Category: Women’s Entrepreneurship Symposium

NaThanya Ferguson is a supervisory innovation development program manager in the USPTO’s Office of the Chief Communications Officer, which focuses on outreach and engagement of independent inventors, small businesses, entrepreneurs, university inventors, and underserved communities across America.

Ms. Ferguson joined the USPTO in 1989. During her 31-year tenure at the agency, she has worked as a paralegal specialist in the Patents technology centers, lead patent analyst for the Patent Reengineering Lab, management and program analyst in the Science and Technology Information Center, contracting officer and technical representative in the Office of Data Management, and project manager in the Office of the Deputy Commissioner for Patent Operations.

Ms. Ferguson has received numerous awards, including a Department of Commerce Gold Medal in 2015 for her contribution to the innovative and collaborative implementation of the First Inventor to File statutory provisions of the America Invents Act, a Department of Commerce Distinguished Career Award in 2011 for continued outstanding service, and a Silver Medal Award in 1999 for her contribution to the development and implementation of the Patent Reengineering initiative.

Ms. Ferguson holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business and management from Johns Hopkins University and a Master’s Certificate in project management from Management Concepts and Regis University.

Lisa Dunner is Managing Partner at Dunner Law PLLC, a Certified Woman-Owned firm in Washington, D.C. She is a past Chair of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law, Founding Editor-in-Chief of the ABA IPL’s flagship IP magazine, Landslide, and she currently serves as a delegate for the section as well as a commissioner on the ABA Commission for Women in the Profession. She is recognized as one of the world’s top 250 women in IP and as one of the top 1,000 trademark attorneys in the world. Ms. Dunner also served a three-year term on the USPTO Trademark Public Advisory Committee. Ms. Dunner holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rollins College and earned her law degree from the John Marshall Law School.

Margot Dorfman is a visionary leader who has dedicated herself to promoting the economic and leadership interests of women. Her extensive background in business, business ownership, publishing, and nonprofit leadership prepared her to set the vision for the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce. She is frequently called upon to provide expert testimony on behalf of women and America’s small businesses before the U.S. House and Senate and regularly provides keen insights on women’s personal and business economic interests at conferences across the U.S.

The U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce is a uniquely respected and influential national trade association promoting the advancement of women in work and business. Using a platform of influence, innovation, and opportunity, the chamber works with and for its members to grow successful businesses and careers. Fiercely independent, the chamber has remained free from large corporate and political financial influence, giving the organization the ability to consistently take positions and actions that support women’s economic interests.

Ms. Dorfman also serves on the board of directors of the National Association of Small Business Contractors and the American Small Business Chamber of Commerce. Prior to her work with the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce, she founded Arizona Women’s News, Hispana News, and the Greater Phoenix Chamber Business Connection. She previously

held executive positions with General Mills and other Fortune 500 firms and holds a master’s degree in education from Lesley University and a Bachelor of Science in education from Northeastern University.

As the Eastern Regional Outreach Director for the USPTO, Elizabeth Dougherty carries out the strategic direction of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, and she is responsible for leading the USPTO’s East Coast stakeholder engagement. Focusing on the region and actively engaging with the community, Ms. Dougherty ensures that the USPTO’s initiatives and programs are tailored to the region’s unique ecosystem of industries and stakeholders.

A 27-year veteran of the USPTO, Ms. Dougherty previously served as the Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO. In this role, she worked closely with agency leadership to implement USPTO policies and priorities. She began her career at the USPTO as a patent examiner after graduating from The Catholic University of America with a bachelor’s degree in physics. While a patent examiner, she went on to obtain her Juris Doctor from the Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America and served as a senior legal advisor in the Office of Patent Legal Administration for a significant part of her career. Over the years, she has also served in the USPTO’s Office of Petitions, the Office of Innovation Development, and the Office of Government Affairs.

Ms. Dougherty has dedicated much of her career to the USPTO’s outreach and education programs focusing on small businesses, startups, and entrepreneurs. In this effort, she has developed, implemented, and supervised programs that support the independent inventor community, small businesses, entrepreneurs, and the intellectual property interests of colleges and universities. Similarly, Ms. Dougherty has spearheaded a number of special projects with federal, state and local governments, and private organizations to promote and support invention and innovation in the United States.

Ms. Dougherty is a member of the Virginia Bar, the Giles S. Rich American Inn of Court, the Pauline Newman American Inn of Court, the American Bar Association, the Federal Circuit Bar Association, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the Patent and Trademark Office Society, the Supervisory Patent Examiners and Classifiers Organization, Women in Science and Engineering, Federally Employed Women, and the Network of Executive Women.

Valencia Martin Wallace is Deputy Commissioner for International Patent Cooperation. As Deputy Commissioner for International Patent Cooperation, Ms. Martin Wallace will oversee the Patent business unit’s efforts related to the international IP arena. Specifically, she will provide executive leadership on international patent legal issues, work sharing efforts with international partners, information technology solutions supporting international users of the U.S. patent system, the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) system, and Patents’ international outreach efforts.

Ms. Martin Wallace previously served as Deputy Commissioner for Patent Quality beginning in 2015, where she managed and led the Patent Organization’s quality initiatives, including improvement of the high quality of the patent examination process and products by implementing and maintaining a comprehensive quality management system.

Prior to becoming Deputy Commissioner for Patent Quality, Ms. Martin Wallace served as Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Patent Operations from 2011-2015, where she oversaw technology center operations in the software technology area. Ms. Martin Wallace is a graduate of Howard University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, and The George Washington University School of Law, where she earned a Juris Doctor. She has also received a certificate in Advanced Public Administration from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Public Administration.

As the USPTO’s General Counsel, Sarah Harris is the principal legal advisor to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectua

Property and Director of the USPTO. She supervises the provision of legal advice and court representation on intellectual property and administrative matters for the agency. Ms. Harris is responsible for providing legal advice on patent, trademark, and copyright matters as well as administrative issues such as government contracts, personnel, and budgetary matters. As necessary, she coordinates with the Department of Justice, Department of Commerce, and other agencies in developing the U.S. position on major intellectual property cases before the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeals.

Prior to joining the USPTO, Ms. Harris served as Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Intellectual Property at AOL, Inc. and Associate General Counsel, Intellectual Property at Cooper Industries, Ltd. where she interpreted intellectual property legislation and case law to establish and manage the implementation of global corporate strategies for capturing, protecting, and exploiting intellectual property to complement corporate initiatives. She has extensive experience in managing all types of intellectual property litigation and administrative proceedings (including patent, trademark, copyright, and domain name), intellectual property transactional issues, patent and trademark asset protection and monetization, and ethics and compliance issues. During her time with Haynes and Boone, LLP, Ms. Harris counseled clients on all aspects of protecting intellectual property, including patent acquisition and strategic portfolio development, licensing, litigation, and technology and investment transactions. She drafted and filed numerous patent and trademark applications and freedom to operate opinions.

Ms. Harris has been active in industry bar organizations and is a frequent presenter on intellectual property issues to senior executives, business clients, and industry stakeholders. She was the President of the Houston Intellectual Property Law Association

and on the Executive Committee of the Association of Corporate Patent Counsel. Ms. Harris received her Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University and her Juris Doctor from the University of Houston Law Center.

Laura Peter is the Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). She is the principal advisor to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, and responsible for all agency operations. This includes oversight for the five USPTO Regional Offices, managing 13,000 employees, and executing the policies, priorities, and programs for an annual budget of $3.5 billion.

Prior to joining the USPTO, Ms. Peter was the Deputy General Counsel of A10 Networks, a publicly-traded IT company where she oversaw daily legal matters related to commercial agreements, litigation, and intellectual property (IP) portfolio development. In 2014, she helped shepherd the company through its initial public offering.

Ms. Peter has practiced IP law for over 20 years. Previously, she was Vice President and General Counsel of Immersion Corporation, where she led all aspects of the company’s legal issues, including its IP portfolio. She was also Assistant General Counsel and Director of Intellectual Property at Foundry Networks, where she built a successful patent portfolio and litigation program. She began her career as a commercial and IP litigator at Townsend, Townsend and Crew (now Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP).

Ms. Peter received a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from Cornell University and a master’s in public policy from the University of Chicago. She also holds a Juris Doctor from Santa Clara University School of Law and a Master of Law degree in international business law from King’s College London.