much as she enjoys boating, swimming, and fishing.

Sanders N. Hillis, Brinks, Gilson & Lione
    Sanders Hillis is a licensed patent attorney who brings more than a decade of experience as a registered professional engineer to his wide-ranging practice securing, protecting, and managing intellectual property rights related to the electrical, digital, and electromechanical arts. He assists clients with the prosecution, licensing, and litigation of patents, trademarks and copyrights in the United States and abroad.
    Sanders lends his informed business perspective and experience to providing strategic advice to clients regarding the management of their intellectual property portfolios, which are frequently international in nature. In addition to all aspects of U.S. patent and trademark law, he has considerable experience with the Patent Cooperation Treaty, foreign country prosecution of patent applications and trademarks, and appeals to the U.S. Board of Patent Appeals. He also regularly prepares opinions relating to infringement and validity of patents and trademarks.  Across all of his patent, trademark, and copyright related matters, Sanders focuses on providing efficient representation that balances his clients’ tolerance for risk and need for legal certainty surrounding their business and their intellectual property.  He continuously thinks forward about how his clients’ strategic use of their resources can help them to not only preserve market share, but gain it. 
    An electrical engineer who worked on and managed industrial facility, power plant and transmission system upgrades/retrofits and other control system related engineering projects prior to and while obtaining his law degree, Sanders brings both industry and legal experience to technologies as diverse as  computer software, digital networks, Internet and e-commerce related technology, audio signal processing, wireless and wireline telephony, digital communication technologies, power system monitoring and management, power metering, electrical generators, electrical transmission and distribution, power amplifiers, automotive systems, radio frequency applications, and audio equipment/devices.  

Professor Willajeanne McLean, University of Connecticut School of Law
    Willajeanne F. McLean, an internationally recognized expert on the interface of intellectual property and European law, served as interim dean for the Law School for the 2012-2013 academic year. She has been a member of the faculty since 1991 and has taught Trademark Law, Torts, Law and Institutions of the European Union, and a seminar on intellectual property law in the EU.
    The holder of a B.A. in French literature and European history from Wellesley and a B.S. in microbiology from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Professor McLean worked in a research lab at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Institute before earning her J.D. from Fordham Law School. She also holds an LL.M. in European community law from the Free University of Brussels.
    Before pursuing a career in the academy, Professor McLean, a patent attorney, practiced at Darby and Darby, an intellectual property boutique, where she worked primarily in the field of trademark law. As a member of Law School faculty, she has guest-lectured at the Free University of Berlin, University of Mannheim, University of Tilburg, and the Université  Paul Cézanne d'Aix-Marseille. In addition, Professor McLean, who directed the Law School’s international exchange programs for more than a decade, has held visiting professorships at Exeter University, Fordham University School of Law, and the University of Iowa College of Law. She was a Fulbright Fellow at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland, where she taught Comparative EU and U.S. Intellectual Property Law, and lectured at the Intellectual Property Law Institute of the Jagiellonian University in Cracow.

Professor Xuan-Thao Nguyen, IU McKinney
    IU McKinney Professor Xuan-Thao Nguyen is the director of the school's Center for Intellectual Property Law & Innovation.  She is an internationally renowned legal scholar for her expertise in the legal intersections of Intellectual Property, Contracts, Secured Transactions, Bankruptcy, Licensing and Taxation. She is the Gerald L. Bepko Endowed Chair in Law and a recent awardee of the Trustees Teaching Award (2020).
    Regarding the impact of President Trump’s tax policy on innovations, Professor Nguyen coauthored "Attacking Innovations" in the 99 Boston University Law Review 1687 (2019) and was the recipient of the 2016 Grant Gilmore Award from the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers for her outstanding publications: "In the Name of Patent Stewardship: The Federal Circuit’s Overreach in Commercial Law," 67 Florida L. Rev. 127 (2015) and "Financing Innovation: Legal Development of Intellectual Property as Security in Financing,1845-2014," 48 Indiana Law Review 509 (2015).
    In all, Professor Nguyen has published over forty law review articles and numerous other publications. She is a senior consultant for the World Bank/IFC on Secured Transactions in China, Vietnam, and the Mekong Region. She gained valuable insights through her practice years at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson and Pryor, Cashman, Sherman & Flynn, in NYC and she is registered to practice with the USPTO.
    In her spare time, Professor Nguyen enjoys hosting parties for her students and collecting fine arts. She has served for six years on the Board of Trustees, Dallas Museum of Art.

Professor Janewa Osei-Tutu, FIU School of Law
    Professor Osei-Tutu holds an LL.M., with distinction, in International and Comparative Law from McGill University, one of the premier academic institutions in Canada. She wrote her graduate thesis on trade-related intellectual property as it relates to developing countries, and continues to write in this area. Drawing on her academic and practical experiences, Professor Osei-Tutu’s scholarship focuses on the relationship between trade-related intellectual property, human development, human rights, and culture.
    She joined academia after several years of intellectual property (IP) practice as Legal Counsel to the Patent & Trademark Office, and the IP Policy Directorate at Industry Canada (USPTO equivalent). In that capacity, Osei-Tutu advised the Canadian government on the IP aspects of certain trade negotiations, as well as IP submissions to international organizations, such as the WIPO and the WTO. In addition, she advised on complex litigation and legislative reform of Canada’s IP laws. Osei-Tutu’s legal experience includes commercial law practice with leading law firms in Canada and Ghana. She also clerked as an Associate Legal Officer for Trial Chamber II at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Tanzania. OseiTutu is a member of the bar in New York and Ontario (inactive).
    Professor Osei-Tutu was a founding co-Chair of the Junior Intellectual Property Scholars Association (JIPSA), and is an active volunteer with Broward county public schools. She is the current Editor in Chief of the African Journal of Legal Studies, and one of the founding directors of the Center for International Law and Policy in Africa.
    Courses: Contract Law, Trademark Law, International Intellectual Property Law, Intellectual Property & Human Rights, and Fashion & Design Law.
    Current research projects: intellectual property, natural rights, and human rights; intellectual property and culture; intellectual property, human rights & corporations.

Dr. John Rudolph, Eli Lilly & Co; IU McKinney
    Dr. John R. Rudolph is an Assistant General Counsel, Trademarks & Copyrights Attorney, for Eli Lilly and Company, one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies.  In this role, he has responsibility for Trademark, Copyright and Usage rights matters arising within Lilly’s global organization.  Dr. Rudolph is also an adjunct professor at the IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law and is called to the Bar in the Province of Ontario, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the State of Indiana.
    John’s practice in Trademarks and Copyright law began in Canada in private practice at a major law firm.  He subsequently left a partnership position to join Pfizer at their Canadian headquarters as Vice President, Legal and General Counsel.  John then moved to Pfizer, USA in Groton/New London Connecticut, where he was responsible for legal matters in a variety of roles including Legal Site Head for Pfizer’s R & D site there.
    John joined Eli Lilly in Canada in 2008 as General Counsel, and prior to his current role held a variety of positions within Lilly Legal including Chief Information Security Counsel and General Counsel of Lilly Diabetes.
    John has a Bachelor of Science degree in Physiology and Zoology, a Master of Science degree in Physiology (both from the University of Toronto), and he holds a Ph.D. in Medical Sciences from McMaster University.  John subsequently obtained his law degree from the University of Ottawa where he was later admitted to the Honor Society of the University of Ottawa law school primarily for his roles in business and advocacy for strong intellectual property rights.
    A member of a number of professional organizations, including the International Trademark Association (INTA), John has authored or co-authored many scientific and legal publications, lectured on a range of legal and scientific topics, and has appeared on television speaking about intellectual property matters.

Pervin Taleyarkhan, Whirlpool Corp; IU McKinney
    Pervin Taleyarkhan is a Legal Counsel at Whirlpool Corporation, where she manages global IP portfolios around Whirlpool innovations.  Her duties include working with the business and inventors to strategize global patent portfolios (including utility and design portfolios) from both the IP acquisition and enforcement standpoints, negotiating IP agreements, and providing litigation support in IP matters in cooperation with other legal counsels.  In addition, Pervin serves the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law as an adjunct faculty member and Director of the law school’s IP Clinic.  
    Outside of her work at Whirlpool and IU, Pervin is actively involved in her legal and IP communities.  As examples, she currently serves as Vice Chair of the American Bar Association (“ABA”) IP Law Section’s Business & Trade Division and Vice Chair of the ABA IP Law Section’s In-house/Corporate IP Attorney Committee.  Pervin is also a Trustee of the Foundation for the Advancement of Diversity in IP Law.  In the editorial world, she is the immediate-past Editor-in-Chief of The Young Lawyer, the flagship publication of the ABA Young Lawyers Division, and is currently on the Editorial Board for both the ABA IP Law Section’s publication, Landslide® magazine and the ABA’s flagship publication, the ABA Journal.  In the Association of Corporate Counsel (“ACC”), an international organization for in-house and corporate counsels, Pervin currently serves as the Communications Chair for the ACC’s IP Network and is the Treasurer of the ACC-Michigan Chapter.
    Pervin earned her degree in chemical engineering from Purdue University and her law degree from the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, where she was the Editor-in-Chief of the Indiana Health Law Review.