Intellectual Property Copyrights Consultants: 24

Nevium specializes in managing and increasing the value of intellectual property portfolios. You have your business plan; you have your marketing plan…Where is your IP plan? Quite surprisingly, most businesses don’t have an IP plan; nonetheless even know the total contents of their IP portfolio. At Nevium, we manage and monetize intellectual property and intangible assets. We believe these assets need to be identified, organized and managed in order to maximize value. 

Nevium specializes in valuing, managing, monetizing and providing expert testimony related to intellectual property. Nevium values IP for business transactions, tax/estate, joint venture negotiations, transfer pricing and bankruptcy. 

Nevium builds and manages intellectual asset management strategies for clients who want to monetize their IP. Mr. Bania and Mr. Buss are frequent lecturers on IP valuation and licensing issues and publish articles for numerous industry publications. Areas of expertise include music, apparel, publishing, film, food, automotive, sporting goods, furnishings, advertising, media, photography, retail and not-for-profit.

Consulting Services Include:

• IP Management - Nevium Identifies, organizes and values IP and IA
• IP Valuation - Nevium values brands, trademarks, copyrights, patents social media and Internet assets for M&A, estate, business transactions, tax and transfer pricing
• IP Monetization - Nevium assists with setting royalty rates, building licensing agreements and buying and selling IP

Doug Bania, CLP, Founding Principal, has over a decade of expertise in managing, valuing and monetizing intellectual property. Prior to founding Nevium, Mr. Bania managed 100s of projects related to brands, intellectual property and related intangible assets. He has assisted clients in intellectual property matters related to acquisitions, litigation, bankruptcy, tax, estate, family and marital disputes, and licensing. Mr. Bania delivers presentations and seminars on IP valuation, management, and damages issues for various business and legal entities across the United States.

View Nevium's Expert Witness Profile.

Packaging Technology & Research LLC provides Food Packaging Consulting, Tailored Packaging Science, and Value Chain Solutions that improve   packaging in the Food and Beverage Industry. 

Science-Based Consulting:

Problem Solving and Technical Consulting - Help uncover and shine a spotlight on what’s working and what is NOT to help our clients take bold steps rooted in science-based packaging expertise.

Sustainable Packaging - Unlock the optimal blend of food and packaging science, value chain experience, and consumer insights to achieve more sustainable packaging for clients. This includes food packaging system, flexible packaging, and packaging materials that support food packaging sustainability.

Increase Shelf Life and Prevent Food Waste - Empower clients with packaging solutions to prevent food waste, meet bold commitments on addressing UNSDGs, food justice, hunger, and GHG. reduction. F

Strategy and Roadmaps - Steer clients’ futures by developing science-based, systems-thinking strategies and roadmaps to ensure both an intelligent plan and a strong business case. From food packaging for frozen food to edible packaging and pet food packaging 

Clients: Food Companies, Produce Companies, Frozen Food Manufactures, Meal Kit Delivery Companies, Food and Packaging Wholesaler, Restaurant Chains, Industry Associations, Packaging Companies, Bakeries, Pet Food Companies, Packaging Manufacturers, Quick Service Restaurants, Environmental Advocacy Groups, Chemical Companies, Dairy Farms, Butchers, Copackers, Meat Delivery Companies, Restaurants.

Claire K. Sand, PhD, is a Global Packaging Technology  Leader with over 35 years of Food Science and Packaging experience. Dr. Sand's background includes working with Total Quality Marketing, Nestle, General Mills, Kraft Heinz, Safeway, and academia, as well as in basic research, development market research, and marketing in Germany, Colombia, and Thailand. 

Dr. Sand is the owner and founder of Packaging Technology and Research, LLC, as well as Gazelle Mobile Packaging Inc. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Michigan State University and CalPoly. She is an IFT Fellow, the Riester-Davis-Brody Lifetime Achievement in Food Packaging Award recipient, a member of numerous Editorial Boards, the author of the Packaging Value Chain, and the co-chair of pacfoodwaste. Dr. Sand received her doctorate in Food Science and Nutrition from the University of Minnesota, as well as master's and bachelor's degrees in packaging from Michigan State University.

View Dr. Claire K. Sand's Expert Witness Profile.

Scott Cooper, Principal at Pegasus Squire, is retained by corporate and legal clients to deliver successful experience-based proactive and reactive solutions involving Electronic Discovery and Computer Forensics, Tactics and Strategy, and Expert Witness testimony and related services. He has over 30 years of experience in this space and has been recognized as an Industry Leader by the Southern California Business Journal, and have been featured in the New York Times.

Mr. Cooper's clients have included The White House, The US Department of Justice, General Electric, Exxon, Kirkland & Ellis, O’Melveny & Myers, Skadden Arps, and many other large national and international corporations and law firms dealing with litigation and internal (and external) investigations.

Prior to his responsibilities at Pegasus, Mr. Cooper was a Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting Inc. and the senior-most person globally in their Electronic Evidence Consulting practice. Prior to joining FTI, in 1984 Mr. Cooper was a co-founder of INSYNC Consulting Group, a nationally recognized Electronic Discovery, Computer Forensics, and Information Technology consulting firm. Prior to that, he worked at KPMG Peat Marwick in their Management Consulting Group’s Information Systems Services practice.

 Mr. Cooper's most notable engagement includes working with the prevailing party on the nation’s largest corporate Intellectual Property Theft case, which created numerous Federal precedents in the area of Electronic Discovery.

Areas of Expertise: 

View Scott Cooper's Expert Witness Profile.

Attorney, Antonio R. Sarabia II, has 30 years of experience in Consumer Licensing matters (revenue, standards, performance, and breaches), Trademarks, Copyrights, and issues occurring in the Apparel Industry. 

Background Experience - Mr. Sarabia is intimately familiar with the business problems and legal issues fashion companies may face. At the beginning of his apparel industry experience, Mr. Sarabia spent nine years as part of the senior management of Guess?, whose sales grew 400% during a single year. Over the course of his time there, the company transformed from a fad into a mainstay fashion company. Since leaving Guess?, Mr. Sarabia has advised various other apparel companies, from publicly-held companies to fast-growing companies like Earl Jean, to smaller start-up companies. .

Litigation Support - Mr. Sarabia is available to serve as an expert witness, whether through testifying, identifying important or relevant issues, or suggesting discovery in his areas of expertise. His services are available to attorneys for plaintiff and defendant.

Areas of Expertise:

• Licensing: revenue projections, forecasts, standards, performance, breach, selection of licensees, damages
• Intellectual Property: analysis, due diligence, investigations;
• Copyrights:  substantial similarity, originality
• Trademarks: secondary meaning, infringement, dilution, searches, investigations, due diligence, theft, trade dress, counterfeiting, rebuttal on damages
• Apparel Business: contracts, manufacturing (local, abroad), import, export, sales, distribution, apparel copyrights, substantial similarity of apparel lines, theft and protection of designs, rebuttal on damages
• Design Patents: defenses based on lack on originality, identify and analyze obviousness and prior art
• Attorney Malpractice: standards of practice for apparel business lawyers, intellectual property lawyers, and licensing lawyers

Sidney P. Blum, CPA, CFE, CPEA, CFF has 30 years of professional and testifying expert experience in the areas of Royalty Auditing, Forensic Accounting, Intellectual Property Economic Damages, and General Economic Damages. Mr. Blum was named California CPA of the Year (2017) and Certified Fraud Examiner of the Year (2012). He is a Certified Fraud Examiner, Certified Professional Environmental Auditor, and Certified in Financial Forensics by the AICPA. Mr. Blum was a KPMG Partner. He specializes in breach of contract, lost revenues, patent infringement, copyright infringement, trademark infringement, lost pay, and wrongful termination.

As a world leading royalty auditor, Mr. Blum has extensive knowledge of the Georgia-Pacific factors and other major influences on reasonable royalty rates for intellectual property litigation. He led the national royalty audit practices for Big 4 firms Ernst & Young and KPMG and he also wrote the global methodologies for both firms. He is one of 5 members of the Board of Regents with the 80,000 member Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. 

Clients: Mr. Blum's clients have included Adobe, Amgen, Beats Electronics, DGA, Disney, Dolby, DTS, DKNY, Ed Hardy, General Electric, General Motors, IGT, IMG, Marvel, Mattel, McDonalds, Microsoft, MLB, WWE, UMB Bank, Steven Spielberg, Harley-Davidson, and the NFL.  Expert witness testimony on royalty audit standards and results. 

Industries:  Many industries such as medical devices, music, toys, energy, film, consumer products, electronics, apparel, automotive, manufacturing and biotech.

Consulting Services:

Mr. Blum’s two books published by Oxford University Press and LexisNexis on financial terms in contracts are leading sources of valuable information for attorneys and contract negotiators. He has also made numerous presentations to law firms, professional groups, universities, and others regarding contract compliance and auditing.

View Sidney Blum's Expert Witness Profile.

Leo A. Wrobel has earned broad notoriety and acclaim as an author, technologist, speaker, and Mayor (former) for over 30 years. Leo is a principal at Dallas-based b4Ci Inc. and is a nationally known Business Resumption Planning and Disaster Recovery expert. 

Leo and his team have served as advisors to Boards of Directors for businesses of all sizes and types. His seasoned advice can save money now and make money later. His team has included the founder of Qwest, Director of the US Mint, Chief of Staff to the Chairman of the Texas Public Utility Commission, the President of Fidelity Telecommunications, and more.

Speaking Engagements:
An engaging speaker, Leo has a dynamic presence and a passion for perfection. Rest assured your audience will stay awake as this energetic speaker makes the complicated simple, and conveys even the most abstract technical concepts in a fun and lighthearted manner! Leo has published 12 books and 800 trade articles and has lectured worldwide including Tel Aviv Israel, Santiago Chile, and most recently as a guest of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. Wrobel has also extensively supported legal teams in Disaster Recovery and telecommunications cases. 

Praise and Accolades for Leo A. Wrobel: 

As a Seminar Host:

• Very knowledgeable. Ready to explain and eager to hear questions. Excellent.
• "Presentation skills were very effective and no question was a dumb question."
• "Good anecdotes and real-life examples, Excellent."
• "Leo adapted the course to fit our needs."

As a Consultant:

• "You have us pegged. Your methodology is perfect, don't change it." - CIO of $76 billion financial services company

Five Stars on Amazon.com!

• "Disaster Recovery Planning for Communications and Critical Infrastructure is a scholarly examination of how the vulnerabilities in modern-day infrastructure can best be protected from threats such as terrorism and natural disasters. Authors Leo A. Wrobel and Sharon M. Wrobel, both highly skilled professionals in the field, cover the technologies that can help spread the word quickly when things go wrong, how to set up procedures for "4Ci" (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence), the basics of a solid emergency response plan, templates for assessing the weaknesses of everything from hospitals to power grids to large business enterprises, "first alert" procedures, and much more. A scholarly, well-researched text featuring cutting-edge, life-saving preparation measures, Disaster Recovery Planning for Communications and Critical Infrastructure is an absolute must-have for disaster recovery planners and experts, and anyone else responsible for planning for worst-case scenarios. Highly recommended."

See more Wrobel books at link above or order at www.4ci.us.

View Leo Wrobel's Expert Witness Profile.

William (Ned) McLeod, Esq., has been a party to many Licensing Arrangements as an attorney specializing in Intellectual Property in the Entertainment Industry (“IP”), both on the licensor and the licensee side of the table in different matters from hard media historical archives to blockchain based creations, and, as a non-attorney producer, both as owner  licensor and, alternately, as user / licensee.

As a result of his more than 40 years in the Entertainment Industry, Mr. McLeod has personally negotiated hundreds of licenses, and reviewed and evaluated hundreds more. His handling of licenses have covered a broad scope of venues and clientele, including The Rockefeller Center (NYC), the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry and The Navy Pier (IL), the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History (TX, with 8 associated museums), Graceland (TN), Niagara Falls (NY), The Smithsonian, the Kennedy Space Center (FL), Port of Los Angeles (CA), National Harbor (DC), Leadership Conference of Women Religious (“Catholic Sisters,” MD), the Tupperware Center (FL), Gatorland (FL), the Orlando Ballet (FL), Bob Ross (painter), Cousteau family ventures, 7 years of the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade (live and televised), and others.    

Consulting Services -  Mr. McLeod has been most effective serving the long term needs of someone unfamiliar with the entertainment trade. He helps teams :

• Reach a level of confidence in designing their venture step by step, through option and decision tree outlines, developing from content creation over a span of five years or more and identifying the desired stages of achievement for the work.
• Take a book idea through publication, licensing to media and exhibition platforms, and attaching merchandise and educational products that build out sustainable and successful models of exploitation, with seats for sequels.
•  Tent-polling a major artistic creation (e.g., a painting, graphic/comic series, story, song, a Non-Fungible Token item, or a celebrity brand), and designing the alliances and partnerships necessary for funding and moving to concentric wheels of ancillary and subsidiary derived products, experiences, and performances - all leading to revenue sharing.

View Ned McLeod's Expert Witness Profile.

Bruce Weiner is an Information and Internet Technology executive with over 30 years of in-depth experience managing product and software development for contracting companies and Fortune 100 companies.

Mr. Weiner is a Princeton trained computer scientist and electrical engineer, and a patent holder. Over his career, he has gained extensive experience in Information Systems management, program/project management, software development, software architecture, internet delivery, business applications, technology vendor selection, IT Outsourcing, and customer contact center operations.

Litigation Consulting Services: Mr. Weiner has experience as a consulting and/or testifying expert witness in software development, patent infringement, and commercial litigation matters for both plaintiffs and defendants. He is adept at translating complex software, patent, and technology issues for the lay person audience. He consulted on industry transforming anti-trust cases in the travel industry.

Industry Experience:

• Travel Industry Technology - Former technology leader for American Express Travel and Chief Technology Officer of United.com;
• Loyalty Industry Technology - 30 years experience in the technology that powers loyalty programs, working on Membership Miles, Thank You Rewards, Mileage Plus, #1 Gold, eRewards, MyPoints, Blockbuster Rewards, and AAdvantage
• Financial Services Technology – 30 years experience working with Financial Services Companies on credit card and banking technology.

Willamette Management Associates (WMA) is a nationally prominent Valuation and Financial Analysis Firm that recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. Willamette is a subsidiary of Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: CFG), a banking and financial services company. WMA is recognized as a thought leader in the fields of Business Valuation, Forensic Analysis, and Transaction Financial Advisory Services.

WMA provides services for purposes of transaction pricing and structuring, transaction fairness and solvency assurance, taxation planning and compliance, transaction financing, forensic analysis and dispute resolution, bankruptcy and reorganization, management information and strategic planning, corporate governance and regulatory compliance, and ESOP transactions and ERISA administrative compliance.

WMA's Professional Services:

Curtis R. Kimball, CFA, ASA, is an experienced Financial Valuation Analyst and the national director for WMA’s Wealth Management Valuation Practice. Mr. Kimball works with the firm’s regional, national, and international clients out of WMA’s Atlanta regional office, which he opened in 1995. He has been valuing private company interests and restricted interests in public companies, intellectual properties, and other intangible assets, rights, claims, and investments for a variety of purposes for over 40 years.

Mr. KImball was formerly with Wachovia Bank (acquired by Wells Fargo) and, later, the Citizens & Southern Trust Company (acquired by Bank of America) prior to joining WMA’s Portland, Oregon, office in 1988. He is a noted speaker on valuation issues and a contributing author to several standard reference works on private business valuation including: Valuing a Business, Fifth Edition (McGraw-Hill), Valuing Small Businesses and Professional Practices, Third Edition (McGraw-Hill), and Business Valuation Discounts and Premiums, Second Edition (Wiley).

View Curtis R. Kimball's Expert Witness Profile.