Thursday, March 30

Registration will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Lakeside Foyer, Floor 3.

Meet with colleagues and schedule meetings. The FLC Partnering Place will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Lakeside Foyer, Floor 3.

Check out the Awards Posters from the 2023 Award Winners. The Award Posters will be open for viewing from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Superior Foyer, Floor 5.

Make plans to participate in these demos to learn about FLC and sponsor products. The demos will take place in Center Street A, Floor 3 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m ET.

The schedule for the demos is as follows:

10:15 - 10:45 a.m. -- FLC Learning Center

11:45 a.m. - 12:20 p.m. -- FLC Learning Center Focus Group

12:45 - 1:15 p.m. -- Clarivate (sponsored)

1:30 - 2 p.m. -- Gardner Innovation (sponsored)

2:10 - 2:40 p.m. -- E-Groups

2:45 - 3:15 p.m. -- FLC Business

3:30 - 4 p.m. -- FLC website

Join Linda Burger, FLC Chair as she welcomes attendees and introduces the keynote, John Nottingham, Nottingham Spirk, who will present commercialization success stories as he delivers his keynote address on “95% Commercialization.”  The welcome and keynote will take place from 9 to 10:15 a.m. in. Superior Ballroom D, Floor 5.

FLC exhibitors are ready to meet you from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m in the Veterans Meeting Rooms A-D, Floor 5.

Join Linda Burger, FLC Chair, NSA and John Eisemann, FLC Vice Chair, USDA APHIS as they present the Town Hall for the FLC from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. in Superior Ballroom D, Floor 5.

Start time: 12:45 p.m. ET 

Moderator: Megan Aanstoos (She/Her), Kentucky Commercialization Ventures 

Speakers:

• Tamsen Barrett (She/Her), Norton, Rose, and Fulbright
• Kellie Howie (She/Her), Sandia National Laboratories 
• Molly Kocialski (She/Her), USPTO
• Andrew Toole (He/Him), U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

The share of women among U.S. inventor-patentees was only 12.8% in 2019. In 2020, only 16.5% of inventors named on international patent applicants were women. This gap is also present for other under-engaged groups - Black American inventors, for example, applied for patents at one third to nearly half the rate of Whites in 2016. And Hispanic inventors file patents at less than half the rate of Black inventors. This is not just a race or gender concern. According to research, families in the top 1% of income are 10 times more likely to produce patent holders than families in the lower half. Diverse representation is important, but this is also an economic problem - the U.S. gross domestic product could increase by 2.7% with better representation, resulting in more than $1 trillion to the economy. The gap is decreasing, but parity won't be achieved without dedicated conversations and concerted efforts. In this session, panelists will share what their groups are doing to increase representation and decrease the diversity gap for intellectual property and innovation.  

Superior Ballroom D, Floor 5

Start time: 12:45 p.m. ET 

Moderator: Laszlo Gyorffy, IdeaScale 

Speakers:

• Victor Assad, InnovationOne 
• C. Brooke Dobni, InnovationOne
• James P. Keating, Idaho National Laboratory
• Jason C. Stolworthy, Idaho National Laboratory

Leaders and managers are generally aware that culture impacts performance, but most are not aware of just how much, largely due to a lack of empirical research. This has resulted in an underinvestment in organizational culture development. In this session, you’ll hear about how improving your innovation culture by just 1 point (on a 100-point scale) can result in a 20-30% increase in innovation performance. We’ll discuss what to focus on to increase targeted outcomes and provide actionable steps to improve your organization’s innovation culture.  

Superior Ballroom C, Floor 5

Start time: 2:00 p.m.ET 

Moderator: Harvey Schabes, NASA Glenn Research Center 

Speakers:

• Paul Campbell, Brown Venture Group
• Ethan Cohen, JumpStart Inc. 
• Aaron Goodman, Petra Power

Startups are key to building a strong economy, yet the barriers to entry for startups are many. Compounding these barriers is that, traditionally, the majority of startups come from historically non-diverse male communities. What are the obstacles for under-resourced startup entrepreneurs in accessing federal technology transfer programs? And if federal technology is a catalyst for new business, how can federal tech transfer professionals build effective collaborative relationships to help grow successful startups across all demographics? In this session, we’ll provide you with insights to ensure greater adoption and success for federal tech transfer programs - especially for under-resourced startup entrepreneurs looking to access federally developed technology to stimulate inclusive economic growth. 

Superior Ballroom A, Floor 5

Start time: 2:45 p.m. ET 

Moderator: Brian Darmody, Association of University Research Parks 

Speakers:

• Rita Doerr, NSA Cybersecurity Collaboration Center (CCC)
• Mikaela McShane, NASA 
• Kirsten Rieth, RTI Innovation Advisors

Many federal labs positively impact local community economies by working with research parks, innovation districts and other organizations. New regional funding sources from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and the National Science Foundation provide additional partnership opportunities for federal labs and stakeholders to build regional technology ecosystems. In this session, you’ll get a line on best practices and opportunities for federal labs to develop new ways of engaging with their local communities in support of innovation and economic development.  

Superior Ballroom A, Floor 5

Start time: 4 p.m. ET 

Moderator: Paul Zielinski, FLC 

Speaker: Russell Levine, Kirkland & Ellis LLP 

Reported decisions from court cases expose, for all to see, mistakes commonly made when drafting and negotiating patent license agreements. These common mistakes include using ambiguous language, failing to ensure consistency between clauses and thinking that boilerplate provisions have little, if any, substantive consequences. Far too often, mistakes result from inadequate or incomplete due diligence. Court decisions also reveal a failure to recognize that different terms have different legal meanings (e.g. assignment vs. change of control). We will explore these issues and others. 

Superior Ballroom A, Floor 5

2 - 5:30 p.m. ET

The Department of Defense (DoD) Workshop will consist of key updates from OSD and Component T2 Leadership, as well as other DoD-focused topics. The following sessions are scheduled:

Opening remarks from OSD Technology Transfer Senior Leadership

• Dr. Kevin Geiss, Director, Science & Technology Futures
• Dr. P. Kim Pham, Director, Technology Transfer and Commercial Partnerships

Moderated panel with Technology Transfer leaders from across the DoD

• Robert Bolluyt, Director, Defense Health Agency Technology Transfer Program & Intellectual Property
• Scott Aughenbaugh, Director, Air Force Technology Transfer & Transition Program
• Dr. Ellen Holthoff, Director for Laboratory Management Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research and Technology (DASA R&T)
• Kendra Meggett-Carr, Director, Department of the Navy Technology Transfer Program

Roundtable topics primer and breakout sessions

• Re-energizing T2 post COVID
  • using new tools and flexibilities
  • engaging S&Es

Join us after the DoD Workshop for dinner and more networking with the popular dine-arounds!

Download the restaurant information here and then sign up here with your restaurant selection for the dine arounds.

2 - 5:30 p.m. ET

Please join us for an informal discussion about Department of Energy (DOE) technology transfer topics, gaps, challenges, and potential ways forward.  Discussion leaders will include FLC’s DOE Agency Representatives from the Office of Technology Transitions (OTT), including Vanessa Peña, OTT’s new Senior Manager for Technology Transfer, and Lee Finewood, NNSA’s Program Manager in Strategic Partnerships, as well as the Technology Transfer Working Group (TTWG). Detailed agenda will be forthcoming. If you would like to suggest topics for discussion, please contact [email protected].