WEBINAR - What International Businesses Need to Know about U.S. Patents

International companies entering the U.S. market are faced with a unique and everchanging legal landscape. How to invest in protecting intellectual property is one of the first steps businesses can take to ensure successful growth across a new market.

Jennifer Blount and Erik Huestis, Associates at Foley Hoag, will share their insight on how international businesses can navigate and benefit from the current U.S. patent system.

You will receive answers to questions, including:

•    What is required to obtain a patent and what can and can’t be protected in the US?
•    What does the patent application process entail?
•    So, you (finally) have an issued patent, now what?
•    Patent protection vs. trade secret protection – what’s the difference?
•    What are some pointers on patents for start-ups?

Presented by:

Jennifer Blount, Associate at Foley Hoag

Jennifer Blount is an associate in Foley Hoag's Intellectual Property Department, where she drafts and prosecutes domestic, international and foreign patent applications related to pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, chemical processes, drug delivery, medical devices, formulation, nanotechnology, optics (LED) and crystallography. Jennifer has extensive experience in patent validity and freedom-to-operate opinions as well as due diligence and patent landscape analysis. Jennifer also has experience with pre- and post-grant oppositions and appeals in the US, as well as in foreign jurisdictions, such as India and Colombia.

Prior to joining Foley Hoag, Jennifer was Associate Director and Patent Counsel of Chemistry IP at ImmunoGen, Inc. where her efforts focus in developing a global IP strategy to protect the company's products and development candidates, advised business leadership on external transactions and negotiated IP aspects of agreements, including license and collaboration agreements. Jennifer is a 2014 honoree of the BBJ 40 under 40 and is a named inventor on nine patents.

Erik Huestis, Associate, Registered Patent Attorney at Foley Hoag

Erik Huestis’ practice includes intellectual property litigation, especially involving software copyright, trade secret disputes, and patents related to developments in the high-tech and medical device industries. He assists clients with intellectual property strategy, including infringement/non-infringement and validity/invalidity opinions. Erik also assists clients in preparing and prosecuting patent applications, particularly in the software space.

Erik has a background in software engineering and technology consulting. His technical experience includes peer-to-peer and mobile systems, geographic information systems, machine learning, neuromorphic computing, and various web technologies. As an engineer, he was responsible for systems architecture for mobile device-based servers.

Erik was a software engineer for several startup companies in the mobile software space. As a result of that work, he is a named inventor of six U.S. patents.