What a Small Business Needs to Know about IP: Insights into Patents, Trademarks, Trade Secrets and Copyrights, for the U.S. and Beyond

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Please join the Monte Ahuja College of Business Small Business Development Center, the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and Shaker Launchhouse for this noteworthy program held at the innovative Shaker Launchhouse.

Intellectual property may be your company’s most valuable asset. Are you sure you’re doing what is necessary to protect it? Three lawyers from the law firm of Renner Otto will provide an overview of IP law and then lead a discussion of what small businesses need to do to guard their intellectual property in the United States and when doing business abroad.

 

Speakers:

Thomas W. Adams, Partner, Renner Otto

Mr. Adams practices a broad spectrum of intellectual property law. Mr. Adams primarily focuses his work in patent and trademark preparation and prosecution and in rendering opinions on patent infringement and validity, freedom-to-market and due diligence for transactional matters. Mr. Adams practices his patent preparation and prosecution primarily in the chemical and semiconductor materials arts. He has extensive experience with materials such as lubricants, polymers, adhesives, rubbers, plastics and composites. Mr. Adams also has extensive experience in materials related to semiconductor devices for high speed computer processors and manufacturing techniques for a wide variety of semiconductor devices.

Mr. Adams also represents a variety of clients with trademark selection, registration and maintenance, and in opposition and cancellation proceedings.

Mr. Adams is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, where he teaches "Patent Law and Policy" and "Patent Preparation and Prosecution."

Prior to attending law school, Mr. Adams worked for fifteen years as a research, analytical and technical services chemist in addition to his experience as a chemical engineer. Mr. Adams's experience includes nine years as manager of distillery operations and, at the same time, manager of both quality assurance and environmental affairs at a rum distillery in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Luis A. Carrion, Associate, Renner Otto

Luis represents clients in patent and trademark preparation, prosecution and litigation as well as in the preparation of patent opinions.

Among other technologies, Luis has handled patent matters in the fields of telecommunication systems, uninterruptible (data center and telco) power supplies, fluorescent lighting and ballasts, digital signal processing, audio signal processing, welding equipment, audience response systems, computer programs, software-based control systems, electrical circuits, optical devices, computer hardware, remote monitoring, and mechanical assemblies.

Luis is a licensed professional engineer in the State of Ohio and has over 10 years of engineering experience. Prior to attending law school, Luis was a Senior Staff Engineer with Emerson Network Power Energy Systems (a division of Emerson Electric Co.) in Lorain, Ohio. At Emerson, Luis specialized in the design and development of telecommunications power supplies including power electronic circuits and embedded systems hardware and firmware/software.

Christopher B. Jacobs, Partner, Renner Otto

Since 1995, Mr. Jacobs has been helping clients secure and protect their intellectual property through patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. This experience includes international patent portfolio management, client counseling, patent and trademark prosecution before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, consultation with foreign patent and trademark professionals and drafting and arguing patent appeals before the U.S. Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences.

Mr. Jacobs has successfully secured patent protection on behalf of individual inventors, large international corporations, and companies of various sizes in between. His patent practice is focused around mechanical and electro-mechanical systems and devices. Specific technical fields in which Mr. Jacobs has successfully secured patent protection for his clients include: packaging systems; building construction equipment and devices; heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems; medical and surgical devices; children's toys; industrial equipment; aerospace systems; hydraulic systems and devices; and electric motors and related control systems.

Mr. Jacobs lived and worked in Osaka, Japan for several months in connection with a relationship between RENNER OTTO and the Shusaku Yamamoto Patent Law Offices. While in Japan, Mr. Jacobs provided advice and counsel to Japanese clients on U.S. patent and trademark law and practice.

Before joining the firm, Mr. Jacobs worked as a systems engineer at Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio. Mr. Jacobs's experience also includes work in various departments of the Harrison Division of the General Motors Corporation in automotive air-conditioning compressor manufacturing plants near Dayton, Ohio. In 1993, Mr. Jacobs completed the Intellectual Property Summer Institute at the Franklin Pierce Law Center.

The Small Business Development Center Program of Ohio (SBDC) program is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. The SBDC program is also funded in part by the Ohio Department of Development. All opinions, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Contact 216-687-4750.

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