Brad Close, Vice President, Licensing, at TIPS Group in Washington, D.C., will speak on patent brokering, focusing on how patent brokerage services facilitate the process of turning intangible portfolio holdings into liquid assets.  His practice emphasis is on patent sales and transfers, IP licensing, strategic IP counseling and patent prosecution.  He managed portfolio transfers for Siemens AG, and is admitted to practice in Virginia, Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, and the USPTO.

INVENTOR OF THE YEAR - Submission deadline May 5

SVIPLA is seeking your submission for the 2008 SVIPLA Inventor of the Year. The SVIPLA Board of Directors will judge the nominees based on their contributions to the technical arts, and then celebrate the achievements of the winner by naming him or her "inventor of the year." The award presentation will take place during our regularly scheduled June dinner meeting. Location to be announced.

PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR NOMINATIONS BY EMAILING TO: svipla@yahoo.com. Please provide the nominee's name, place of employment (if applicable), and a brief description of the nominee's work. It would be helpful to attach a copy of one or more of the nominee's patents via web link or PDF file. If necessary, additional information may be requested.

The 2007 Inventor of the Year was Steven T. Kirsch, Chairman of Propel Software Corporation, San Jose. Mr. Kirsch is acclaimed as the inventor of the Optical Mouse, as a founder of Infoseek, and for many other contributions to the computer and Internet technologies. Mr. Kirsch brought the mouse to the IBM PC as part of Mouse Systems. He co-founded Frame Technology (makers of FrameMaker, later purchased by Adobe), co-founded Propel Software following the buyout of Infoseek, and most recently led Abaca.