Patents, High-Tech, and the Startup Nation: An Inside Look at the Changing Landscape
An Exclusive Conversation
with Andrei Iancu
Former Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property
Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Partner, Irell & Manella LLP
Moderated By Technion Alumnus Dr. Nathan Fischel, M.D. ’83
CEO and Founder, DAFNA Capital
This is a private, invitation-only event.
If you are interested in attending this event or similar Southern California events in the future, please contact us at [email protected].
The Technion is now creating approximately 15 companies a year, putting the University on a path to becoming one of the largest holding companies in Israel. And Technion graduates across the United States are launching startups of their own. These achievements are a testament to the Technion’s brilliant faculty, students, and alumni. Yet, they are also built on a patent system that aims to protect and secure the rights of entrepreneurs to their creative accomplishments.
Hear from Mr. Iancu, a renowned expert in patents and trademarks, about the latest trends in technology from biotech to medical devices to AI, the challenges of acquiring patents in the U.S. and abroad, Israel’s economic footprint in California, and more.
Andrei Iancu
Featured Speaker
Dr. Nathan Fischel
ModeratorAbout the Speaker
Andrei Iancu served as the under secretary of commerce for intellectual property and director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) from February 2018 to January 2021, where he oversaw one of the largest IP offices in the world, with approximately 13,000 employees and a $3.5 billion annual budget. He was instrumental in launching the National Council for Expanding American Innovation, a group of industry, academia, and government leaders tasked with building a more diverse innovation ecosystem, and helped establish patent initiatives promoting COVID-19 research.
In April 2021, Mr. Iancu returned to Irell & Manella LLP, a law firm specializing in general business litigation and intellectual property litigation. He previously spent two decades at Irell, and was its managing partner from 2012 to 2018. He has represented clients in a variety of high-profile matters in the district courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. International Trade Commission, and the USPTO.
Among numerous awards, Mr. Iancu received the 2022 Paul Michel Award from IPWatchdog and the 2020 IEEE-USA Award for Distinguished Public Service. He is a licensed engineer and earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and law degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles.
About the Moderator
Dr. Nathan Fischel attended Medical School at the Technion School of Medicine in Israel. He completed his residency and fellowship in Pediatrics and Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at the Children’s Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School in Boston, and his postgraduate research training (in Molecular Genetics) at Oxford University in England.
Dr. Fischel was Professor of Pediatrics at UCLA School of Medicine, and Director of Molecular Hematology and attending physician at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He is currently Professor Emeritus at UCLA. He has published over 120 peer-reviewed scientific and medical manuscripts and book chapters, has been the principal investigator of multiple National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) funded research grants, and served on the Advisory Council of one of the NIH’s institutes.
Dr. Fischel co-founded a venture capital-backed genomics biotechnology company, and served as the Chief Scientific Officer and as a member of the Board of Directors; the company was later acquired by Warner-Lambert (Pfizer). He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Stereotaxis Inc., a publicly traded medical technology company.
Learn more about Dr. Fischel’s story.
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