@ifmCambridge @iipmcambridge

The goals of the public, private and third sector in leveraging intellectual property often differ substantially, with significant implications for access to technology. The CRASSH Faculty Research Group on Open IP models for emerging technologies seeks to explore where approaches to making knowledge more freely available has implications for society. In this session, we will discuss Open IP from industry and University tech transfer perspectives, exploring the stated goals and real life practices of these important actors in the innovation ecosystem.

Dr Iain Thomas (Head of Life Sciences, Cambridge Enterprise)
Dr Thomas operates within the Technology Transfer team; the work of which includes invention disclosure management, patent strategy, proof of concept funding, research reagents transfer, intellectual property licensing and bespoke marketing. Iain works predominantly with technologies in the fields of biology and chemistry with products such as alemtuzumab (Sanofi), breast cancer markers (Brevagen) and mouse touch screen chambers (Campden Instruments).

Prof Jorge Contreras (University of Utah)
Prof Contreras teaches in the areas of intellectual property, law and science, and property law and serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Utah Genome Project. He has previously served on the law faculties of American University Washington College of Law and Washington University in St. Louis, and was a partner at the international law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, where he practiced transactional and intellectual property law in Boston, London and Washington DC. His current research focuses, among other things, on the development of technical standards and the use and dissemination of data generated by large-scale scientific research projects.

Sonia Cooper (Microsoft):
Sonia Cooper is the Senior Patent Attorney within the IP Policy and Strategy Group at Microsoft. She is currently working with Microsoft Azure, a cloud computing service created by Microsoft for building, testing, deploying, and managing applications and services.