March 2-5, 2025 | Pam Cox and Julie Watson to Present at AUTM 2025 Annual Meeting
Pam Cox and Julie Watson will be speaking at the 2025 AUTM Annual Meeting. The AUTM Annual Meeting is where technology transfer professionals from around the globe meet to connect, make deals and gain insights from world-class speakers and panels.
Sessions not to miss:
“Advanced Licensing” – March 2, 8:00 AM EST – 4:00 PM EST.
Ready to take your licensing skills to the next level? AUTM's NEW Advanced Licensing Course can help you do just that. Designed for licensing professionals with more than three years' experience, this one-day program brings together instructors with years of experience negotiating transactions for both research institutions and companies for a deep dive into hotly contested issues in license agreements. The program will explore commonly encountered challenges, such as consideration and diligence provisions; non-patent licenses; and areas and language that may result in loopholes in a license that can be detrimental for the licensor, as well as strategies and solutions to address them.
“The Business Side of the License” – March 4, 2:00 PM EST – 3:15 PM EST.
Pam will be joined by Gayatri Varma (AstraZeneca) and Maithili Shroff (University of New Hampshire) to dive deeply into the terms and conditions of the non-profit license from the perspective of pharma/biotech and high-tech/software.
“Unleashing the Controversy: The NERF Dilemma in Academia and Industry” – March 5, 9:00 AM EST – 10:15 AM EST.
Get ready for a lively discussion over the Non-Exclusive Royalty-Free (NERF) license, where the stakes are high for the future of innovation. We’ll dive into the murky waters of the NERF language and its implications in material transfer agreements, sponsored research agreements and clinical trial agreements — practices that are often seen as a battleground between advancing research for universities and securing financial returns and freedom to operate for industry. Prepare for an electrifying debate with industry heavyweights, academic pundits and legal eagles who regularly spar over these issues.
“Surprise Deal Terms – Why We Do Them and How to Stop” – March 5, 10:30 AM – 11:45 AM EST.
Pam is on a panel of technology transfer veterans, Michael Villalobos (Vanderbilt University) and Felicia Metz (University of Maryland), to share deal terms that have had unintended results, and how those terms could be avoided or mitigated in future deals. The session will be moderated by Pasquale Ferrari (University of California Santa Barbara).
Learn more about Marshall Gerstein’s speakers:
As a patent attorney who has worked in-house, Pam Cox’s practice focuses on unraveling complex deal structures and devising creative agreement solutions as well as IP protection strategies and alternative dispute resolution for clients ranging from multinational corporations to non-profit institutions. A long-time active supporter of advancing the licensing profession and governance, Pam is Past Corporate Secretary and six-year Member of the Board of the Licensing Executive Society International (LESI), Co-Founder and Chair of the Women in Licensing Alliance (WILA), the former President of the Certified Licensing Professionals, Inc., and multi-term former Member of the Board, frequent invited international presenter and instructor including for AUTM, and an adjunct professor of Intellectual Property Licensing at Northwestern School of Law.
Julie Watson concentrates her practice in early-stage intellectual property transactions, particularly in the dynamic realm of technology startups and university technology transfer. With over 35 years of experience structuring intricate intellectual property deals, Julie has earned a reputation for her acute understanding of client needs and her ability to provide strategic solutions. She has been lauded as one of the "World's Leading Patent Practitioners" by Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine. Julie's knowledge and practice focus includes negotiating licensing transactions for biopharma and university clients, managing university out-licensing portfolios, and advising on intellectual property policies and compliance. As a member of the Board for the Certified Licensing Professional™ (CLP), faculty for the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM)’s Essential Course and adjunct professor in Intellectual Property Licensing at Northwestern School of Law, she is dedicated to continuously advancing the profession.
Click here to learn more about the event and view the full schedule.