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September 9, 2002 Volume 27, Issue 6 |
An overview of the role patents and licensing activity play in commercializing research results, especially in the agriculture sector, are the topics of a Sept. 17 campus seminar.
Dr. Larry W. Stults, head of intellectual property for the American headquarters of Syngenta, an international agribusiness, leads the 1:30 p.m. program in Tully Auditorium of Thompson Hall, entitled "The Role of Patents and Licensing in Technology Development." The seminar is hosted by the Office of Intellectual Property and Technology Licensing and the Life Sciences and Biotechnology Institute.
Stults will discuss the risks industry faces in moving a product toward commercialization, as well as the characteristics of commercially valuable intellectual property. He also will highlight some of the issues related to industry/university expectations in licensing technology.
Stults holds a doctorate in cellular biology and biochemistry from Johns Hopkins University. In 1992, he received a cum laude law degree from the University of Georgia School of Law. He then served as an associate in the biotechnology group at the Atlanta intellectual property firm of Jones & Askew, where he practiced until the beginning of 1997.
He then joined Novartis, a company formed by the merger of Sandoz and Ciba-Geigy. Stults later became head of intellectual property-U.S. for Syngenta which was formed through the merger of the agricultural divisions of Novartis and AstraZeneca. Syngenta's U.S. headquarters is in Greensboro, N.C.
To reserve a spot, interested faculty and staff members should contact Donna Murrah by Sept. 13 by telephoning 325-9263, or by e-mailing dmurrah@research.msstate.edu.