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Speaker: Mr. John Lanza, Foley and Lardner LLP, Chair – Intellectual Property Group
Abstract:
The talk will cover the basics of starting a technology-based company, including entity formation, financing and intellectual property issues.
Bio:
John Lanza is a partner with the Intellectual Property department of Foley & Lardner LLP. He excels at helping companies identify and maximize the corporate value of their intellectual property assets. He provides strategic advice to his clients regarding the acquisition, transfer and enforcement of intellectual property rights and counsels them regarding their business operations in the face of adverse intellectual property rights. He has counseled hundreds of start-ups and is an active angel investor looking for the next company that will change the world. He has also counseled dozens of more established companies in a wide variety of technology areas, including competition and computer-related technologies, software, Internet technologies, electronic commerce and business methods, computer security, cryptography, imaging systems, software entertainment technologies, semiconductors, electronic displays, electronic devices and printed circuit technology. Notable clients include Google Inc., Citrix Systems, Inc., Carbonite Inc., RSA Security Inc., Analog Devices, Inc. and Harmonix Music Systems, Inc. (the makers of Rock Band).
Mr. Lanza has been listed in Chambers USA as a leading attorney in the field of intellectual property every year since 2006 and has been selected for inclusion in the Massachusetts Super Lawyers® lists every year since 2005. In 2011, the Legal 500 recognized him for his patent prosecution work in utility and design patents, and in 2012 he was also recognized for his work in patent licensing. He was included in the 2012 edition of Best Lawyers in America® for information technology law and was also recognized among IAM Patent 1000 – The World’s Leading Patent Practitioners 2012 and 2013.
Mr. Lanza earned his law degree from Northeastern University School of Law, (J.D., 1995). He received both his master’s degree (M.S.E.E., 1988) and bachelor’s degree (B.E.E., 1987) from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is a member of the 2008 Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni and a member of the School of Electrical Computer and Engineering’s External Advisory Board.
