Licensing Executives Society

For over 25 years, Julie Alsing has run the business functions for various small companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. These businesses represent various industries such as education, advertising, electronic security, insurance, real estate, investments, manufacturing, construction, distribution, medical and dental.

Over the last 15 years, Julie has been an integral part of the Larry Udell team, devoted to stimulating entrepreneurial ventures, growth, teaching and research. In addition to working with individuals and small businesses, Larry and Julie have developed a variety of programs and workshops offered to the public. Some examples are the Inventor’s & Entrepreneur’s Workshops; the National Innovation Workshop in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy; the Partnerships for Profit Conference focusing on technology transfer with the national laboratories; and Technomania, an exhibit of new technologies displayed at the California State Expo.

Currently, Julie uses her diverse background to focus on research to aid in the development and licensing of new products. Many projects have involved identifying and analyzing potential markets and funding opportunities; searching patent, trademark, and copyright documents; and developing partnership and licensing relationships. Clients include inventors of medical devices and small consumer products.

Julie also currently serves as Co-Coordinator of the Licensing Executive’s Society’s Silicon Valley Chapter, and maintains a position on the chapter’s advisory board. Julie manages details in holding monthly events and special functions featuring various speakers on intellectual property legal issues. Local members within the Silicon Valley host these events, such as executives from Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) and various prestigious law firms such as Cooley Godward LLP and WlmerHale LLP.

Mr. Beyers is the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Ambature, a company that is developing technology to dramatically improve the efficiency of electricity generation, distribution and usage. The strategic intent of the company is to develop this technology and intellectual property and license it to other companies for use in their products. Previously Mr. Beyers was Vice President of Intellectual Property Licensing at the Hewlett-Packard Company. In this role he was responsible for patent licensing, technology licensing, brand licensing, standards based licensing and patent sales & acquisitions for HP, increasing the IP income for the company by 10X in six years. He was also a key driver of IP strategy for HP and was accountable for reviewing and approving all IP transactions for HP during this time. In his 34 years with HP, Mr. Beyers held a number a number of positions starting as an engineer first on operating system design and then as the lead inventor of the world’s first 32bit computer chip. He then led M&A and technology partnership activities for HP followed by a lead role in corporate strategy. Mr. Beyers was also previously the head of a number of the HP worldwide product businesses with over 4,000 employees worldwide and $600M/year in revenue. Mr. Beyers holds both an MS in Electrical Engineering and a BS in Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Illinois in 2007, is a Certified Licensing Professional and is a member of the international IP Hall of Fame.

Franca Gargiulo serves as the coordinator of the Silicon Valley Chapter of LES and is also President of AvenirMonde, a ten year old international marketing and communications firm devoted to assisting business realize their significant roles as commercial diplomats through sound and thoughtful marketing practices.
Her background spans multifaceted roles in corporate international marketing, communications and public affairs. She served as the senior regional manager for the National Association of Manufacturers in San Francisco until mid -1999. As head of AvenirMonde, she has represented many clients in the international public affairs and public policy arena including the United States Council for International Business, (USCIB), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC – Paris), The US Chamber of Commerce, The US India Business Council and the California Council for International Trade among others. On the corporate side she has established global marketing distribution channels for firms such as Seagate Technology, LSI Logic and Novell among others.
She serves on the board of directors of the International Diplomacy Council, The Big Sur International Marathon, San Francisco Public Relations Roundtable, Citizens for a Better San Francisco. In 2009 she founded Occhiata Productions, a charitable Foundation
dedicated to supporting arts education in the communities of the Salinas Valley.
In 2003 she was selected to be a fellow in the Asia Foundation’s Freeman Fellowship Southeast Asia with a follow-up program in the fall of 2009 and completed the Georgetown Leadership Seminar in March of that same year for mid career professionals involved in international affairs and corporate sustainability. Franca is a graduate of Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service and completed graduate work in European Union Studies at the College of Europe in Brugge, Belgium with a concentration on the role of trade associations and business in the promotion of democracy and economic development.

With over $500,000,000 in patent deals under his belt, Mark S. Holmes is the founder and C.E.O. of PatentBridge LLC a privately held technology development firm in Silicon Valley that specializes in bringing to market select patented technologies covering extraordinary scientific and industrial breakthroughs.

Recently PatentBridge sold a single patent for more than $4,000,000.

Mr. Holmes has advised such technology savvy entities as Visa, Sony, Applied Materials, University of California at Berkeley (Berkeley Lab), Biosite, Fairchild Semiconductor, Intergraph (in its settlement of Intergraph vs. Intel), Rigel Pharma and Yamanouchi Pharma as well as startups.

He has negotiated numerous patent licenses, as well as represented patent owners in the sale of their patents. Having been on both sides of the table -- as licensor and licensee … buyer and seller -- he has a unique understanding of both perspectives and the negotiating tactics employed by licensors and licensees as well as buyers and sellers.

Mr. Holmes possesses first hand business startup experience from being the co-founder of a successful telecommunications startup which was sold in the late 1990s to a portfolio company of the Alabama state retirement fund (RSA).

He is also an active angel investor with Band of Angels, an advisor to technology startups, and serves as co-chair of the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Licensing Executives Society (LES).

He is a registered patent attorney, holds an engineering degree from Brown, is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and wrote the book Patent Licensing: Strategy, Negotiation & Forms.

He co-chairs the Advanced Patent Licensing program of the Practising Law Institute (PLI) and speaks on software and technology licensing in the PLI Advanced Licensing program in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. He lectures nationally on the pressing issues facing licensors in the commercialization of their intellectual property. In the past few years, he has spoken nationally over 40 times on the commercialization of intellectual property for such bodies as Renaissance Weekend, Practising Law Institute, International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE), Washington State Patent Law Association, Oregon Patent Law Association, Hawaii State Bar Association and other organizations.

Damon C. Matteo is Vice President & Chief Intellectual Property Officer of the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Mr. Matteo's career spans twenty years in all facets of the strategic creation, management and commercialization of high-value intellectual capital assets – all in an international context. On the creation side, these efforts align research targeting with the creation of intellectual capital assets that secure advantaged technology positions in the marketplace, and realize broader corporate objectives. In optimizing returns from these assets, Mr. Matteo regularly employs new business creation, start-ups, venture/strategic funding, M&A, licensing, assertion as well as direct-to-product vehicles. Aside from their strategic benefits, a number of these transactions were themselves each valued at over US$100 million. In creating and commercializing these innovations, Mr. Matteo operates across industry domains which span: clean-tech (e.g. water & solar), computers and consumer electronics, networking (e.g. interoperability and security), telecom, software, web and e-commerce.

Mr. Matteo serves as Chairman of the US Patent & Trademark Office's Public Advisory Committee, which operates like a Board Of Directors (overseeing operations, goals, performance, budget, etc…) for the USPTO. Other Board memberships include the European Center For Intellectual Property Studies and Co-Chair of the Silicon Valley Licensing Executive Society Chapter.

In recognition of this professional standing, Mr. Matteo's awards and distinctions include being named one of the "Fifty Most Influential People in Intellectual Property" by Managing Intellectual Property Magazine, the National Technology Transfer Excellence Award given by the U.S. Federal Government, NewsLink's "Profile In Excellence" for technology transactions and Senior Distinguished Fellow for the Center For Advanced Technology.

A recognized thought leader dedicated to developing new theory and best-practice in realizing value from intellectual capital assets, Mr. Matteo is also an author, by-line columnist, subject of frequent interviews and sought-after lecturer at universities and professional organizations worldwide. Mr. Matteo also serves as an expert for the US Congress, government agencies e.g. U.S. Security & Exchange Commission (SEC) and the United Nations, for corporations, universities and at trial.

Recognized as one of the top “40 under 40” business professionals by Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal and Boston Business Journal, Mr. Mousavi advises clients on a wide range of corporate and transactional matters where intellectual property or technology issues are key. His practice includes mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, collaborations, outsourcing, settlements and licensing arrangements.
After graduating from Stanford Law School, Mr. Mousavi joined TCS, a telecommunications software company that was subsequently acquired by Convergent Networks,
a leading broadband equipment company. Following the acquisition, Mr. Mousavi was senior counsel to Convergent until joining WilmerHale, formerly Hale and Dorr, in 2001. He became a partner of WilmerHale in 2008.
Mr. Mousavi is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles (B.A., summa cum laude, 1993) and Stanford Law School (J.D., 1997), where he was an associate editor of the Stanford Law Review and Stanford Environmental Law Journal.

Kristie Prinz is the Founding Principal of the intellectual property boutique firm, The Prinz Law Office, in Los Gatos, California. Her practice includes the drafting and negotiation of intellectual property licenses and related agreements, with a focus on the high technology and life sciences industries.
Prior to founding The Prinz Law Office, Ms. Prinz was a member of the licensing department in the Palo Alto office of the New York-based intellectual property law firm of Pennie & Edmonds, LLP.
Ms. Prinz is an active member of the American Bar Association (“ABA”), where she serves as the Chair of the VOIP and Programs Committees and as a member of the Nominating and Section Branding Committees for the Science and Technology Section. She is also active in the ABA’s Business Section Cyberspace Committee, and currently serves as a member of the Advisory Board for the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Licensing Executives Society.
Previously, Ms. Prinz served as Director of Life Sciences/Biotechnology for the Silicon Valley Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners, as the Copyright Committee Sublicensing Chair of the ABA’s Intellectual Property Section, as a member the Intellectual Property Owner Association’s U.S. Copyright Law and the Corporate IP Management Committees, and as a member of Astia’s Life Sciences and Entrepreneur Venture Catalyst Program Planning Committee.
Additionally, Ms. Prinz has been a regular contributor for the “Ask the Lawyer” column on intellectual property law for Lawyers.com; is the author of both The California Biotech Law Blog and The Silicon Valley IP Licensing Law Blog; and is a frequent speaker on intellectual property issues. Ms. Prinz’s media interviews and appearances include Dow Jones, CNN Radio, American Public Radio’s “Marketplace,” The California Lawyer, IP 360, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, and Sky Radio.
Ms. Prinz graduated summa cum laude with a BA in Political Science and Spanish from Furman University, and she is a graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Law.

Jeff has over twenty five years of experience in forensic accounting, royalty compliance auditing and calculating damages in commercial litigation. Jeff has provided consulting and expert witness services in many types of projects, including royalty compliance audits, product liability, breach of contract, intellectual property infringement, business interruption, business failure analysis, antitrust (including below-cost pricing - California BPC Section 17043), employment matters, internal investigations, and fraud investigations.



Jeff graduated from Purdue University in 1983 with a degree in Management. Jeff teaches courses on Royalty Compliance Investigations and Introduction to Accounting and Commercial Damages through the California Society of Certified Public Accountants, the State Bar of California, LES and the Bar Association of San Francisco.



Jeff has been involved with LES for about 5 years and is serving as the Treasurer for the Advisory Board of our Silicon Valley Chapter.

Jeff has been an active coach in youth sports for over 10 years, coaching basketball, baseball and soccer. Jeff is a past President of the Board of Directors for Bread and Roses.

Michelle Reichert is Contract Counsel for Adeli & Tollen where she focuses on technology and intellectual property transactions. Before joining Adeli & Tollen, Ms. Reichert was an associate at Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich (now DLA Piper) in their Products, Technology & Multimedia Group.

Prior to law school, Ms. Reichert worked in marketing for high tech start-ups in the artificial intelligence and educational software industries and in banking at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in New York. She also interned in the government affairs department at Hewlett-Packard where she conducted research for President Reagan’s Commission on Industrial Competitiveness.

Ms. Reichert is a member of the advisory board of the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Licensing Executive Society (LES) and Stanford Professional Women.

She received a B.S. in International Economics from Georgetown University, an M.A. in International Policy Studies from Stanford University and a J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law.

Craig Smith is Sandia National Laboratories Commercial Licensing Manager for Emerging Technologies, where he develops key commercialization strategies for the Department of Energy’s premier Combustion Research Facility, specializing in the fields of Renewable Energy Research, Engine Emissions, Hydrogen Fuel Cell Development, and Information Technologies.
Mr. Smith leads business development and licensing for all commercial and open source software at Sandia, developing strategies for the implementation of software emerging from the federally funded National Cyber Security program. He is the lead IP consultant on all copyrights and software issues at the Federal Laboratory.
Mr. Smith has extensive experience in commercialization of a broad range of emerging technologies, having negotiated and written over 1000 agreements based on Department of Energy patents and copyrights. He has over 20 years of contract negotiation experience and an extensive international background.
He has been an invited speaker for the World Intellectual Property Organization and the Brazilian Institute of Industrial Property on Global Energy Markets, Technology Transfer in the Energy Sector and the Renewable Energy Future. He has given talks in Vietnam, Singapore and the US for the US Patent and Trademark Office on Technology Transfer, Spinoffs and Startups and Information Technology IP rights.

He is a Certified Licensing Professional.
He is an active Licensing Executives Society member and currently serves on the Board of Advisors for the Silicon Valley Chapter and the Ethics Committee for the Certified Licensing Professionals examination.
In the early 1990’s, Mr. Smith managed Logistics for the Orderly Departure Program, working with both the United Nations High Commission on Refugees and International Organization for Migration in the mobilization of immigrants from Vietnam to Europe and the US.
He earned a B.A. in Asian Studies and History from University of Puget Sound, an M.B.A. in International Finance from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, has studied Cleantech Economics at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and US Energy Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C.

Soody Tronson is the founder and principal at STLG_IP, a boutique intellectual property firm located in Silicon Valley. The firm counsels domestic and international entrepreneurs and investors, as well as early stage and larger more established companies, in intellectual property matters (patent and transactional) in a wide range of industries including life sciences, software and business methods, medical devices and diagnostics, high technology, and consumer products.

Soody is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience combining law, science, engineering, and business management in start-ups and established environments. Prior to starting STLGIP, Soody practiced law as IP Counsel at Silicon Valley offices of Heller Ehrman as well as Townsend and Townsend and in-house at the Hewlett-Packard Company. She was General Counsel and Vice President of Intellectual Property at a successfully acquired medical device start up company where she was responsible for all legal matters.

Prior to starting her legal career, Soody spent several years in the industry holding technical and management positions at companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Schering-Plough Corporation. Her extensive and diverse experience enables the patent and transactional counseling of clients in the diverse areas including life sciences, software and business methods, medical devices and diagnostics, and high technology. Based on the range of her experience and having founded several companies of her own, she is well accustomed to challenges facing emerging as well as mature companies.

Soody is actively involved in educational and non-profit organizations including as the Co-Chair at the Licensing Executives Society Silicon Valley Chapter (LES-SVC); advisor with the Association for the Sports and Athlete Professionals (ASAP), mentor with the LES Graduate School Business Plan Competition, advisor with Astia, and as an advisor and expert in residence at the C4Cube Venture Accelerator (C4Cube). Soody instructs courses in IP and licensing at the University of California and is a mentor with several entrepreneurship-focused courses/programs at Stanford University. She is a speaker at legal forums and domestic and international events, and volunteers and donates her services at local non-profit organizations. She is also an inventor on patent applications and issued patents.

Soody holds a J.D. and M.S., and is licensed to practice before the State of California and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Lawrence J. Udell serves as Executive Director of both the California Invention Center and Intellectual Property International, Ltd. He has created and taught "New Ventures and Entrepreneurship" courses for over 25 years, plus a special course on, "Technology Marketing" at the Cal-State Hayward, School of Business and Economics.

He has served as a Lecturing Professor at U.C. Berkeley teaching a course on Technology Transfer & Commercialization, plus other universities in the U. S. and Canada. He is an active member of the Licensing Executives Society, and is co-founder and Managing Director of the Silicon Valley Chapter of LES. He also serves as Senior Consultant to General Patent Corporation of Suffern, NY.

Founder of over 30 corporations, he provides consulting to both start-ups and Fortune 500 companies. He lectures frequently at inventor, corporate and government functions throughout America and for the USPTO. Also in other countries for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO division of the United Nations).