AI, Inventorship & the Future of Patent Law: Practical Strategies for In-House and Outside Counsel

Brandon Clark is a legal professional with extensive experience in intellectual property and technology law. Currently serving as Chief IP Counsel & Legal Director at SLB, Brandon has previously held roles as General Counsel for Intellectual Property and for Artificial Lift & Completions at the same company. Brandon also worked as a Patent Attorney at Air Liquide USA LLC and began their career as an Engineer at Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. Educational credentials include a Juris Doctor in Intellectual Property from the University of Houston Law Center and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Delaware.

Shruti Costalesis the Owner & Founder at Shruti Law PLLC®. Shruti is a licensed US patentattorney and has worked in private practice, in-house, and with the FederalGovernment. She has 20+ years of deep legal experience in handling patentapplication drafting and prosecution, patent counseling, patentlitigation, IP transactions, complex commercial transactions includingdrafting and negotiating XaaS agreements and handling FED/SLED agreements,supply chain agreements, product counseling, and due diligence and mergers& acquisitions related assessments. Her experience includes working in theelectrical & computer technologies, mechanical technologies,chemicals/materials technologies, and life sciences/healthcare technologies.Shruti has a BS in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University and a JD fromFranklin Pierce Law Center (now the University of New Hampshire School of Law).She is the Vice Chair of the Patent Pathways® Board of Directors. Shruti iscurrently one of the Vice-Chairs of IPO's Artificial Intelligence (AI),Data, and New Emerging Technologies Committee. Over the last decade, Shruti hasco-led IPO's DEI and Women in IP committees where she co-authored manywhite papers, guides, and toolkits. Recently, Shruti co-authored the Data Use AgreementTemplate for IPO's AI/D/NET Committee.

Sean Kim is a Corporate Counsel for Microsoft's Intellectual Property Group, supporting Microsoft’s Office Cloud and Apps business under Experiences and Device (E+D) division. Sean provides guidance on a broad spectrum of intellectual property matters including strategic patent portfolio development, IP ownership analysis, and assessment and management of IP-related risks. Beyond providing IP-related counseling, Sean is active in engaging Microsoft inventors and reviewing AI tools. Before joining Microsoft, Sean worked as an IP counsel at a medical device company treating heart diseases and as a patent attorney at a private IP law firm in Southern California. Prior to his legal career, Sean worked as an engineer for a renewable energy company and a wafer fabrication equipment company.

Lisa Ulrich works as an intellectual property attorney for IBM in North Castle, NY. Ms. Ulrich’s body of work encompasses standard-essential patents, policy issues related to artificial intelligence, and mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining IBM, Ms. Ulrich was a patent litigator and prosecutor for an intellectual property law firm in NYC. Ms. Ulrich serves as co-chair of IPO’s Standards Setting Committee and was a former chair of IPO’s Trademark Office Practice Committee.