David A. Mancino, JD is a partner and co-chair of the Intellectual Property practice of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP. Mr. Mancino’s scope of practice includes patent and intellectual property (IP) litigation, patent preparation and prosecution, IP opinion work, IP licensing, technology agreements, IP training and client counseling as it relates to technology, IP protection and business strategy.  Mr. Mancino, a registered patent attorney, litigates and prosecutes patents in many technical areas including: medical and surgical devices, prosthetics, software, business methods, electrical circuits, computer systems, computer networks, semiconductor device technology, jet engine technology, and many other mechanical and electro-mechanical technologies.

He obtained his law degree from the University of Cincinnati School of Law in 1994 after working as a Senior Electrical Engineer for McDonnell Douglas Corporation in St. Louis. His technical background lies in electrical engineering and computer programming, and he has a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan College of Engineering. 

Kevin W. Kirsch, JD is a partner in the Cincinnati office of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP and heads the Taft Patent Litigation Practice Group. Mr. Kirsch is a peer reviewed AV Rated attorney who has represented companies in numerous complex commercial and intellectual property litigation matters. He is a patent attorney, licensed to practice before the United States Patent & Trademark Office. Mr. Kirsch recently testified before the United States House of Representatives, Committee on Small Business, at a March 29, 2007 hearing entitled “The Importance of Patent Reform to Small Business.

He was formerly a partner with Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly LLP with a nationwide practice focused on the litigation of complex commercial, patent, trademark, copyright, misappropriation of trade secrets and domain name disputes.  Mr. Kirsch previously led the Legal Services Department for Luxottica Retail (LensCrafters, Pearl Vision, Sunglass Hut).  Mr. Kirsch also was previously of counsel with Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, a leading high technology law firm in Newport Beach, California.  He is admitted to practice before the State Courts of California, the United States District Courts of California (Southern, Central and Northern), the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the Federal Circuit. He was enrolled in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of California in Irvine. Mr. Kirsch received his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley and his law degree from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP is a Midwestern general-practice law firm headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Taft has more than 200 attorneys who practice in a wide range of legal areas and service both U.S. and international clients, from start-up technology companies to publicly traded and international corporations.  The Taft Life Sciences Practice Group offers a full range of services, including technology licensing and strategy, technology-related venture arrangements and corporate partnering agreements, as well as patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret protection. 

Taft’s Life Sciences practitioners assist companies, research institutions, incubators, and scientists protect, develop and commercialize their intellectual property in a wide range of technical areas, including:  genetics, molecular biology, medical and surgical devices, pharmaceuticals, clinical trials, bioremediation, e-commerce, and software.  As a full-service law firm, Taft can assemble a customized legal team for its biotechnology clients, including attorneys in: intellectual property, business formation, venture capital, finance, securities (stock options), tax, labor/employment, antitrust and litigation (including patent litigation and product liability litigation).

Understanding the Bio-business:  from start to finish

Ryan Baidya, PhD, MBA

Dr. Baidya has 12+ years of experience in the biotech and IT fields. He founded BioZak, Inc. and served as one of the founding management.  At BioZak he designed, developed and executed funding, business and product development strategies.  Prior to BioZak, he spent a short period at Genprobe, a DNA diagnostic company; Hyseq, Inc., a DNA chips company; and GeneAsia, Inc., a gene-profiling company.  He serves as advisor to several technology-based companies, e.g., Golden-Embryo, Pune/India; and KZAISoft corp., Durgapur/India.

Currently, he is an adjunct faculty for Bio-MBA at the International Technology University, Silicon Valley California, He gave numerous lectures on life sciences and bio-business topics at conferences, primarily in USA, and Japan and served as a Thought Leader, Frost & Sullivan, Executive Summits,.  He authored articles, patents, and commentaries. His book titled Biopreneur: The Molecular Millionaires scheduled to be published in Q4 2007.

Leadership – dual Motive theory:
A sustainable global-business model of the 21^st century

Gerald A. Cory, Jr. PhD

Dr Cory, was the turnaround CEO at Tandem Computers Japan, taking them from $5M to $100M annual sales in 5years, and was an Executive Participant in founding of the University of Phoenix. He co-founded Unuson Corporation, a media company co-founded with Steve Wozniak (Apple Computers co-founder), and was the Founder of the Center for Behavioral Ecology.

Dr Cory is the internationally known author of 4 books on ways to identify and promote more effective workplace behavior and structures to increase productivity and well-being. Previously a Senior Fellow at San Jose State University, he now teaches part-time at the SJSU College of Business.  Dr Cory has an MA and A Ph. D. from Stanford University, plus a BA from the University of South Carolina.