|
Patent Law practice partner Susan Betcher strengthens the business value of patent portfolios of publicly traded and privately held companies by creating intellectual property rights and then leveraging those rights via licensing agreements, competitive advantages in the marketplace, cross-jurisdictional partnerships and other arrangements. She helps clients define their IP strategies and how they can better commercialize their proprietary innovations.
Susan is a trained engineer and has experience in a broad range of technology sectors, with a concentration in clean technologies such as carbon capture, hydrogen production and storage, and alternative energy. Other technologies in her background include mechanical, electromechanical and medical device-related technologies. Among her clients are energy processors and retailers, natural resource suppliers and industrial manufacturers.
To help clients better visualize the significance of their patents, Susan strategically maps their patent portfolios and then overlays and dovetails clients’ business plans to create an in-depth and informative perspective. Susan draws upon her background in infrastructure project management and business operations to add further value. She collaborates with clients to structure predictable legal budgets that are distinct for their flexibility and protection of product features, business lines and jurisdictional rights. Susan also offers board-level presentations to executives and public boards of directors as part of her patent portfolio analysis and IP counsel.
A registered patent attorney, Susan drafts and prosecutes U.S. and foreign patent applications according to strategic portfolio planning and performs intellectual property due diligence for mergers and acquisitions. She also offers analysis on patent infringement and invalidity issues, and prepares and prosecutes design patent applications.
Susan maximizes her clients’ patent rights by negotiating intellectual property licenses, technology transfer agreements, sponsored research agreements, joint development agreements and supply agreements. She also advises clients on establishing internal patent procurement programs, analyzing and protecting competitive market advantages, and international patent prosecution strategies.
In the Clean Tech sector, Susan works with clients focused on renewables, efficiency, storage, smart grids and other areas of sustainable energy, advising them from startup to commercialization. She is a member of the Tech Advisory Council of the University of Washington Clean Energy Institute and a board member of the Washington Clean Technology Alliance.
