Licensing Executives Society to Honor 2020 Award Recipients at Annual Meeting

For Outstanding Achievements in the Field of Licensing, LES to Honor Deals of Distinction, Frank Barnes Mentor and Presidential Award Winners

RESTON, Va. – October 16, 2020 – The Licensing Executives Society (U.S.A. and Canada) (LES) is pleased to announce that the Society will present its 2020 Awards for outstanding achievements and service at its Annual Meeting. LES will present the annual Deals of Distinction™ Awards and the Frank Barnes Mentor Award on Friday, October 16, from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. LES will present the Presidential Award on Monday, October 19, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Registration and conference information are available at https://lesmeetings.org/am20/.

Four Companies Honored with Deals of Distinction™ Awards

LES President and Chair Gary Fedorochko will recognize the 2020 LES Deals of Distinction™ Awards recipients. The 2020 recipients are four companies that orchestrated the year’s most outstanding licensing and business deals in four key sectors and include:

• Chemicals, Energy, Environment & Materials Sector: ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company and The University of Houston – Low-Frequency Seismic Technology License and Consortium Foundational Agreement
• High Technology Sector: University of Chicago, Configuration Dynamics and Underwriter Laboratories for their Software Technology Commercialization deal
• Industry-University-Government Interface Sector: Oregon Health & Science University and Illumina – Single-Cell Genome Sequencing Processes and Tools License
• Life Sciences Sector: Sangamo Therapeutics and Biogen -- A broad global R&D collaboration for gene regulation therapies to treat neurological diseases

“Through well-organized commercialization of intellectual property, we can drive growth across all business sectors in our global economy, from traditional business products to emerging product technologies. The 2020 award winners through creative licensing deals allow the potential of exciting and powerful innovations to be commercially realized, and we are pleased to recognize their success,” said Fedorochko. “Our thanks go to the Awards Committee for highlighting the continued achievements of LES members.”

Steven M. Ferguson Named 2020 LES Frank Barnes Mentor Award Recipient

LES Awards Committee Chair Don Drinkwater will present Steven M. Ferguson, CLP, Special Advisor at NIH’s Office of Technology Transfer, with the 2020 LES Frank Barnes Mentor Award. Like Mr. Barnes, Ferguson has devoted his career to inspiring and encouraging further innovation in the licensing sector and is a mentor for the broader technology transfer community.

“Steve’s service to LES has been truly admirable. He is an expert, a socially-aware leader, and an educator. In his nearly 30-year career in technology transfer, he has trained and mentored dozens and dozens of licensing professionals,” said Fedorochko. “He continues to be a leading light to all technology transfer professionals, always gracious and generous in sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm about the field. Congratulations to Steve from the entire LES community.”

Bill Elkington Honored with 2020 LES Presidential Award

For his driving energy around Intellectual Capital Management (ICM) and his championing of the LES Standards Initiative since its inception, Bill Elkington, Mind IC managing member, LES past president, and past LES Standards chair, will be presented with the LES Presidential Award. As the highest honor that LES can give to a community member, the award recognizes Elkington for his outstanding contribution to the Society’s health, vibrancy, and well-being.

“Bill’s passion and warm personality, in addition to his sharp intellect, make him an immutable force when it comes to ICM and standards of excellence,” said Drinkwater. “His launch of the LES Standards program has transformed the organization, resulting in an ANSI-accredited program with eight active standards committees. Bill has a deep understanding of the business of licensing and ICM, through which he has served our profession faithfully for decades by his leadership and strength of character. We, as a profession, are better because of Bill.”

About Licensing Executives Society (U.S.A. and Canada), Inc.

For over 50 years, the Licensing Executives Society (U.S.A. and Canada), Inc. (LES) has been the leading association for intellectual property (IP), technology, and business development professionals. The Society brings IP and licensing groups together to network, collaborate, and discuss some of the most critical issues facing the industry today and tomorrow. The LES community drives strategy, transactions, and deals involving intellectual property, business, and law, to fuel the evolving innovation economy. LES is a member society of the Licensing Executives Society International, Inc. (LESI), which has 32 sister societies representing 8,000 members in 90 countries. www.lesusacanada.org.