Released today are new videos of featured speakers Andrei Iancu, fmr Undersecretary of Commerce and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and Akeem Shannon, “Shark Tank” participant, inventor and a successful entrepreneur who overcame personal and business demons .
Both thought-leaders presented at the 2025 Intellectual Property Awareness Summit held at Dolby Labs in San Francisco. The videos and others from IPAS are available to access today on the Center for IP Understanding YouTube channel.
Inancu, who co-chairs the Council for Innovation Promotion and is a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell, spoke eloquently in support of the U.S.’s once reliable IP system. Over the past twenty years, he reminded the audience, it has been eroded by innovation volume, questionable legislation and judicial decisions, and misinformation intended to weaken the value of patents.
“Steeped in Innovation”
“We are so steeped in innovation that we have become blase to the human endeavor,” Iancu told the audience of leading entrepreneurs, inventors, educators, investors and policymakers… But innovation doesn’t just happen.
“Will IP rights remain a framework for openness, collaboration and global standards or will it fragment into a patchwork of local rules threatening interoperability [among nations and businesses]?”
“All of the innovation that we have come to expect and the [accelerated] pace of innovation has taken place, without exception, under the modern system of intellectual property established when this country was founded, and which democratized innovation. It was not only for the rich, for friends of the crown and merchants who had a lot of money, it was for everybody, the inventor in the garage and Thomas Edison in his laboratory.
“Anyone who suggests that we should ‘delete IP rights’ [a presumed reference to public comments made by Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey] had better have a plan backed by some statistical analysis that shows it is better than what the U.S. has had in place for 250 years.”
“What is behind all of this? There are large, established corporations who want to have access to inventions at depressed prices; there are foreign countries that would benefit from depressed values of American innovation; and there are some that for ideological reasons believe that ideas belong to everybody and should not be monetized in any way.”
Akeem’s Story
Akeem’s story is truly inspiring. From being bullied as a teen to a Howard University dropout to sales leader at a top telecommunications provider, all while fighting clinical depression. Akeem’s story has brought confidence and meaning to a new generation of entrepreneurs.
Inventor Akeem Shannon as he appeared (top) at the IP Awareness Summit at Dolby Labs and as a contestant on ‘Shark Tank’
Also available now on video are the five IPAS panels described here. There were 25 leading speakers in all and two breakout sessions with three sections each. Dolby Labs in San Francisco was a wonderful setting for this innovative event. Tap here to see IPAS 2025 photos.
Bridge or Barrier?
“Let me ask this,” Iancu continued, “Will IP rights remain a framework for openness, collaboration and global standards or will it fragment into a patchwork of local rules threatening interoperability [among nations and businesses]?… This is particularly relevant to current trade disputes.
“The impact would be most acutely felt by the creators, innovators, startups and small and medium size businesses. The large established corporations that are global in nature can maintain their market dominance.
“A patchwork of rules would fragment reliability and stagnate new companies, and make it difficult for them to do business… Without coherent, trusted international IP systems, startups cannot scale.”
The panels now on video:
- AI’s emerging role in innovation, creative expression and IP rights
- Current Patent and trade secret strategies for generating IP value and return
- The shifting IP business landscape: the U.S., Europe and Asia
- Entrepreneurs-Investors: Identifying the latest IP challenges and opportunities
- IP source, fakes & theft – Transparency matters
Speaker biographies can be found here. They include Jerry Ma, fmr Chief AI Officer at the USPTO, Wayne Stacy, Executive Director of the UC Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, Karan Yadav, fmr head of enterprise solutions at Apple, Jonathan Barnett, Director of the Media, Technology and Entertainment Law program at USC, Joff Wild, fmr editor in chief of IAM, now a leading contributor to Sisvel, and fmr White House IP Czar and current Director of Global Strategy at Tencent, lead singer for Cracker, David Lowery, responsible for 25 albums and 300+ often-streamed songs.
The CIPU YouTube channel, below Shorts, you will find the release IPAS 2025 videos. Please let us know your comments. In addition to a brief intro, there are two featured speakers , ancu and Akeem, and five panels.
Panelists Efrat Krazsnik, Louis Carbonneau, Nathan Shaffer and Brian Hinman
Image source: understandingip.org; CIPU
ipcloseup.com 