AccelerateDC Launches Boost Your Startup Series with Intellectual Property Panel

October 2nd, 2014

Last month, AccelerateDC hosted the first Boost Your Startup event on “How to Protect Your Intellectual Property” at the Washington, DC Economic Partnership (WDCEP). The evening event treated 36 guests to a panel discussion on protecting intellectual property along with drinks, food, and networking. The topics included ownership rights, key considerations to take in to account when working with contractors, and how to work with academic and federal technology transfer.

The speakers included program mentors Phyllis Krystal, Partner at Fish & Richardson, Paul Economon, Partner at Rimon, and Ayanna Wooten-Days, counsel at Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe. Additionally, special guests Dr. Rita Manak, Head of the Technology Transfer Office at the Naval Research Laboratory, and David Humphrey who is the Senior Licensing Manager at the Georgetown University Office of Technology Transfer joined the discussion.

The panelists highlighted simple, but important, details for entrepreneurs to keep in mind. Krystal pointed out was that attaching ownership of patents to the company, not the creators to avoid issues during ownership conflicts. Economon also explained that if partial ownership is not detailed in contracts, collaborative works will have joint ownership. As a best practice, group of panelists stressed that both employers and employees should sign agreements that entitle the company to ownership of an employees work.

AccelerateDC’s Boost Your Startup Speaker Series is a collection of regular events throughout the year focused on furthering AccelerateDC’s mission of developing the D.C. entrepreneurial ecosystem.