Join ChIPs as we celebrate Black Excellence in IP. Hear from outstanding ChIPs members on the journeys they’ve taken, the challenges they’ve faced, how sisterhood and collaboration are necessary to push past the barriers, and what we can do better to make it easier for Black women to rise to the top.

PANELISTS:

• Laurie Charrington, Director of Patent Litigation at Netflix
• Lisa Knight, Chief Intellectual Property Counsel and Associate General Counsel, American International Group, Inc.
• Kandace Walter, Managing Partner of Walter Legal
• Mavis Fowler-Williams, Principal, IP & Technology Law in the 21^st Century and Adjunct Faculty, Columbia Law School

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Laurie Charrington
Laurie Charrington is Director of Patent Litigation at Netflix. She previously worked as Associate General Counsel and Patent Litigation Team Lead in Intel’s Intellectual Property Legal Group. Laurie is an active member of ChIPs and is a founding member of the Silicon Valley ChIPs Chapter and has been a leader in many organizations focused on increasing equity and inclusion in the technology and legal industries.

Lisa Knight
Lisa Knight is the Chief Intellectual Property Counsel and Associate General Counsel at American International Group, Inc. (“AIG”). Her responsibilities include identifying and protecting AIG’s key areas of innovation using intellectual property, protecting the AIG’s global brands, monetizing IP, performing freedom to operate analyses, mitigating intellectual property related risks and implementing best practices globally that enhance AIG’s patent and trademark portfolios.

For over 20 years, Lisa has specialized in strategic trademark and patent portfolio management and IP monetization, patent litigation and prosecution, and IP transactions in technical areas that include blockchain, cybersecurity, AI, IoT, mobile payments, online security, E-commerce, gaming technology, enhanced data analytics and contactless payments. She successfully obtained over 500 patents for her clients, including 7 patents on which she is listed as an inventor.

In addition to the Juris Doctor that she earned from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, Lisa also has a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Engineering Management both from the California State University at Northridge as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the New York Institute of Technology.

Kandace Walter
Kandace D. Walter, Esq., has almost two decades of relevant and valuable legal experience to satisfy the business and intellectual property needs of her clients. Ms. Walter is known for her candid demeanor. Clients depend on Ms. Walter to dispense comprehensive, straightforward and practical advice as they make critical decisions that impact the livelihood, security and profitability of their business endeavors.

Prior to the creation of Walter Legal PLLC, Ms. Walter honed her unique skills and legal perspective at an intellectual property and business litigation boutique law firm, a medium-sized school law firm, the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office as well as the Dallas City Attorney’s Office.  Ms. Walter’s extensive courtroom experience and technical background give her a distinctive perspective on the issues facing entrepreneurs, small business owners and inventors. Ms. Walter is competent and confident in the courtroom and works vigorously to protect her client’s interests.

Mavis Fowler-Williams
Mavis Fowler-Williams is a leader of intellectual property and technology law. She negotiates agreements and prepares training materials for private clients in the finance and entertainment industries. She began her practice in intellectual property law as an associate for the patent boutique law firm of Cooper and Dunham. Shortly thereafter, she became a registered patent attorney while working for Johnson & Johnson.

Fowler-Williams started her own law firm specializing in negotiating a full array of intellectual property agreements for entertainment companies. In addition to prosecuting patent applications for inventors, she was actively involved in the patent licensing of a film editing process for one of her corporate clients, as well as managing the trademark portfolios of companies in the clothing, dance, and travel media industries. While working in her own practice, Fowler-Williams became general counsel for Metropolis Pictures, the independent production company that made and distributed the 35 MM film Murder Magic.

She then became a partner in the New York Office of Anderson Kill. As an in-house attorney working for Toys “R” Us, Nick at Nite and TV Land and recently, CBS News, Fowler-Williams has become a transactional expert who has negotiated, revised and reviewed thousands of licenses and other agreements.

Fowler-Williams received her J.D. from Columbia Law School and her B.S. in 1983 from Columbia University.