SIA Snow Show

GUARDIANS OF GREAT IDEAS®

Please join us at the 2016 Snow Show for two dynamic, interactive sessions about protecting your innovation and brand.

n Patents are necessary, whether working on breathable waterproof membrane with a six-figure budget or developing a backcountry binding in your garage.

n Patents can protect your product – or disrupt your best business intentions.

n Items to consider:

• What relevant patent rights are owned by third parties

• What’s in the public domain

• What’s potentially patentable

n Taking time early in product development to understand the patent landscape will help you pick a safe line and keep the stoke alive longer.

n Trademarks are the perfect supplement to patents.

n Trademarks can last forever, transfer from one product to the next and help the consumer find you and distinguish your product from competitors.

n Using a name, however, without proper clearance can result in trademark infringement and unfair competition.

n Adopting a name that’s generic or otherwise not protectable can leave you exposed to imitators with little recourse.

n Avoid the trademark face plant with search and registration strategies with pointers from our team.

Patents: Protect Yourself and Avoid the Slough

Your Idea Is Legit and Deserves Protection

Sourcing • Friday, Jan. 29 • 10 a.m. Sourcing • Friday, Jan. 29 • 12 p.m.

SESSION SESSION

*You must be present to win. Winner at the first session cannot enter the second session drawing.

At each session, we will have a drawing* to give away one pair of

ZEAL OPTICS Z3 GPS LIVE GOGGLES!

2016 SNOW SHOW

SPEAKERS

JOE LEEJoe devoted this past summer to multi-pitch trad climbing at Moab, Red Rocks, Joshua Tree, The Gunks and Edlo. If Joe is at SIA, he just returned safely from a week of splitboard/mountaineering in BC Canada. A patent attorney since 2003, Joe helps clients protect their innovations and avoid patent infringement, and he litigates patents when necessary. Also a mechanical engineer, his focus is on mechanically related technologies.

SCOTT JOHNSTONScott, born and raised in the Colorado Rockies, loves steep mountains, deep powder and endless tree skiing. Claiming he practically grew up on A-Basin’s Pali Chair, he supports his passion by counseling clients on trademark and branding issues and litigating trademark infringement disputes around the world.

LINHDA NGUYENLinhda, a snowboarding enthusiast, traded in California mountains for flat terrain in Minnesota, where she picked up rock climbing, paddle boarding, and wakeboarding. Linhda is primarily a patent litigator, but also counsels start-up clients on how to navigate trademark issues and leverage intellectual property.

TOM LEACHTom loves the outdoors and grew up skiing, wakeboarding, snowmobiling, camping and hiking. After getting an engineering degree, Tom attended law school so he could work with a wide variety of companies on the forefront of technology. He practices all aspects of intellectual property law with an emphasis on litigation and client counseling.

RYAN FLETCHERRyan spent 2015 training for and competing in Ironman Boulder and the Breck Epic. He is currently preparing to spend a week backcountry skiing in British Columbia at Valhalla Mountain Touring. He has a PhD in biochemistry and has helped clients who are driven by a passion for the outdoors since 2008.

Merchant & Gould helps sole inventors, emerging and established companies, universities, venture capitalists, and Fortune 500 and 100 companies gain leverage in new and existing markets. Our team of over 100 attorneys, registered patent agents and technical experts position our clients for business success locally, nationally and around the world.

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