Early-stage companies face conflicting goals when developing their IP portfolios: realizing immediate revenues to sustain the company in the short-term, while providing long-term potential to attract venture capital, acquisition or IPO.
Sid Paquette is Director at OMERS Ventures and is responsible for the identification and execution of investment opportunities for OMERS Ventures in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) sectors. Prior to joining OMERS Ventures, Sid was a senior manager in the international tax practice of Deloitte, as well as a member of its TMT executive team. Prior to Deloitte, Sid was called to the Bar of Ontario and worked for one of Canada’s leading corporate law firms. Sid has over a decade of experience providing business, tax and legal advisory services to high-growth companies in the TMT sectors. He has specialized in providing M&A advice to Canadian and foreign-based multinational corporations, as well as developing and implementing innovative intellectual property strategies. Sid holds a B.A. from York University, J.D. from Osgoode Hall Law School, MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University and an MTax from the University of Waterloo
Rich Sanders, CEO and founder of PatentLink Corporation, is an IP strategist and lawyer with over 20 years of experience defending and prosecuting patent infringement and other IP/unfair competition lawsuits, and counseling “C” level executives on business issues involving IP. In addition to developing and managing patent monetization programs, Rich educates technology company executives on how to acquire (internally or externally) commercially valuable IP and use that IP to generate shareholder value. Rich also is CEO of Callwave Communications, LLC, an IP monetization company with over 70 patents in fields of internet, wireline and wireless telephony, e-commerce, IT security, and location positioning technology. Prior to founding PatentLink, Rich was a partner at, and co-founded the Boston office of Cooley LLP, a leading U.S. technology and life sciences law firm, and was head of its Boston patent litigation practice. Rich has B.Sc., M.Sc., LL.B, and B.C.L. degrees from McGill University, is a former Chair of the IP Litigation Committee of the Boston Bar Association, and has been voted a “Best Lawyer in America” in Technology Law.
