The Licensing Executives Society International (LESI) will unveil the alliance on May 27 at a reception which will be open to all attendees at the conference.
Currently, less than 50% of LESI members are women. Through international efforts to bring together LESI members to share best practices in the profession, provide educational content and create networking opportunities, LESI aims to advance the growth of women in LESI leadership and provide support for the advancement of women in licensing.
Although women represent more than 50% of members in some local LESI societies, the average proportion of women members globally is just over a third, says LESI president-elect Fiona Nicolson. “I see it as my role to encourage more women to become involved with licensing and commercialisation,” she adds. “In Yokohama we will be launching our Women in Licensing Alliance to bring more women to the fore in this constantly fascinating and burgeoning professional sphere and to increase diversity generally in our organisation.’’
Opening addresses will be made by Nicolson, who is also a partner at Bristows; Sonja London, LESI high tech co-chair and head of licensing operations, Nokia; and Pam Cox, LESI board member and partner and chair of IP transactions at Marshall, Gerstein & Borun.
“During my tenure, LESI will be working to ensure that all sizes of companies, from the major corporates through to the emerging start-ups, are able to push forward with their strategies for IP and commercialisation,” Nicolson tells Managing IP. “We are all about educating business about the importance of IP, creating international networks for our members, and we are working toward the standardisation of IP management across the globe.’’
For more information about the event, visit: http://www.lesi.yokohama/
