IP Litigation Finance & Disclosure
Recorded On: 09/21/2023
- Registration Closed
Litigation funding and prevailing secondaries markets have quickly come to undergird huge swaths of U.S. civil litigation today. This is particularly true in U.S. patent litigation, although financing efforts surrounding patents are not exclusively limited to enforcement efforts. Indeed, studies show that up to a third of all modern patent litigation is now funded, making patent litigation the highest-growth area in litigation funding. Some argue that litigation funding has enabled small players and individual inventors to realize the value of their intellectual property holdings. Others have raised concerns about the impact of funding on litigation, pointing especially to a lack of transparency in litigation financing. This webinar will explore this burgeoning field from a variety of angles, including objective facts relating to funders and their cases, insurance and lending efforts, as well as perspectives of investors, defendants, and other market participants. Bringing together these diverse perspectives will help attendees better understand this significant new development in patent litigation and IP monetization.
Thomas A. Brown
Senior Legal Director
Dell Technologies
Tom Brown is a Senior Legal Director at Dell, where he leads Dell’s talented intellectual property litigation team, and manages a docket of IP litigation and post-grant review proceedings. Tom has overseen scores of cases from inception through appeal, in the PTAB and in courts across the country. Intellectual property policy also forms a substantial component of Tom’s role at Dell, where he plays a leading role shaping and articulating Dell’s policy positions. In this capacity, Tom drafts and manages amicus briefs, PTO comments, and other advocacy designed to promote a balanced, effective, and efficient regime for the protection of intellectual property. Tom currently serves as chair of IPO’s Damages and Injunctions Committee and on the steering committee of the Sedona Conference Working Groups 9 and 10 on Patent Damages, Remedies, and Litigation. He is also the Counselor of the Alan D. Lourie Boston IP American Inn of Court. Before joining Dell, he was a litigation principal at Fish & Richardson, and was previously a software design engineer at Microsoft.
Michael Gulliford
Managing Partner & Co-Founder
Soryn IP
Michael Gulliford has more than two decades of experience in the intellectual property arena as an investor, advisor, dealmaker and former law firm partner. At Soryn IP Capital Management, Michael oversees the firm's portfolio of private credit, legal finance and other IP-specific investments. Prior to Soryn IP Capital Management, Michael founded Soryn IP Group, an intellectual property advisory and finance firm that guided the management of private and publicly traded companies with respect to patent strategy, and that closed more than $175 million in patent-centric deals. Prior to founding Soryn IP Group, Michael was a partner in the IP litigation group at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where he counseled clients on IP issues in a host of industries. Michael holds a BA in Neuroscience from Columbia University and a JD from the Seton Hall University School of Law. Michael regularly speaks and publishes on the latest IP monetization and finance developments. Among various industry distinctions, Michael has been recognized as a Global Leader in Intellectual Property, as one of the Leading IP Strategists in the World and as a Patent Master. Chambers and Partners has also repeatedly recognized Michael as a top practitioner of IP Litigation Finance.
Jonathan Stroud
General Counsel
Unified Patents, LLC
Jonathan Stroud is General Counsel at Unified Patents, LLC, where he manages a growing team of talented, diverse attorneys and oversees a docket of administrative challenges, appeals, licensing, pooling, and district court work in addition to trademark, copyright, administrative, amicus, policy, marketing, and corporate matters. Prior to Unified, he was a litigator with Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP, and prior to that, he was a patent examiner at the USPTO. He earned his J.D. with honors from the American University Washington College of Law; his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Tulane University; and his M.A. in Print Journalism from the University of Southern California. He enjoys teaching, writing, and speaking on Federal Courts, patent, and administrative law.
Ryan Zurek
Managing Director
Ocean Tomo, a part of J.S. Held
Ryan Zurek is a Managing Director in the Investment Group of Ocean Tomo, a part of J.S. Held. Mr. Zurek leads the firm’s Advisory Services practice which is composed of IP Transaction Advisory, Investments, and non-securities Investment Banking. He holds the FINRA Series 7 and 63 license. Mr. Zurek plays an integral role in all aspects of the firm’s investment banking and asset management initiatives, including facilitating IP-driven transactions, mergers and acquisitions, IP monetization strategies, financing and IP-based special situations investments. Mr. Zurek has significant experience in IP valuation, licensing strategy, market research and cash flow analysis. Prior to joining the Investments practice, Mr. Zurek spent 5 years with Ocean Tomo’s Expert Testimony practice where he spearheaded engagements involving the valuation of intangible assets across a broad spectrum of technologies. Mr. Zurek holds a B.S. in Finance from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.