Road to Commercialization Symposium Series: The Patent Process

Join us for the next webinar on the Road to Commercialization Symposium Series, THE PATENT PROCESS: WHAT, HOW, & WHY!
The first step towards commercializing a technology is protecting the intellectual property (IP) with a patent. Hear from IP experts and researchers who have successfully launched a company about the process of filing a patent application and the resources provided by the Office for Research.
This online event is free and open to everyone.
PANELISTS

ELIZABETH DOUGHERTY, JD
As the Northeast Regional Outreach Director for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Elizabeth Dougherty carries out the strategic direction of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO and is responsible for leading the USPTO's East Coast stakeholder engagement. Focusing on the region and actively engaging with the community, Ms. Dougherty ensures the USPTO's initiatives and programs are tailored to the region's unique ecosystem of industries and stakeholders.

DOMINGOS SILVA, JD, PhD
Domingos Silva is a patent attorney and co-chair of Saul Ewing’s Intellectual Property Practice, with extensive experience in the pharmaceutical, chemical, biotechnology, diagnostics, biochemistry, and materials science areas. Domingos has a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Princeton University and conducted his post-doctorate fellowship work at MIT. Domingos pursued a career as a medicinal chemistry research scientist for a biotech company and a large pharmaceutical company, working in various oncology and antibacterial programs. As a medicinal chemist, Domingos co-authored 16 peer-reviewed publications and was named as in inventor in 17 patent applications. Domingos has been practicing in the IP area since 2008, drafting and prosecuting patent applications in the areas of pharmaceutical sciences, chemistry (including inorganic, organic, and bioorganic), diagnostics, biotechnology, and materials sciences.
He also counsels clients on IP matters, manages complex multinational patent portfolios, and drafts legal opinions (including patentability assessments, inventorship determinations, due diligence, and freedom-to-operate opinions).

JOHN KETTLE, JD
John R. Kettle III is the Director of the Intellectual Property Law Clinic who specializes in copyright and trademarks, entertainment law and advanced intellectual property. He is the former chair of the New York State Bar Entertainment & Arts Law Committee and is a faculty advisor to the Rutgers Computer & Technology Law Journal and the Intellectual Property Law Society.

STAN TSO, JD, MBA
Stan Tso teaches Intellectual Property at Rutgers School of Law, where his legal career began as an evening student in 2003. He received a BSEE from Cornell and an MBA from Duke.
Tso serves with the United States Patent and Trademark Office as a Primary Patent Examiner and as an Advanced Legal Education Instructor. Before that, he practiced patent law at Weinick and Associates, Myers Wolin, and Lowenstein Sandler.

ARIANE VASILATIS, PhD
Ariane Vasilatis is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Zena Therapeutics, and helped start Zena with the mindset that the gap in the design of mental health and addiction medications, if addressed correctly, could save countless lives.
She has a background in natural products chemistry and applying plant derived products for human health. During her dissertation studies she met Eileen Carry, PhD, and became greatly interested in Carry’s work, having had experience watching family members and friends battle substance abuse. Vasilatis decided to join Zena seeing firsthand the gap in drug design that could be addressed— a commonality she and Carry share. Vasilatis has helped the fledgling company earn over $1.3M in funding, including a Phase I STTR grant from NIDA, funding from NJEDA, and a seed investment from Foundation Venture Capital Group. She uses her entrepreneurial skills developed from programs such as the NSF I-Corps and Yale’s Innovation to Impact, to help guide the commercialization of Zena’s innovation and ensure it gets into the hands of those most in need.