William Blumenthal is a partner in Clifford Chance LLP, where he chairs the U.S. competition practice. From March 2005 through January 2009, he served as general counsel of the Federal Trade Commission, where he oversaw the staff that prepared the report Antitrust Enforcement and Intellectual Property Rights: Promoting Innovation and Competition and that participated on behalf of the FTC in matters relating to the Independent Ink, eBay, KSR, Quanta, and MedImmune cases.

While in private practice before entering government service, he served as vice-chair and as international officer of the ABA Antitrust Section. His articles have appeared in California Law Review, George Washington Law Review, Antitrust Law Journal, Antitrust Bulletin, and other publications.

Mr. Blumenthal earned his A.B. and M.A. in economics from Brown University in 1977 and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1980.

Kenneth M. Frankel is a partner in the law firm of Finnegan, Henderson, Farrabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP. His practice focuses on litigation of intellectual property rights in U.S. federal courts, and advice to clients on antitrust and misuse issues in licensing and enforcing intellectual property. Since joining Finnegan in 1990, he has litigated numerous cases in the pharmaceutical, electronics, and mechanical fields involving extensive pretrial discovery and trials.

Prior to joining Finnegan, Mr. Frankel served for 16 years as a trial attorney with the U.S. Justice Department's Antitrust Division. At the Antitrust Division, he litigated and investigated antitrust matters involving intellectual property issues, price-fixing conspiracies, and agreements and mergers in high technology industries. He often speaks at seminars on antitrust and misuse issues for intellectual property.

Mr. Frankel chairs the AIPLA’s Antitrust Law Committee.

Mr. Frankel recieved his J.D. from George Washington University, National Law Center in 1973 and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in mechanical engineering in 1970.

Michael A. Lindsay is a partner in the law firm of Dorsey & Whitney LLP, where he has practiced for more than 20 years. He is the co-chair of Dorsey’s Antitrust Practice Group.

Mr. Lindsay’s practice focuses on antitrust matters, both in litigation and in client counseling, including counseling of standards-development organizations. His antitrust practice has spanned numerous industries, including airlines, food retailing, medical devices and medical equipment, electronic devices, home security, agricultural products, energy, and electricity. His broad litigation experience includes patent and trademarks, securities, product liability, insurance coverage, and general commercial litigation.

Mr. Lindsay has taught antitrust as an adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas Law School and Hamline Law School, and he is a frequent lecturer at continuing legal education programs on antitrust issues. He was the chair (2005-06) of the Minnesota State Bar Association’s Antitrust Section and vice-chair of the ABA Antitrust Section’s Trial Practice Committee (2004-2008), and he is associate editor of Antitrust Magazine.

He is a 1983 graduate of the University of Chicago Law School, and a 1980 graduate of Marquette University, where he received his B.A. He also studied at the London School of Economics.

Jack D. Slobod has been employed by Philips Intellectual Property & Standards for 20 years and is presently its principal IP counsel.

Mr. Slobod is responsible within the Consumer Lifestyle Sector for licensing out patents and other intellectual property rights of Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., transactional matters, and defense of IP claims. He is also responsible for IP and antitrust issues in standard-setting participation. He has led numerous licensing negotiations and also managed IP litigations in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Mr. Slobod has taught intellectual property law at Fudan University, Shanghai, PRC. He was formerly lead IP counsel for various product divisions of Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. and participated as team member in numerous merger and acquisition matters. Prior to joining Philips, he was in the private practice of law in Middletown, N.Y. for 13 years. During that time he concentrated in patent, trademark and copyright law, business and commercial transactions, and commercial litigation.

Mr. Slobod also practiced patent law in an Arlington, Va., law firm, and at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Prior to that, he had a seven-year career as an engineer and member of technical staff of various companies. Mr. Slobod is admitted to the New York Bar and is a registered patent attorney. He is a member of the Electronic and Computer Law Committee, Standards and Open Source Sub-Committee of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and co-chairman of the Standard Setting Committee of the Intellectual Property Owners Association. He is a former member of the board of directors of the New York Intellectual Property Law Association.

He holds a B.E.E. and M.E.E. from City College of New York, and a J.D. from George Washington University.

Richard S. Taffet is a partner at Bingham McCutchen LLP, where he serves as lead counsel in a wide range of intellectual property, antitrust and commercial litigation matters. He represents U.S. and foreign-based clients involved in numerous industries, including consumer electronics, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, textiles, chemicals, software development, financial industries and publishing. Mr. Taffet counsels clients in connection with protecting their intellectual property assets and the marketing and distribution of their products, and represents clients before federal agencies including the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office and the Consumer Products Safety Commission.

Representing technology standards development organizations and standards development participants for more than 20 years, Mr. Taffet has developed SDO patent and IPR policies, represented parties in connection with government and litigation proceedings involving standards-related patent and antitrust matters, and provided counseling regarding competitive and IPR issues in development of specific standards. Mr. Taffet has formed and represented an industry trade association with the purpose of enforcing copyright and other IP rights worldwide and has developed international litigation strategy for enforcement of copyright and other IP rights.

Mr. Taffet is a frequent speaker on intellectual property and antitrust issues and is a contributor to publications on such subjects.

Mr. Taffet recieved his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School in 1980 and his B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College in 1977.