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The Impact of Non-Practicing Entities on U.S. Companies: A Discussion of the Upcoming GAO Report


Product Code - LGN129
Speaker(s): Paul B. Schneck, Rembrandt IP Management, LLC; Barry Ungar, Rembrandt IP Management, LLC; Evette D. Pennypacker, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP
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The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is about to release a Congressionally-mandated report on the role and impact of non-practicing entities (NPEs) and patent assertion entities (PAEs) on the United States economy. It is widely expected that this report will shape future patent legislation and inform the courts of the costs and benefits of the actions of various classes of NPEs and PAEs.

The report was mandated because of assertions by some that NPEs engage in conduct which is harmful to the U.S. economy or businesses operating within that economy. The faculty for this program will address the realities of NPE patent litigation and how that litigation differs from litigation between competitors or by a patent holder that is in business, the concerns which actuated the request for the report, the remedies expected to be proposed in the report, the pros and cons and effect of those proposed remedies, and whether the proposed remedies adequately account for the fact that the terms NPE and PAE cover a wide swath of businesses with greatly differing business models and characteristics.

Educational Objectives:

• Understand the public policy issues relating to the role of NPEs and PAEs as they affect the U.S. economy.
• Distinguish among the different types of NPEs and PAEs.
• Gain insight into the overall strategy of a particular adversary.
• Understand the settlement dynamics of NPE litigation versus other forms of patent litigation.

Who would benefit most from attending the program?

Patent litigators, including both plaintiffs and defendants; persons interested in patent public policy; individuals involved in managing and leveraging patent portfolios or managing in-house intellectual property litigation.

Program Level: Intermediate. (While this program is not intended for a patent litigation novice, the faculty will provide some basic background on patent litigation as they discuss the issues.)

Credit Available: CLE. For more information, please click on the “CLE Credit” tab.

Paul B. Schneck, Rembrandt IP Management, LLC; Barry Ungar, Rembrandt IP Management, LLC; Evette D. Pennypacker, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP

Paul B. Schneck, Rembrandt IP Management, LLC
Paul Schneck serves as Rembrandt’s chairman and is responsible for providing strategic guidance and for overseeing the execution of the company's mission, including the rigorous application of decision science to its patent enforcement activities. He also provides strategic technology direction for Rembrandt’s acquisition and enforcement activities. Mr. Schneck works to ensure that the company's strategy and actions optimize value for its clients and investors.

Prior to forming Rembrandt IP Management, Mr. Schneck was vice president and CTO of Veridian Corporation, a 7,500-person professional services firm, and was a member of the NSA Advisory Board. With more than 40 years of experience in applied and theoretical sciences, Mr. Schneck has conducted scientific research in fields as diverse as aerospace, supercomputing, parallel processing, and digital IP antipirating technologies. He is a Fellow of ACM and of IEEE; the author of Supercomputer Architecture and more than 50 scientific articles; and has taught at The Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, and Columbia University. Mr. Schneck has two issued patents (cited by more than 450 different subsequent patents) and several pending patent applications.

Mr. Schneck earned a Ph.D. in computer science from New York University and is a recipient of the Intelligence Community's Seal Medallion, awarded for exceptional contribution.

Barry Ungar, Rembrandt IP Management, LLC
In his role as Rembrandt’s chief litigation counsel, Barry Ungar is responsible for managing all of the firm’s intellectual property management litigation. Once the diligence team has identified companies that are infringing a particular patent, he is responsible for determining where the enforcement action will be brought. Mr. Ungar also is responsible for selecting outside counsel for these cases. He then works very closely with outside counsel on all strategic and tactical decisions, court filings, discovery, and trial issues.

Mr. Ungar joined Rembrandt after 35 years as a trial lawyer, during which time he handled large commercial litigations in various industries. Upon graduating from law school, he clerked for the Honorable John Biggs Jr. on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Mr. Ungar then began his litigation career in a Philadelphia law firm, where he became a partner. He subsequently left the firm along with a senior partner, and the two created one of the first commercial litigation boutique law firms in Philadelphia. He practiced there for most of his career and was elected as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Mr. Ungar is also an experienced mediator and arbitrator.

Mr. Ungar earned an LL.B., cum laude, from the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was an editor of the Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif (top 10 percent of the class). He is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and in various federal courts.

Evette D. Pennypacker, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP
Evette D. Pennypacker is a Partner in the Silicon Valley office of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP. Her practice focuses primarily on intellectual property matters, including patent, copyright and trademark infringement, unfair competition, and trade secret misappropriation cases. She also litigates complex business cases, including partnership, contract and consumer class action lawsuits. Ms. Pennypacker has litigated intellectual property and business cases in jurisdictions throughout the country, including California, Washington, D.C., Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Ms. Pennypacker has represented a wide variety of software, gaming, telephony, and other technology companies, including, Zynga, Google, Match.com, LinkedIn, Disney, Motorola, Clearwire, IAC, Dassault SolidWorks, Skype, Corel, Sega, Capcom, Electronic Arts, Intuit, AOL, Maxwell, LendingTree, Good Technology, RealNetworks, GameTech International and Corbis in patent, copyright, trade secret, trademark, false advertising, unfair competition, class action, breach of contract and other commercial disputes.

Ms. Pennypacker earned a J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of California Hastings College of Law, where she was a Milton D. Green Top Ten Citation Recipient, and a member of the Order of the Coif, the Thurston Society, and the Hastings Law Journal, and a B.A. from the University of California-Santa Cruz. She is admitted to practice in California and various federal courts, including the Eastern District of Texas, and has litigated patent matters involving a wide array of technologies for plaintiffs and defendants in jurisdictions throughout the country.

This program is CLE-credit eligible.

If you have further questions regarding a specific state or how to file for CLE credit, please contact Bloomberg BNA customer service at 800-372-1033 and ask to speak to the Legal and Business CLE Accreditation Coordinator.

Hardship Policy
Bloomberg BNA offers a hardship policy for attorneys earning less than $50,000 per year. If an attorney wishes to take advantage of this option, he or she must contact Bloomberg BNA directly. For attorneys who are unemployed or earning less than $35,000 per year, a full discount off the price of the program will be awarded upon written proof of hardship. Attorneys earning between $35,000 and $50,000 per year will receive a 50% discount off the price of the program. Any attorney working in the public service sector also qualifies for a special price. If you have further questions regarding the hardship policy or seek additional information, please contact Bloomberg BNA customer service at 800-372-1033 and ask to speak to Lindsey Pace, CLE Accreditations Coordinator, or email us at accreditations@bna.com.

Questions
For more information about Mandatory or Minimum Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) requirements, visit the American Bar Association website at http://www.abanet.org/cle/mandatory.html.