2014 CincyIP Elections

CincyIP is currently holding its elections for various Board Member and Officer positions within the organization. Below is the information provided to CincyIP by each candidate up for election.

BOARD MEMBERS

Seth Voit: Seth is currently an IP associate at Ulmer and Berne where he has been for over seven years. Seth’s practice focuses on intellectual property and encompasses patent, trademark, and licensing matters. Seth has served on the Programming Committee with Cincy IP in the past and currently sits on the Board of New Life Furniture, a Cincinnati non-profit furniture bank that provides gently used furniture to those in need such as elderly veterans, the recently homeless, and recently displaced victims of domestic violence.

John Powell: John Powell is currently Senior Counsel at The Procter&Gamble Co., where he supports the Skin Care Beauty Technology Division. John graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.S. in Molecular Genetics, and received his J.D. from Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University. John was admitted to the Patent Bar in 2005 and the Ohio Bar in 2006, and he has been a member of CincyIP since 2007. John started at P&G in 2000, initially working in R&D, but has spent the last 8 years as a patent attorney in P&G’s legal division.

Andrew Paul: Hailing from the Land of Lincoln, first the Windy City, then Springfield, IL, Andrew studied chemistry and biology at Illinois State University, and then obtained his J.D., in 1998, from the University of Dayton, where he completed a clerkship with the U.S. District Court. Moving to the Queen City, Andrew began his career with The Procter & Gamble Company as a patent attorney, supporting P&G’s hair care and cosmetics brands. In 2001, he began a 3 year assignment abroad, near London, where he learned about European practice and its culture. Upon returning Stateside, Andrew began supporting pharmaceutical upstream research and life cycle management of marketed brands, eventually broadening his practice to include the commercial and regulatory aspects of the business. Today, Andrew supports P&G’s baby care brands and is again broadening his practice to include international tax relating to IP licensing. Andrew has presented at several CLE programs. He has been very involved with and maintains a leadership position in P&G’s diversity and inclusion efforts, both within the Company and across companies in the Greater Cincinnati business region. He is passionate about continuing to develop the area’s IP community, and having been a CincyIP member for several years, would like to elevate his contribution at the Board level.

Chris Elswick: Chris is a partner in Dinsmore’s Intellectual Property Department and his practice emphasizes patent prosecution and counseling, particularly in the area of mechanical engineering. Chris has been involved in CincyIP’s Outreach Committee responsible for recruiting ancillary organizations/individuals to attend specific topics, and also the mentorship program, which works with students from the University of Cincinnati School of Law and the Salmon P. Chase School of Law. In his spare time, Chris enjoys fishing, playing bocce and camping.

Carol Ney: Carol heads up DBL Law’s IP practice in their downtown Cincinnati office. Her entire career has been in the area of IP starting in private practice, moving to P&G for 13 years and then working in her own practice before joining DBL Law a few months ago. While she is registered with the USPTO, other than early in her career, she has focused more on all non-patent aspects of IP with an emphasis on trademarks, trade secrets, advertising, and related areas. Carol was an officer with CincyIP’s predecessor, CIPLA, and has long been a regular participant in CincyIP meetings. She is honored to have been nominated for a Board position and is looking forward to increasing her role and participation with the organization.

Inger Eckert: Inger is currently Chief Counsel, Intellectual Property at International Paper, where she has served in the role since 2008.  Prior to joining International Paper, Inger was an intellectual property attorney at Ford Motor Company before serving as Director, Intellectual Property at Owens Corning.  Inger earned her J.D. from University of Dayton School of Law.  She also holds a degree in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an EET from Penn State University.

Scott Andes: Scott serves as Senior Counsel – Patent Procurement at GE, where he has been since 1999.  Prior to working at GE, Scott was Counsel – Patents at The Procter & Gamble Company for seven years.  He earned his J.D. from University of Dayton School of Law.

PRESIDENT

April Besl: April Besl is a member of the Intellectual Property Department at Dinsmore and practices within the Licensing & Enforcement and Entertainment Law practice groups. She focuses her practice on non-patent intellectual property issues including trademarks, copyrights, social media, Internet law, advertising and trade secrets. She services a large and diverse portfolio of trademarks and copyrights both domestic and worldwide for a variety of clients ranging from large corporations to individual entrepreneurs.  April also has extensive experience assisting clients with emerging issues related to the impact of social media, the web, and technology on their business and marketing strategies..

She has served as the President of CincyIP for since 2012 when she was Acting President and Vice President.  In her role as President she sits on every committee in the organization and was most recently Co-Chair of CincyBrand 2014, one of CincyIP’s most successful conferences to date.

VICE PRESIDENT

Please note: Carlos and Sarah are running as “joint” vice presidents.

Carlos Garcia: Dr. Carlos A. Garcia currently serves as Counsel of Intellectual Property for the Procter & Gamble Company. He oversees a variety of matters including the preparation and prosecution of international patent applications, the evaluation of freedom-to-operation issues, and the drafting of various types of agreements including joint development and research agreements. While attending the George Washington Law School, he interned for the Honorable Jimmie V. Reyna of the U.S Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Prior to attending law school, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Louisville School of Dentistry where he investigated signal transduction in human T cells. Dr. Garcia received his B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, M.S. in Basic Medical Sciences from the University of Alabama-Birmingham, and his Ph.D. from the University of Louisville School of Medicine. Dr. Garcia also serves as a board member of the Membership Board for the American Bar Association-Intellectual Property Section and as a member of the Programming Committee for the Cincinnati Intellectual Property Law Association.

Sarah DeCristofaro: Sarah M. DeCristofaro currently serves as Counsel of Intellectual Property for the Procter & Gamble Company. She works in the Baby Care group with her primary focus on the process used to manufacture absorbent articles. Her experience includes preparing and prosecuting national and international patent applications, evaluating freedom-to-practice issues, and drafting and overseeing various types of agreements. She attended the University of New Hampshire School of Law (formerly Franklin Pierce). Prior to attending law school, she obtained her Mechanical Engineering degree from Miami University, and worked for Honda of America Manufacturing and Deloitte Consulting. Sarah serves as a board member of the Kennedy Heights Arts Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, as a liaison for the Community Service Committee of the Young Lawyers Section of the Cincinnati Bar Association, and as a member of the Programming Committee of the Cincinnati Intellectual Property Law Association.

TREASURER

Eric Volz: Eric Volz has served CincyIP as Treasurer for the past two years. During this time, Eric has helped ensure that the organization remains financially strong while also working with his fellow officers to expand and improve member services and benefits. Eric is an Associate Attorney at Wood, Herron & Evans and serves clients in all aspects of patent prosecution, particularly with respect to the mechanical arts. Prior to joining Wood, Herron & Evans, Eric attended Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and worked as a Mechanical Development Engineer for Cummins in Columbus, IN.

Alex Montgomery: Alex is a 2012 graduate of the University of Cincinnati College of Law and an associate attorney at Cornetet, Meyer, Rush & Kirzner. For the past two years, Alex has been running an intellectual property/employment law practice at the firm. He is focused on helping businesses protect their valuable intellectual property assets, including copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets. He also works with businesses to reduce their risk of employment litigation by putting together employee handbooks, advising on non-competition agreements, and assisting with employee-related issues, among other employment law matters. Alex was on CincyIP’s Outreach Committee for the past two years, where he revitalized and coordinated CincyIP’s Student Mentorship Program. Alex also headed the Sports Marketing Panel of the inaugural CincyBrand conference.

SECRETARY

Colleen Tersmette: Colleen is an intellectual property associate at Frost Brown Todd, where she focuses on patent prosecution in a variety of arts. Prior to joining Frost Brown Todd, Colleen graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 2011. Colleen has served as CincyIP’s Secretary for the past two years.

CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER

Jennifer Miller: Jennifer Miller is a third year intellectual property associate at Dinsmore & Shohl. Her practice revolves around non-patent intellectual property issues, such as trademarks, copyrights, social media, privacy and internet law, advertising and trade secrets. She graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 2012.

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December Meeting: IP Due Diligence

On December 9, 2014, CincyIP welcomes Kelly McDow (P&G) and Tom Ryan (International Paper) to discuss issues with IP Due Diligence.

Intellectual property is frequently a focal point in various business transactions including mergers & acquisitions, private equity deals, venture capital, securitization, and licensing. IP attorneys should be involved at an early point to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the IP under consideration and the ability to commercialize products that are supported by the IP. The IP attorney should also provide input on the deal documents to the extent the provisions of those documents affect IP ownership, transfer, and other considerations. IP attorneys, in turn, must learn to understand the mechanics and goals of the transaction so as to properly advise corporate counsel as to these matters. Kelly and Tom will examine and discuss the role of the IP professional in a business transaction, and will touch on the various issues to be examined when preparing and executing a deal. They will present issues related to intellectual property due diligence, chain of title, warranties/covenants related to IP, inter-party licensing issues, as well as touch on the different types of transactions and what role IP may play in those transactions.

PLEASE NOTE!! CincyIP Meetings run from 12:00 until 1:15 in the afternoon. We will start promptly at noon, so please be sure to arrive on time so the speakers can get started right away.

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