Pam Deese
Partner, ArentFox Schiff

Pam’s intellectual property representation includes counseling patent pools and other IP owners in developing and maintaining strategic licensing programs as well as maintaining IP portfolios. Her work also includes advertising review and litigation for consumer products companies. Among other things, she provides counsel with respect to the creation, negotiation and enforcement of licenses and related agreements, management of worldwide IP rights, as well as representation involving counterfeiting issues, privacy, sweepstakes and promotions, celebrity endorsements, and litigating related business disputes. Pam also serves on the Board of Directors of Licensing International, which is the industry trade association for IP Licensing. Additionally, Pam is an adjunct member of the faculty of American University’s Washington College of Law, where she teaches IP Licensing. She is active in numerous professional associations. She holds membership in the American Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Law sections, the District of Columbia Bar Association, and the Pennsylvania Bar Association. Additionally, she is a member of the NY Intellectual Property Lawyers Association and Licensing International Association. She served as Vice Chair of the ABA Section of Science and Technology, Committee on Technical Standardization and Infrastructure for a decade and on the Licensing Journal’s Editorial Board and as the Trademark Licensing Columnist for nearly 20 years.

Mike Dunn
President of Octane5

Mike is the current President and Chief Brand Officer of Octane5. He co-founded Octane5 in 2009 and is responsible for all sales, marketing and product development operations. Mike last served as President of J. Patton. He developed and launched the security print and holographic manufacturing operation. Mike is a co-inventor on two U.S. patents covering the process of manufacturing holographic hang tags. Since the product’s inception, billions of hang tags have been produced and shipped globally for over 800 Universities and brands such as John Deere and PGA TOUR. At Octane5, Mike was instrumental in developing a 10-year global partnership with De La Rue, and developed the “THREADS” line of label and hang tags. THREADS employs cylinder mould water marked currency-grade paper. During the 10-year arrangement, dozens of global brands relied on this technology for product authentication. In 2021, Octane5 partnered with Crane Currency to deliver high security labels, hang tags and other micro-optic products to their customer base. Combined with loyalty-based consumer activation and brand compliance software, Octane5’s enterprise solution is being used by brands such as; Harley-Davidson, Caterpillar, Ford, General Motors, Scott Brothers Living and Major League Baseball to name a few.

Monica A. Hernandez
Senior Corporate Counsel at Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit

Monica A. Hernandez serves as Senior Corporate Counsel for Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit, where she works with brands and law enforcement agencies worldwide to hold bad actors accountable to protect customers, brands, selling partners, and the Amazon Store. Prior to joining Amazon, Monica practiced civil litigation at a leading law firm, where she specialized in intellectual property infringement matters. Her legal expertise spans complex IP litigation and fraud prevention strategies.

Andrew D. Lee
Special Agent and National Program Manager at the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center

Special Agent Andrew D. Lee is a National Program Manager (PM) at National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) overseeing Operation Engine Newity programmatic area which deals with counterfeit automotive parts and heavy industry and concurrently serving as acting Section Chief of Intellectual Property Unit. Prior to his latest assignment, PM Lee was a Senior Special Agent with Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), Resident Agent in Charge Office, Phoenix, AZ. PM Lee supported IPR Center’s outreach and training programs while assigned to OPR. PM Lee began his federal law enforcement career in April 2006 with Department of Homeland Security and joined Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) as a special agent in June 2007. He has conducted investigations into multiple programmatic areas including Labor Exploitations, Human Smuggling and Trafficking, Certified Undercover Operations, Trade Fraud related to import and export, and Intellectual Property Rights in Special Agent in Charge Office Phoenix, AZ. PM Lee served as a National Program Manager of IPR Center’s Operation Stolen Promise combating counterfeit personal protective equipment during COVID pandemic. In addition, he has completed three temporary assignments to HSI Academy as an instructor. He has been the recipient of several awards to include the ICE Director’s Outstanding Performance Award. PM Lee is a graduate of the Washington University in St. Louis, MO with B.S. in Civil Engineering and worked in civil engineering industry for 11 years with multinational firms in Asia and Oceania prior to joining federal law enforcement.

Rebecca Mond
Head of External Relations, Customer Trust, and Abuse Prevention at Amazon

Rebecca Mond is Head of External Relations for Customer Trust at Amazon. In this role, she engages with external stakeholders to build partnerships supporting Amazon’s anti-counterfeiting, product safety, and anti-organized retail crime work. Prior to Amazon, Rebecca was Vice President of Federal Government Affairs at The Toy Association, where she led advocacy on issues including product safety, IP protection, and international trade. Rebecca holds a BA in government from Georgetown University.

Joseph Pinho
Founder of Mod Fan Art

Maura Regan
President of Licensing International

Maura Regan joined Licensing International in 2016 and assumed the role of President in July 2018, bringing with her more than 20 years of experience in the global brand licensing and media industries. Licensing International is the premier association for the global brand licensing industry, and Maura is responsible for leading the organization in fostering the expansion of licensing around the world and creating greater awareness of the benefits of licensing to the business community at large. As the former Head of Global Consumer Products at Sesame Workshop, the home of Sesame Street, Maura drove the non-profit organization’s strategic commercial initiatives with a focus on delivering significant unrestricted revenue to support its overarching philanthropic goals. Prior to Sesame Workshop, where she enjoyed an exhilarating 17-year tenure, Maura held executive positions with MTV Networks, Scholastic Entertainment, and The Jim Henson Company.

Paurav Shukla
Professor of Marketing and Department Head of Research at Southampton Business School

Paurav Shukla is the Professor of Marketing and Department Head of Research at Southampton Business School, University of Southampton, UK. His research interests include cross-cultural marketing, digital marketing, brand management, comparative consumer behaviour, and international marketing. His research highlights the hidden meanings and associations embedded within consumption practices across cultures and offers novel insights for researchers and practitioners. He is one of the most cited academic scholars in the past 10 years in the luxury branding domain and is included in the top 2% of scientists globally. Professor Shukla’s career began in industry, and he continues to work hand in hand with industry as a researcher, practitioner, and advisor. He has travelled extensively throughout Europe, North America, Africa and Asia advising and training senior managers and entrepreneurs about strategic brand management, customer centric marketing and digital marketing strategy to increase their competitiveness. He has written widely in the areas of his research domain in top-tier journals including Journal of Business Research, Journal of World Business, Marketing Letters, Information & Management, International Marketing Review, Psychology & Marketing, Eating behaviours, among others. He is an expert in quantitative techniques including structural equation modelling and complex lab and field experiments and has also published papers using mixed methods approach. He has contributed chapters to edited books, case studies and popular accounts of his work have appeared in the Sunday Times, the Guardian, BBC, Woman’s Wear Daily (the fashion bible), Luxury Society, Business Week, National Post of Canada, and LiveMint Wall Street Journal, among others. He has been involved as a guest editor for journals, conference chair, and track chair for prestigious conferences. He is also on the editorial and review boards of several renowned conferences and journals. Professor Shukla has consulted for global consumer brand firms such as Unilever, GSK, Zurich insurance; leading as well as budding digital companies including Clevertouch, iCrossing, Mavens, Urban Rivals, Dr. Adams Laboratories, CGEye; International luxury, fashion and retail brands Spiewak, Stella, Lillie Design; large financial and insurance firms ICICI Prudential, Punjab National Bank, and Life Insurance Corporation of India, among others.

Evan Williams
Senior Director of Global IP Enforcement at Alibaba International

Evan Williams is a Senior Director for Alibaba International Global Intellectual Property Enforcement, based in Washington, D.C. Evan works with public and private IPR stakeholders to eliminate online trafficking of counterfeit goods on Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms and to pursue counterfeiters offline. Evan retired in 2021 as Senior Counsel from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, where he prosecuted intellectual property and cybercrime offenses. From 2016-2021, Evan was posted at the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong, serving a long-term detail as one of DOJ’s first International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Attorney-Advisors for Asia.