Intellectual Property Protection - Patents, Trade Secrets and Trademarks

Please join the Connecticut Entrepreneurs Forum for an interactive discussion with Marina Cunningham, a partner at McCormick, Paulding & Huber, and George Chaclas, a partner at Day Pitney, on best strategies for IP protection – ask the questions you always wanted to ask.

Topics covered will include:

• How and when to obtain protection?
• What protection is needed?
• Best strategies for protection – Patents vs Trade Secrets?
• Once I have a patent, can I practice it?
• How to enforce a patent?

LOCATION

To be Announced

REGISTRATION

PRESENTERS

Marina Cunningham, Managing Partner, McCormick, Paulding & Huber

Marina F. Cunningham is a Managing Partner with McCormick, Paulding & Huber, an Intellectual Property firm with offices in Hartford, Connecticut and Springfield, Massachusetts.

Marina worked as a design supervisor for AT & T Bell Laboratories and, subsequent to obtaining her law degree, as an intellectual property attorney for United Technologies Corporation. She is admitted to practice before the State and Federal Courts of Connecticut and before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Marina is also Co-Chair of Technology and Intellectual Property Committee of the Hartford County Bar Association; Advisory Board Member for UCONN School of Law Intellectual Property Clinic; Committee member for INTA; and member of CPLA; AIPPI; and AIPLA.

Marina has experience in domestic and foreign patent prosecution, trademark and copyright matters, e-commerce related issues, negotiation of licenses and other types of agreements relating to intellectual property, and litigation. She is fluent in Russian and Ukrainian.

Marina holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University and a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. She received a Juris Doctor from the University of Connecticut’s School of Law. Marina has served as Chair of the MIT Enterprise Forum of Connecticut 2000 – 2013 and now serves as Director.

George Chaclas, Partner, Day Pitney

Throughout his over 25 years of experience practicing intellectual property law, George Chaclas has provided counsel to clients as varied as Fortune 100 companies, world-renowned academic institutions, industry-leading companies, start-ups, and individual entrepreneurs.

George, Co-Chair of the firm’s Patent Prosecution and Counseling group, focuses on acquiring and using IP assets to accomplish strategic goals, such as in negotiating and drafting licenses, preparing and prosecuting patent applications, and enforcing intellectual property rights. His varied background has helped him marshal patent applications for many technologies through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, including nanotechnology, semiconductors, business methods, bioinformatics, telecommunications, medical devices, testing equipment, fluidics, RADAR, aerospace, engines, and quantum computing.

Prior to becoming a lawyer, George worked in the semiconductor industry for 12 years as an electrical engineer.