SPEAKER: Curtis Vock

Special Counsel for Lathrop & Gage

Curtis Vock joined Lathrop & Gage as special counsel in September, 2000. He became a member of the firm in 2001. His practice primarily involves intellectual property prosecution and litigation, licensing and corporate counseling. His clients range from small start-ups to large Fortune 500 companies and Ivy League Universities. These clients involve technology such as software and Internet business systems, infrared imaging devices, optical networking components, sports equipment, industrial sensors and medical devices. Mr. Vock spent ten years as a design and systems engineer within the military industrial complex, for companies like Lockheed-Martin, Loral, Honeywell and Hughes Aircraft; this experience has been invaluable for understanding the complexities of marketing and delivering today's technology innovations.

His education includes - Denver University, Daniel's College, M.B.A., 2000 and New England School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 1992

SPEAKER: Jeffrey Samson

Founded Samson Design, a product design and development firm

Jeffrey Samson has been involved in product development for 35 years, working on large systems like mass transit vehicles to micro-precise surgical scalpels and instruments.  In 1984, Jeff founded Samson Design, a product design and development firm, specializing in product solutions for the medical, consumer and high tech industries.   His firm’s clients include 3M, Medtronic, Emerson Process, Coleman, Pelco Security Systems, Lund, Gates, Coors, IBM, HP, Agilent, Ingersol-Rand, Sartorius, ADAC Laboratories, Valley Lab and Becton Dickinson. Under Jeff’s direction, his team has launched over 40 medical products including electro-surgical generators, sterilizers, a kidney dialyses machine, infusion pumps, an EKG harness, recyclable medical waste handling equipment, an intra-venous catheter, disposable surgical pencils, a closed chest heart by-pass surgical device, a vessel-clamping ligature, an ostomy pump and nozzle system, an inferred mammography machine and two nucleo-medical imaging machines.  The products have been recognized for design excellence, including the prestigious Medical Design Excellence Award in 1999.

Jeff received his masters' degree in Industrial Design from Cranbrook Academy of Art and completed post-graduate work in Design Management at Harvard University.  In addition to his corporate and consultant R&D experience, Jeff served on the faculty of RIT, the University of Colorado, and the University of North Carolina.  He serves on several design and corporate advisory boards, has hosted a radio program on Advanced Materials and Technology, and facilitated special product innovation sessions nationally.

SPEAKER: John Doll

Commissioner for Patents

John J. Doll is the Commissioner for Patents, responsible for all aspects of the patent granting process for the United States, more than 5,000 employees, and an annual budget of more than $970 million.
 
Previously, Mr. Doll served as Deputy Commissioner for Patent Resources and Planning, and on a detail assignment as Special Assistant to Jon Dudas, Director of the USPTO. Before his detail, Mr. Doll was the Director of Groups 1610 and 1630 that examine organic chemistry, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology.
 
Mr. Doll joined the Patent and Trademark Office in 1974 as a Patent Examiner and was promoted to Primary Examiner in 1979, reviewing patent applications encompassing pharmaceuticals, herbicides, pesticides, and dyestuffs. As a Supervisory Patent Examiner in Groups 1100 and 1800, he was responsible for applications drawn from a variety of arts, including inorganic chemistry, hydrometallurgy, zeolite catalysts, buckministerfullerenes, proteins, and peptides. In 1992, he was promoted to Deputy Director of Group 1100 and 2900, which examined chemical, chemical engineering, and design patent applications. In 1995, he became the Director of Group 1800, which examined biotechnology patent applications. He was then one of the Directors of the Chemical Matrix that transitioned into Technology Center 1600.
 
Mr. Doll received a bachelor of science from Bowling Green State University in chemistry and physics, and a master of science from The Pennsylvania State University in physical chemistry.

SPEAKER: John Funk

Principal with, and the Chief Product Scout for, Evergreen IP, LLC

John Funk is a Principal with, and the Chief Product Scout for, Evergreen IP, LLC (www.evergreenip.com). Funk has 3 issued patents to his credit and has been a serial entrepreneur for the past decade (3 companies launched; over $500m in value creation for shareholders). At last count, Funk has created over 12 new products that have met with commercial success.

Funk recently launched Evergreen IP with two partners to help inventors commercialize their products by transforming, validating, and licensing them to BigCos. Evergreen IP is a "product capitalist" firm that partners with inventors and invests in new consumer products that are dramatically different from existing products.

Funk has raised over $30m in venture capital over the years and has experience with both private equity investors, corporate investors and M&A. Funk received his MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, graduated cum laude from Northwestern School of Law (concentration in IP law), and received his Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern University. In prior lives he has worked for Bell Atlantic (where he was youngest Director-level executive in the company's history), the law firm of Skadden Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, and management consultancy William M. Mercer.

SPEAKER: Thomas Franklin

Intellectual Property Attorney – Kilpatrick Townsend

Tom Franklin is a partner in the full service intellectual property (IP) firm of Kilpatrick Townsend. Kilpatrick is one of the largest firms specializing in IP with a 150 year history and nearly 200 lawyers in eight different offices. Mr. Franklin supports a national practice where he splits his time between the Townsend offices in Denver and San Diego.  Mr. Franklin uses strong IP protection strategies to assist large companies maintaining their dominance and assist startups vying to dominate.

With over a dozen years in private practice, Mr. Franklin specializes in strong patent protection for high tech companies in the electronic and software fields. He regularly performs due diligence, patent portfolio development, expedited patent protection, and other techniques to efficiently achieve his clients goals.  Mr. Franklin received his law degree from University of San Diego after a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from San Diego State University (Class of 1990), summa cum laude.  Prior to practicing law, Mr. Franklin spent eight years as an engineer with Hughes Electronics and a senior engineer with L3 Communications and Lockheed Martin.