Laura Fritts - The Emory Patent Group

Welcome to Tech Transfer IP! Listen as your host Lisa and her guest, Laura Fritts, discuss her transition from a partner at a law firm to her tech transfer and her position at Emory, working in academia, the Emory Patent Group why it was formed and some of their biggest success stories plus much or on this episode.

Laura is the Director of the License and Patent Strategy & Chief Intellectual Property Officer at Emory University. At Emory, Laura manages the in-house patent group, assists the licensing team with their negotiations, monitors licensees performance post-license, and ensures the university's compliance with all government reporting obligations under the Bayh Dole Act.

Laura discusses the Emory Patent Group (EPG) and how the office is structured. She also discusses the benefits of having an in-house patent group, the vetting procedure they used to determine which patents they want to be a part of and how they decided on PCT filings. Laura also talks about their innovations with small molecules and biologics.

Listen as Laura shares the time she spends helping her licensing associates and monitoring licensees performance post license. Laura speaks about some of their biggest success stories and gives examples and the biggest challenges the EPG faces day to day.

Laura discusses the organizations she finds value in, like AUTM and some events she has been a part of. She also discusses the vision she has for her team and how close they are to reaching her goal. Emory University is at the cutting edge, so don't miss this episode to find out more.

In This Episode:

• [02:01] Welcome to the show, Laura!
• [02:26] Laura shares why she transitioned from being a partner at a law firm to tech transfer at Emory.
• [03:19] Laura speaks about the changes she went through with the new position.
• [05:07] Laura discusses the Emory Patent Group and how the office is structured.
• [08:04] What are the benefits of having an in-house patent group?
• [10:11] Laura shares their vetting procedures and how they determine what they want to take on.
• [12:57] Laura speaks about the divisional filing and how they decide whether it will be a PCT filing and how they nationalize those applications.
• [14:20] When it comes to small molecules and biologics, does your group work with the council for licensees, or is that the licensing person or a combination of both?
• [15:48] Laura discusses how much time she spends helping the licensing associates.
• [16:46] Laura talks about monitoring licensee's performance post license.
• [18:21] The fourth member of the Emory Patent Group is their compliance associate.
• [19:10] What are some of the biggest challenges that your patent group faces?
• [21:02] Laura speaks about some of their biggest success stories.
• [22:07] What organizations do you find valuable in your day to day work?
• [24:51] Laura talks about LES events.
• [25:14] Laura shares her vision for her group.
• [26:07] Thank you so much for being on the show!

Find Laura:

• Laura Fahey
• Laura Fahey Fritts