In-House/Outside Counsel Collaboration: Getting the Most Out of Your Outside Counsel Relationships

Shruti Costales is the Owner & Founder at Shruti Law PLLC®. Shruti is a licensed US patent attorney and has worked in private practice, in-house, and with the Federal Government. She has 20+ years of deep legal experience in handling patent application drafting and prosecution, patent counseling, patent litigation, IP transactions, complex commercial transactions including drafting and negotiating XaaS agreements and handling FED/SLED agreements, supply chain agreements, and due diligence and mergers & acquisitions related assessments. Her experience includes working in the electrical & 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 from Franklin Pierce Law Center (now the University of New Hampshire School of Law). Shruti is currently one of the Vice-Chairs of IPO's Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data, and New Emerging Technologies Committee. Over the last decade, Shruti has co-led IPO's DEI and Women in IP committees where she co-authored many white papers, guides, and toolkits. Recently, Shruti co-authored the AI Transactions Toolkit and the Data Use Agreement Template – both for IPO's AI/D/NET Committee. Shruti is the Vice Chair of the Patent Pathways® Board of Directors.

Robert Kajubi is Senior Counsel in Innovation Law at Bristol Myers Squibb and Lead AI Attorney within the company’s Innovation Law Group, where he focuses on the intersection of life sciences, intellectual property, and emerging technology. A registered patent attorney, he advises on patent strategy and prosecution while helping develop and evaluate AI-enabled tools for small-molecule patent drafting and broader legal innovation. His work emphasizes responsible AI governance, protection of confidential legal information, and practical adoption of technology to support scientific and business objectives. Robert earned his legal education at Temple University’s James E. Beasley School of Law.

Peter Mattei is Associate General Counsel – Innovcation & Technology for Tenneco, a leading manufacturer of automotive products for original equipment and aftermarket customers. Mr. Mattei leads a team of professionals responsible for managing Tenneco’s patent portfolio and supporting innovation activity around the globe. Prior to joining Tenneco in 2013, Mr. Mattei worked in-house as IP Counsel for Toyota and in private practice. He currently serves on the IPO Education Foundation Board of Directors, the IP Law Section Council of the State Bar of Michigan, and on the screening committee for the Michigan Pro Bono Patent Project.  He is Secretary of the Corporate IP Management & Operations Committee and a member of the Association of Corporate Patent Counsel. He has a J.D. from Wake Forest University and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Western Michigan University.

Heather Molleur has over 15 years of large corporate and start-up tech company legal experience advising executive leadership team (incl. CEO, CTO, CFO, COO, Exec. VP of Sales, Chief Product Officer), technical teams (both software and hardware), and sales and marketing teams. She successfully supported product and R&D teams in technology areas including smart devices, cloud software and cloud architecture, automation software, sensors, big data, machine learning and AI, cybersecurity, and data management (including backup and storage management). Her IP experience includes patents, trademarks, trade secret protection, worldwide patent portfolio management and strategy, IP licensing, freedom to operate (FTO), M&A, patentability and validity searching, patent litigation/enforcement, pre- and post-grant proceedings (IPR, Opposition, Reexamination), international patent prosecution (incl. Europe, China, Korea, Japan), Inventor outreach and training.

Hunter Yancey Jr. practices intellectual property law focused on patent law leveraging over two decades of experience. His current Qualcomm role in San Diego is lead patent counsel for wireless connectivity and wireless compute technologies. This dynamic role includes: partnering with colleagues to develop and hone protection strategies for Qualcomm’s intellectual property and global patent portfolio; counseling senior business leaders on many global patent topics; patent preparation, prosecution, enforcement, and defense; and legal support for advocacy, litigation, and licensing activities. Prior to Qualcomm, he practiced intellectual property law with Troutman Sanders in Atlanta. Hunter holds a bachelor’s EE degree from Georgia Tech and a JD from UNH’s Franklin Pierce School of Law. When not practicing, Hunter enjoys time with his family and being outside in nature.