CONCENTRATION
Emily is a shareholder attorney at the Davis Brown Law Firm. As a member of the firm's Intellectual Property Department, her practice focuses on obtaining patent, trademark, and copyright protection for firm clients and providing litigation support to the intellectual property litigators.
Emily is a registered patent attorney, able to practice in front of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. She has a very diverse practice within the firm's intellectual property area.
· She prosecutes patent applications in technology areas ranging from biotechnology and biochemistry to agricultural machinery, tires and software.
· She is an experienced trademark attorney, securing registrations for her clients, litigating trademark disputes in front of the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and providing opinions about the availability of trademarks for her clients to adopt.
· She is the firm's most experienced software and cyberlaw lawyer and she routinely drafts and negotiates software license agreements and website terms of use and privacy policies.
· She advises clients on copyright issues and negotiates complex intellectual property and technology licenses.
· She has extensive experience in drafting appellate court briefs on issues pertaining to her client's patent rights.
· She has served as a panelist/judge for the Technology Association of Iowa's Pitch and Grow events in Des Moines and Iowa City. She was also selected to serve as a panelist for VentureNet Iowa's program that helps award Demonstration Fund grants to startups.
· She was selected to be part of a select group organized to studying technology transfer strategies for universities around the country.
· She acted as pro bono counsel to the Iowa Biosciences Alliance, which is now the Iowa Innovation Council.
Emily has a passion for technology and advocates for startup businesses, especially in relation to intellectual property and cyberlaw matters. She is the co-founder of Davis Brown's own startup business, The Start-Up Launchpad (www.thestartuplaunchpad.com). This unique website is designed to provide startup businesses and entrepreneurs with an affordable online legal solution for everything from business formation to protection of intellectual property. Using the site, clients can quickly and easily gain access to more than 30 legal documents, educational checklists and articles that were developed by Emily and other Davis Brown attorneys.
· The Start-Up Launchpad Blog
PUBLICATIONS, SPEECHES, AND SEMINARS
· The Changing Intellectual Property Landscape: A Discussion of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act and the Proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) (Business Innovation Zone (BIZ), February 2012)
· Startups Guide to Intellectual Property, (Guide to the Iowa Innovators Resource Network, Iowa Innovation Council, 2011).
· Positioning Your Company's IP to Survive Due Diligence (Ames I.T. Collaborative, December 2011)
· What Startups Need to Know About Intellectual Property (Industry Insights Speaker at StartupCity Des Moines, November 2011)
· Intellectual Property Audits and Patent Reform (Association of Corporate Counsel, October 2011)
· Tips for Pitching to Investors, Venture Capitalists and Incubators (Startup Launchpad Blog, October 2011)
· International Intellectual Property Protection (Association of Corporate Counsel, October 2011)
· How to Conduct an IP Audit (Davis Brown Business Law Seminar, September 2011)
· Logo Wars: Iowa Hawks Conquer Southern Mississippi in Fight Over School Trademarks (Startup Launchpad Blog, August 2011)
· Silicon Prairie: A Developing Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (Panelist, Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute's Daybreak Series, May 2011)
· Expert Panel on Early Stage Companies (Panelist, Iowa Department of Economic Development's SMART Conference, May 2011)
· Transactions From Start to Finish (Panelist, Davis Brown Health Law Seminar, November 2010)
· Learn to Protect IP Assets (Business Innovation Zone (BIZ), October 2010)
· IP Issues for Business Lawyers (Association of Corporate Counsel, November 2009)
· The Essentials of Patents, Trademarks & Copyrights: Protect Your Intellectual Property at Home and Abroad (Association of Corporate Counsel Annual Meeting, March 2007)
· Federal Circuit Case Update (Iowa Intellectual Property Law Association Continuing Education Seminar, October 2004)
· Model Act for Genetic Privacy and Control, co-author (Iowa Law Review, October 2002)
MEMBERSHIPS
· Iowa Bar Association
· Polk County Bar Association
· Treasurer, Iowa Organization of Women Attorneys (I.O.W.A.), 2004-2006
· Treasurer, Iowa Intellectual Property Law Association (IIPLA), 2007-2012
· Member, United Way Emerging Leaders Initiative
· Member, Iowa Biotechnology Organization
· Member, Polk County Women Attorneys
· Member, American Intellectual Property Law Association
OF NOTE
Emily, a Des Moines native, earned a degree in molecular biology from Grinnell College and spent several years conducting research in the field of biotechnology. Emily was employed in a research laboratory at Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. from 1993 to 1998, where her research focused on the molecular biology of oilseeds. She also conducted research at Northwestern University Medical School from 1998 to 1999. At Northwestern, Emily worked in an immunology laboratory, where she studied leukocyte adhesion. Finally, she worked in human clinical research at the University of Chicago, where she studied the use of Enbrel in gastroenterology patients.
While attending law school at the University of Iowa, she held an externship in the chambers of the Honorable Robert W. Pratt, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. She also worked as a research assistant for Professor Randall P. Bezanson, focusing on First Amendment issues.
RESOURCES
WHAT STARTUPS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TERMS OF USE AGREEMENTS
03/05/2012 - The information below was originally written by Emily Harris for the Start-Up ...
EMILY HARRIS TO PRESENT AT AMES I.T. COLLABORATIVE
11/28/2011 - On Thursday, Dec. 8, from noon to 1 p.m., Emily E. Harris will present, "Protecting Your ...
DAVENPORT PUBLIC LIBRARY NAMED PATENT AND TRADEMARK RESOURCE CENTER (PTRC)
09/09/2011 - Emily E. Harris The Start-Up Launchpad Blog The United States Patent and Trademark Office ...
DAVIS BROWN LAUNCHES BLOG FOR FOUNDERS, STARTUPS AND EMERGING COMPANIES
07/18/2011 - The Davis Brown Law Firm recently launched a new blog for founders, startups and emerging ...
IOWA INNOVATION COUNCIL PUBLISHES GUIDE FOR START-UPS
06/29/2011 - The Iowa Innovation Council recently published the "Guide to the Iowa Innovators Resource ...
EMILY E. HARRIS ELECTED SHAREHOLDER
01/07/2009 - Emily E. Harris has been elected a shareholder of the Davis Brown Law Firm in Des Moines, Iowa. ...