What's IP Got to Do with It? Evaluation, Valuation and Protection March 22, 2006

What's IP Got to Do with It? Evaluation, Valuation and Protection
Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Event Sponsor: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Venture lawyer Gary Benton will lead a panel of four experts who will speak on IP strategies in portfolio company investment, licensing and exit deals. The panelists include leading experts in venture investment, company management, law and IP consulting with notable experience and successes in their fields. The panel will provide practical business and legal guidance on due diligence and how to evaluate, protect and maximize the value of portfolio company patents, copyrights, trade secrets and other IP. The panelists will share their experiences on IP strategies ranging from building defensive patent portfolios to using royalty licensing models to engaging in "bet the company" IP litigation battles against industry titans.

This will be a valuable program for venture capital investors who are looking at new investment opportunities or advising existing portfolio companies on IP strategies. What's the right way to do IP due diligence? How does IP factor into pre-money valuations? How do you set the value of IP in licensing deals? What are the models for maximizing the value of portfolio company IP? What's the business strategy behind IP lawsuits? What IP strategies will improve exit valuations?

Moderator
Gary L. Benton, Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
www.pillsburylaw.com
Mr. Benton has nearly twenty years experience advising emerging growth technology companies and venture investors on corporate and business law. His practice focuses on corporate/securities and commercial transactions including start-up formation, venture capital financing, corporate governance, M&A, IPOs other strategic U.S. and international business law issues. Mr. Benton is a former IP trial lawyer, which provides him valuable insight and advantage in advising companies and investors on business transactions involving IP issues. He has significant experience with respect to investment, licensing, joint ventures, marketing, competition and start-up operating and governance issues.

Panel:
Huoy-Ming Yeh, Co-Founder and Director, PacRim Venture Partners
www.pacrimpartners.com
Huoy-Ming Yeh is Co-Founder and Director, PacRim Venture Partners, which recently combined with SmartForest Ventures, www.smartforest.com. A VC who has held previous positions as investment banker, market analyst, and microprocessor design engineer, Ms. Yeh focuses on early-stage companies with unique technology platforms and services that address the needs of rapidly expanding markets. As a former engineer and holder of several patents, she brings valuable insights to the evaluation and planning of companies' IP strategies. Her firm targets early stage information technology companies that provide differentiated technical platforms and apply technology to create entirely new industries or to reshape traditional industries.

Peter Redford, CEO and Chairman, TV Interactive Corporation
www.tvi.com
Mr. Redford has been a pioneer in the Silicon Valley technology industry for the last 25 years, starting as a researcher with the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Since 1981, Mr. Redford has served continuously as CEO of investor-funded Silicon Valley technology companies. He is an expert negotiator, team builder and marketing strategist and has extensive experience in product development, OEM/enterprise, mass-market consumer sales and international business development in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand and Ireland. He currently leads TVI in adapting its technologies into high-profile products and recently (2005) settled a major patent infringement lawsuit against Microsoft for AutoPlay, a key part of the Windows operating system.

Lloyd Nirenberg Ph.D., Partner, Shannon Bayes Venture Corporation
www.shannonbayes.com
Dr. Nirenberg is electrical engineer with innovations in communication system design, financial engineering and IP valuation. His IP valuation model applies techniques in financial engineering to managing risk and value in IP transactions, essentially a scientific method that arrives at a non-arbitrary valuation of IP which correlates appropriately to its future market value over time based upon its intended use. Dr. Nirenberg currently applies his know-how in technology, economics and competition to help his clients craft strategies for growth in the face of multiple and varied opportunities and risks with particular expertise in analyzing options for the economic use of the patents in patent-dependent markets.

David H. Jaffer Ph.D., Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
www.pillsburylaw.com
An attorney with a technical background in physical chemistry, Dr. Jaffer's law practice focuses on intellectual property strategy, patent portfolio planning and analysis, and technology licensing. He has particular experience in the following areas of technology: materials sciences, chemistry and chemical physics, lasers, spectroscopy, semiconductors, semiconductor manufacturing processes and chemicals, software, and medical devices and diagnostic tests.

Date: Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Place: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, 2475 Hanover Street, Palo Alto, CA 94304
Time: 6:00 - 7:00 PM: Registration, Networking, Hors d'oeuvres and Beverages
7:00 - 8:30 PM: Panel Discussion followed by Q&A

Registration Fee: $45 VC Task Force members, $65 Affiliates, $87 General
Registration Link:

VC Task Force, Sunset VC Committee Chair:
Ellice Papp, Senior VP, Investments, UBS Financial Services
www.ubs.com/fa/ellicepapp

VC Task Force, Sunset Event Managers:
Sabina Ahmed, Urchin Partners; Denise Lai, Revere Data, LLC; Jill Rubin, Menlo Financial Partners

-------------------------------------------------------------

The VC Task Force was established in 2001 to create a variety of programs that provide information and insight on current strategic and tactical concerns of the venture capital community and the management of venture-backed companies. VC Task Force provides the venture capital community and their portfolio companies a forum for real-time information exchange and dialogue through panels, workshops, and roundtable meetings conducted by business/industry experts. We strive to identify and be responsive to the ongoing and changing needs of our members. The VC Task Force holds informational and networking events throughout the year to benefit its member community.

The VC Task Force offers three types of memberships:
Investor, Executive and Service Provider

To become a member please visit our website: www.VCTaskForce.com/

VC TaskForce
2953 Bunker Hill Lane
Suite 400
Santa Clara CA 94054