Samantha Updegraff started her career at Sandia National Laboratories as a licensing executive in 2015 after working for many years in private practice representing clients on intellectual property/patent law matters. With an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering, Updegraff previously worked as a process engineer in human insulin manufacturing. With her unique engineering, law firm and licensing executive experience, Updegraff supports and expedites technology transfer activities.  

When a technology transfer matter involves legal challenges, Updegraff devises creative ways to ensure compliance with regulations and meet Sandia’s technology transfer mission. Her legal expertise spans intellectual property, licensing, non-disclosure agreements, Cooperative Research and Development Agreements and Strategic Project Partnerships, patents, copyrights and software.  

Publication is, by far, the most common way Sandia transfers its technology. To streamline the publication process, Updegraff created a program that transfers copyright in written works to Sandia authors. Sandia employees/authors publish more than 2,000 written works per year – sometimes operating as “publish or perish” like universities – and they previously had to wait months or years while Sandia Legal negotiated publication agreements with publishers. The program allows employees/authors to sign their own publication agreement and collect royalties directly from the publisher. The program was a huge success, increasing employees’ job satisfaction and reducing frustration. 

Updegraff is also the patent attorney for multiple centers at the Labs, working to patent inventions that can later be licensed. She worked diligently with her licensing executive colleague to negotiate a high-value license with a major electronics company for an entire portfolio of patents. There were several negotiations with the company before an agreement was finalized. 

Updegraff works with other Department of Energy (DOE)-lab attorneys on multi-party technology transfer agreements and teams with management and staff on proposals, consortiums and other partnership and technology transfer opportunities. She regularly presents on partnership mechanisms and best practices for working with non-federal agencies. 

Updegraff has worked with the licensing group on updating all licensing and technology transfer agreement templates. She has led the way in ensuring the most recent 2021 science and engineering determination of exceptional circumstances (DEC) is being considered and complied with in patenting and licensing. She worked closely with the DOE/National Nuclear Security Administration Patent Counsel to understand how the new DEC would apply to Sandia and its patent waiver and licensing processes.  

Updegraff is the lead intellectual property attorney at Sandia working on technology transfer activities. She not only works on patent licenses and technology transfer agreements, but she also reviews all copyright assertion third-party software reviews and copyright issues with software to ensure Sandia can properly license or open-source its software. Updegraff is involved in several inter-laboratory collaborations and consortiums to improve technology transfer practices, including being a mentor in Boost, a project funded by the DOE Technology Commercialization Fund. Updegraff mentored the Los Alamos National Laboratory licensing group in licensing practices including software/copyright licensing.