Laurel Beeler

United States Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler was appointed in 2010 to the Northern District of California. She has presided as a trial and settlement judge over hundreds of civil cases, including intellectual-property, employment, civil-rights, and commercial disputes

Rachel Lovejoy

Rachel is currently Senior Counsel (Chief IP Counsel) at Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), a company founded by Elon Musk that designs, manufactures, launches and operates advanced rockets and spacecraft.  She manages all aspects of the company’s intellectual property, including patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets, and negotiates complex technology transactions across SpaceX’s lines of business.  In her almost 9 years at SpaceX, she has also advised on issues of confidentiality, privacy and security, real estate, and whatever other issues arise on a given day.

Rachel has over 25 years of experience working with high-tech companies.  Prior to joining SpaceX in early 2014, she worked for IBM for 11 years in various roles in San Francisco, New York, Dubai and Sao Paolo.  Earlier in her career, she worked in Silicon Valley with high-tech startups, both in private practice and in-house.  Rachel received her undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame, and her law degree from Harvard Law School.  She also served for 8 years as an officer in the US Army Reserve.

Vineet Kohli

For over 20 years, I have had the privilege of working on various patents in the biology space including cell biology, cell-based assays, gene editing, recombinant genetics, and bioprocessing including process engineering. I have worked at several large companies such as Merck, Johnson and Jonson, and Roche as well as small companies such as Lundbeck Research USA and biotech startups.  As a result of these experiences, I have a seasoned perspective on how to be a strategic business partner albeit with a patent law background in various industries such as Pharmaceuticals, Diagnostics, Medical devices, and the food industry.  

 I always wanted to be a story teller, which I believe is what prompted me to seek a career in the patent field.  As patent attorney, I can tell a story of a discovery (the patent specification) that began in the lab and thereafter provide a compelling reason as to how it would benefit society and those in need of the discovery.  I have a graduate degree in cell biology, and I am a registered patent attorney.

Shui Li

Matthew Hulse

Rose James

Katie Nolan-Stevaux

Yu-Ming Dammann

Monica Baig-Silva

Monica Baig-Silva (Vice President, Intellectual Property at Thermo Fisher Scientific) provides strategic counseling and intellectual property support for Thermo Fisher’s biotechnology, pharmaceutical and clinical trials businesses.  With over 15 years of experience, Monica routinely handles all matters of intellectual property protection.  In addition, Monica has extensive experience advising on matters related to IP infringement, employment agreements, contract negotiations, and cyber security.  A champion of trade secret protections, Monica founded Thermo Fisher’s trade secret and risk assessment committee for internally monitoring company trade secret practices. Monica is currently a member of the Intellectual Property Organization’s trade secret committee.

TJ Fox

TJ Fox is IP and Compliance Counsel for DivX, a video technology company. He oversees the legal aspects of DivX’s consumer and business licensing efforts and helps manage DivX’s patent portfolio. Before joining DivX, TJ worked in the Business Litigation Section of the California Department of Justice, representing state agencies in tax, real estate, tort, and other matters. Prior to that, TJ worked in the patent litigation group at Fenwick & West, primarily defending technology companies in District Court litigation. TJ holds a J.D. from U.C. Davis and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Alesya Nasimova

Alesya Nasimova is the Senior Director & Associate General Counsel, Product & Privacy at Fundbox where she leads and focuses on product counseling, data privacy & protection, and IP. Prior to Fundbox, she was Senior Product & Regulatory Counsel, Global DPO at Bolt where she has built and led the Compliance and Privacy Programs for scalability, sustainability, and international expansion, as well as spearheading the IP incentive program to drive product innovation. Alesya has served as in house counsel within the fintech industry for over 7 years holding positions such as Deputy General Counsel and Head of Legal and Compliance, having started her career working in the Commercial Real Estate and Investment Funding sector as well as devoting her time to pro bono work representing defendants in Consumer Debt Litigation. Alesya is an Advisory Board Member of the IAPP Privacy Education Board, and active member in the tech community advocating for innovation, diversity, inclusion, and belonging.

Marc Rasich

Matt Murphy

Seth Gerber

Mary Guzman

Mary Guzman is an insurance industry veteran and pioneer. She has over 25 years experience advising clients on a myriad of risks to their businesses, most recently with a focus on all things related to technology, media, and intellectual property. Mary is an industry trailblazer and disrupter. Mary was one of the first in the industry to develop a cyber insurance policy in 2000. She is a published author and speaker, having done over 125 speaking engagements on risks/solutions to threats arising from the convergence of all things intangible. She has been a government liaison as part of the DHS cybersecurity and insurance working group during the Obama administration. She is part of the Trade Secret committee of the American Intellectual Property Legal Association (AIPLA). She is also on the board of the USIPA and has been tasked with starting/Chairing the Trade Secret committee for them

Neel Chatterjee

John Parmley