Liability of Officers and Directors for Intellectual Property Matters

Today, patents, trademarks and copyrights often are a company’s most important assets.  Corporate America is heavily focused on protecting its intellectual property (IP) rights.  The officers and directors of a company can face personal liability if the corporate IP is not fully protected or if another’s IP is infringed.  Our experienced panel will discuss these issues, including:

• Liability of officers and directors for patent, trademark or copyright infringement
• Vicarious and contributory liability
• Liability for not fully exploiting the company’s IP
• The business judgment rule
• Fiduciary duties
• Charter exculpation clauses
• Indemnification and expense advancement
• D&O liability insurance
• Contractual provisions to minimize risk
• Practical considerations
• Compliance programs

FACULTY:

Barbara Dirsa, currently serves as Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of The Rezolve Group, Inc. headquartered in Sacramento, California, specialists in student financial aid strategy and technology services.  Ms. Dirsa was formerly in-house counsel at IBM, Novell and Ascential Software. She has a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Materials Science & Engineering from MIT, and a J.D.  from Harvard Law School. 

C. Russell Hansen, Jr.,  Burns & Levinson, LLP, Boston, MA.  Mr. Hansen is an authority on corporate law regarding directors’ and officers’ liability.  He has over 30 years’ experience in corporate governance and securities law compliance.  He was General Counsel to BGS Systems, Inc. and PCD, Inc. and is Managing Director of The Board Place, a corporate governance and board performance consultancy.

Mark Schonfeld, Burns & Levinson, LLP, Boston, MA.  Mr. Schonfeld concentrates his practice in intellectual property litigation.  He protects many of the world’s leading brand names from infringement and unlawful imitation.  He frequently litigates issues involving the personal liability of corporate directors and officers for infringement of trademarks, copyrights and patents.  He is listed in Best Lawyers in America for IP litigation.

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