Agenda

All committee meetings are open to all attendees! If you are interested in one of these areas, please attend! Current committee leaders will set an agenda for the meeting and will sometimes feature a speaker. Each committee will meet for one hour. Following the meeting, we encourage you to join as an ITechLaw member to stay connected with these individuals throughout the year.

All committee meetings are open to all attendees! If you are interested in one of these areas, please attend! Current committee leaders will set an agenda for the meeting and will sometimes feature a speaker. Each committee will meet for one hour. Following the meeting, we encourage you to join as an ITechLaw member to stay connected with these individuals throughout the year.

All committee meetings are open to all attendees! If you are interested in one of these areas, please attend! Current committee leaders will set an agenda for the meeting and will sometimes feature a speaker. Each committee will meet for one hour. Following the meeting, we encourage you to join as an ITechLaw member to stay connected with these individuals throughout the year.

All committee meetings are open to all attendees! If you are interested in one of these areas, please attend! Current committee leaders will set an agenda for the meeting and will sometimes feature a speaker. Each committee will meet for one hour. Following the meeting, we encourage you to join as an ITechLaw member to stay connected with these individuals throughout the year.

All committee meetings are open to all attendees! If you are interested in one of these areas, please attend! Current committee leaders will set an agenda for the meeting and will sometimes feature a speaker. Each committee will meet for one hour. Following the meeting, we encourage you to join as an ITechLaw member to stay connected with these individuals throughout the year.

All committee meetings are open to all attendees! If you are interested in one of these areas, please attend! Current committee leaders will set an agenda for the meeting and will sometimes feature a speaker. Each committee will meet for one hour. Following the meeting, we encourage you to join as an ITechLaw member to stay connected with these individuals throughout the year.

All committee meetings are open to all attendees! If you are interested in one of these areas, please attend! Current committee leaders will set an agenda for the meeting and will sometimes feature a speaker. Each committee will meet for one hour. Following the meeting, we encourage you to join as an ITechLaw member to stay connected with these individuals throughout the year.

All committee meetings are open to all attendees! If you are interested in one of these areas, please attend! Current committee leaders will set an agenda for the meeting and will sometimes feature a speaker. Each committee will meet for one hour. Following the meeting, we encourage you to join as an ITechLaw member to stay connected with these individuals throughout the year.

All committee meetings are open to all attendees! If you are interested in one of these areas, please attend! Current committee leaders will set an agenda for the meeting and will sometimes feature a speaker. Each committee will meet for one hour. Following the meeting, we encourage you to join as an ITechLaw member to stay connected with these individuals throughout the year.

Limited to In-House Counsel only.

 In this session, we will discuss legal and regulatory issues around non-fungible tokens (NFTs).  We will cover a general overview of legal issues around NFTs before copyrights aspects, regulatory issues and recent judgements are looked into in more detail. To wrap the session up, a model for a digital NFT marketplace and entailing legal issues will be introduced.

Speakers:

Kevin Erdman, Brannon Sowers Cracraft PC, United States

Kevin practices primarily in information, Internet, and intellectual property (patent, trademark, and copyright) law. He has represented clients ranging from start-up companies to multinational corporations in Internet business protection matters. Kevin's experience also includes assisting clients in technology portfolio development and management for small to medium sized businesses and business units; U.S. and foreign patents; domain name disputes; software and content licensing; distribution and development agreements; electronic commerce agreements and procedures; privacy policies; patent licensing; and trademark and copyright registration, licensing and litigation. In health care and life sciences, he has represented medical technology and bioinformatics companies in patent and agreement transactions and disputes.

Bilge Derinbay, NSN Law Firm, Turkey

Bilge Derinbay, with experience of over 20 years, leads Copyright, TMT, Commercial, and Data Protection Law practices as a partner of NSN. She also handles litigation procedures in highly regulated areas of law. She has been recognized as a copyright professional by WWL in Copyright and by Legal 500 in Media and Entertainment sections every year. Ms. Derinbay’s TMT practice includes involving in Energy Market Law at the very beginning of the liberalization of the Turkish electricity market, providing counselling with regards to this regulatory change; assisting a FinTech start-up company based in the UK that hits a 435 million USD valuation by operating automated payment systems in Turkey; providing legal consultancy services to an integrator company for assisting in software and hardware commercial contracts.

Azmul Haque, Collyer Law LLC, Singapore

Over 20 years in private practice with leading law-firms in 3 countries, Azmul has developed particular expertise in technology sector matters, including complex, cross-border corporate M&A, venture capital financing), technology transactions (including monetization of technology platforms) and regulatory matters in a range of areas that impact business – whether for start-ups or billion-dollar enterprises. He has been rated as a leading practitioner for the TMT sector and focusses currently on clients in emerging technology such as FinTech, HealthTech, AdTech, Big Data, IOT, BlockChain, Internet & e-Commerce. Azmul is ranked and recommended by several legal industry directories including Chambers Asia, Asia-Pacific Legal 500 (for Financial Services: Regulatory) and Global Law Experts (for TMT). Azmul was rated a “Top 40-under-40” lawyer (Asian Legal Business, October 2016), in “Singapore A-List of Top 100 Lawyers” (Asia Business Law Journal, 2018 and 2019).

Due to increased regulatory and contractual requirements as regards data security in general and data breach notification duties in particular, preparing for data breach litigation is becoming increasingly important. This session will in particular discuss risks, best practices, strategies, and approaches around the globe, including collective damages as an enforcement mechanism.

Speakers:

Stephan Mulders, Van Diepen Van der Kroef Advocaten, Netherlands

Stephan Mulders is a senior lawyer specialised in data protection. Mulders has ten years of experience in commercial legal advisory and (international) litigation, including on the subject of data protection and the right to be forgotten. Mulders is an external PhD-fellow at Maastricht University and his PhD-research regards the concept of damages under article 82 GDPR in the context of collective claims.

Michael Werner, Eiger Law, Taiwan

Michael Werner has worked as a German attorney in Taipei since 2004, advising clients in issues regarding technology, energy, labor and employment law, tax issues, investments, company set ups, and business law. He serves as a trustee on the board of companies in Taiwan for several foreign clients. For more than a decade he has advised on international secondments in Taiwan. Michael studied at Humboldt University Berlin and the University of East Anglia Norwich, UK, and speaks English, German, and Chinese.

Greg Lascelles, Covington & Burling LLP,  United Kingdom

Greg Lascelles advises clients in high-stakes matters with significant financial or reputational risk. His broad-based practice covers complex international commercial litigation, arbitration, regulatory investigations and Parliament Select Committee hearings.He acts for major corporates, financial institutions, entrepreneurs and individuals, with a broad range of experience across financial services, life sciences, technology, manufacturing, construction, music, sport, real estate, and consumer goods. His cases involve disputes relating to interpretation, M&A disputes (warranties, indemnities and earn-outs), bonus and remuneration, Companies Act matters, shareholder disputes, data litigation, securities litigation (misselling, mismanagement and close-outs) and disputes involving serious issues of fraud. He has been involved in groundbreaking High Court and FCA disputes relating to, among other things, market abuse and collective selling, as well as in the Supreme Court on the interpretation of standard contractual clauses. Greg's regulatory matters (including at the FCA, FRC, SFO and Insolvency Service) relate to market abuse and financial statement reporting. As well as regular advice to clients on contract drafting and risk avoidance, he has recently been advising on developments in FDI and national security legislation.
 

This panel will discuss hot topics around cyber security insurance coverage and outsourcing cyber security services to third parties.

Speakers:

Amit Tyagi, CMS, United Kingdom

Amit is a Partner in the CMS disputes team and a member of the firm’s cybersecurity team. Amit provides legal advice and incident response management to victims of cyber incidents regarding potential breaches of the GDPR and/or NIS and notifications to the relevant regulators and data subjects, as well as responding to regulatory investigations and defending claims that arise. Amit also regularly advises the insurance market on coverage and monitoring issues that arise following an incident.

Agnieszka Wachowska, Traple Konarski Podrecki & Wspólnicy, Poland

Agnieszka is an attorney-at-law with more than ten years’ experience in working on IT projects. At TKP, Agnieszka is part of the TMT practice, and is head of the IT, Telecommunications, and Public Procurement law team. Her practice focus is IT law and new technologies law issues. She has advised IT sector companies, including state institutions, on IT law and public tenders for IT deliverables and services, and also on cybersecurity and copyright. Agnieszka is also responsible for advising telecommunications operators on their operations and on telecommunications law. Agnieszka has worked on more than one hundred projects involving drafting and negotiating IT contracts, such as implementation (using Waterfall and Agile models), maintenance and development, hosting, licensing, and SaaS, PaaS and IaaS contracts, or for instance cloud computing contracts. She is experienced in advising on and managing IT contract performance disputes and representing clients in IT court litigation cases. Agnieszka has worked on numerous large and all-embracing IT contract due diligence projects, including verifying the scope of software licensing and options for transfer of software to the cloud. She advises on innovation and IT infrastructure and telecommunications development projects realized using EU funds and state aid, including strategic projects concerning construction and operation of broadband networks. Agnieszka has been singled out as a TMT lawyer in the prestigious lawyer rankings Chambers and Partners (Up and Coming) and the Legal 500 (Next Generation Partner).

Vivien Bilquez, Zurich Insurance, Switzerland

With over 15 years of working experience defining and implementing Information Security strategy as Head of Information Security or CISO/CRO in Luxembourg, Vivien Bilquez acquired experiences in different industries such as Insurance, Banking and Healthcare. In his current role as Global Principal Cyber Risk Engineer at Zurich Insurance, Vivien is responsible for assessing the cyber risks of companies locally or globally, before proposing Cyber Insurance and/or Cyber Services. In his free time and for more than 13 years, Vivien shared his passion and has been given Cyber Security & Data Compliance lectures for Master’s Degree students at University.

 In this session, we will discuss legal and regulatory issues around non-fungible tokens (NFTs).  We will cover a general overview of legal issues around NFTs before copyrights aspects, regulatory issues and recent judgements are looked into in more detail. To wrap the session up, a model for a digital NFT marketplace and entailing legal issues will be introduced.

Speakers:

Kevin Erdman, Brannon Sowers Cracraft PC, United States

Kevin practices primarily in information, Internet, and intellectual property (patent, trademark, and copyright) law. He has represented clients ranging from start-up companies to multinational corporations in Internet business protection matters. Kevin's experience also includes assisting clients in technology portfolio development and management for small to medium sized businesses and business units; U.S. and foreign patents; domain name disputes; software and content licensing; distribution and development agreements; electronic commerce agreements and procedures; privacy policies; patent licensing; and trademark and copyright registration, licensing and litigation. In health care and life sciences, he has represented medical technology and bioinformatics companies in patent and agreement transactions and disputes.

Bilge Derinbay, NSN Law Firm, Turkey

Bilge Derinbay, with experience of over 20 years, leads Copyright, TMT, Commercial, and Data Protection Law practices as a partner of NSN. She also handles litigation procedures in highly regulated areas of law. She has been recognized as a copyright professional by WWL in Copyright and by Legal 500 in Media and Entertainment sections every year. Ms. Derinbay’s TMT practice includes involving in Energy Market Law at the very beginning of the liberalization of the Turkish electricity market, providing counselling with regards to this regulatory change; assisting a FinTech start-up company based in the UK that hits a 435 million USD valuation by operating automated payment systems in Turkey; providing legal consultancy services to an integrator company for assisting in software and hardware commercial contracts.

Azmul Haque, Collyer Law LLC, Singapore

Over 20 years in private practice with leading law-firms in 3 countries, Azmul has developed particular expertise in technology sector matters, including complex, cross-border corporate M&A, venture capital financing), technology transactions (including monetization of technology platforms) and regulatory matters in a range of areas that impact business – whether for start-ups or billion-dollar enterprises. He has been rated as a leading practitioner for the TMT sector and focusses currently on clients in emerging technology such as FinTech, HealthTech, AdTech, Big Data, IOT, BlockChain, Internet & e-Commerce. Azmul is ranked and recommended by several legal industry directories including Chambers Asia, Asia-Pacific Legal 500 (for Financial Services: Regulatory) and Global Law Experts (for TMT). Azmul was rated a “Top 40-under-40” lawyer (Asian Legal Business, October 2016), in “Singapore A-List of Top 100 Lawyers” (Asia Business Law Journal, 2018 and 2019).

Due to increased regulatory and contractual requirements as regards data security in general and data breach notification duties in particular, preparing for data breach litigation is becoming increasingly important. This session will in particular discuss risks, best practices, strategies, and approaches around the globe, including collective damages as an enforcement mechanism.

Speakers:

Stephan Mulders, Van Diepen Van der Kroef Advocaten, Netherlands

Stephan Mulders is a senior lawyer specialised in data protection. Mulders has ten years of experience in commercial legal advisory and (international) litigation, including on the subject of data protection and the right to be forgotten. Mulders is an external PhD-fellow at Maastricht University and his PhD-research regards the concept of damages under article 82 GDPR in the context of collective claims.

Michael Werner, Eiger Law, Taiwan

Michael Werner has worked as a German attorney in Taipei since 2004, advising clients in issues regarding technology, energy, labor and employment law, tax issues, investments, company set ups, and business law. He serves as a trustee on the board of companies in Taiwan for several foreign clients. For more than a decade he has advised on international secondments in Taiwan. Michael studied at Humboldt University Berlin and the University of East Anglia Norwich, UK, and speaks English, German, and Chinese.

Greg Lascelles, Covington & Burling LLP,  United Kingdom

Greg Lascelles advises clients in high-stakes matters with significant financial or reputational risk. His broad-based practice covers complex international commercial litigation, arbitration, regulatory investigations and Parliament Select Committee hearings.He acts for major corporates, financial institutions, entrepreneurs and individuals, with a broad range of experience across financial services, life sciences, technology, manufacturing, construction, music, sport, real estate, and consumer goods. His cases involve disputes relating to interpretation, M&A disputes (warranties, indemnities and earn-outs), bonus and remuneration, Companies Act matters, shareholder disputes, data litigation, securities litigation (misselling, mismanagement and close-outs) and disputes involving serious issues of fraud. He has been involved in groundbreaking High Court and FCA disputes relating to, among other things, market abuse and collective selling, as well as in the Supreme Court on the interpretation of standard contractual clauses. Greg's regulatory matters (including at the FCA, FRC, SFO and Insolvency Service) relate to market abuse and financial statement reporting. As well as regular advice to clients on contract drafting and risk avoidance, he has recently been advising on developments in FDI and national security legislation.
 

This panel will discuss hot topics around cyber security insurance coverage and outsourcing cyber security services to third parties.

Speakers:

Amit Tyagi, CMS, United Kingdom

Amit is a Partner in the CMS disputes team and a member of the firm’s cybersecurity team. Amit provides legal advice and incident response management to victims of cyber incidents regarding potential breaches of the GDPR and/or NIS and notifications to the relevant regulators and data subjects, as well as responding to regulatory investigations and defending claims that arise. Amit also regularly advises the insurance market on coverage and monitoring issues that arise following an incident.

Agnieszka Wachowska, Traple Konarski Podrecki & Wspólnicy, Poland

Agnieszka is an attorney-at-law with more than ten years’ experience in working on IT projects. At TKP, Agnieszka is part of the TMT practice, and is head of the IT, Telecommunications, and Public Procurement law team. Her practice focus is IT law and new technologies law issues. She has advised IT sector companies, including state institutions, on IT law and public tenders for IT deliverables and services, and also on cybersecurity and copyright. Agnieszka is also responsible for advising telecommunications operators on their operations and on telecommunications law. Agnieszka has worked on more than one hundred projects involving drafting and negotiating IT contracts, such as implementation (using Waterfall and Agile models), maintenance and development, hosting, licensing, and SaaS, PaaS and IaaS contracts, or for instance cloud computing contracts. She is experienced in advising on and managing IT contract performance disputes and representing clients in IT court litigation cases. Agnieszka has worked on numerous large and all-embracing IT contract due diligence projects, including verifying the scope of software licensing and options for transfer of software to the cloud. She advises on innovation and IT infrastructure and telecommunications development projects realized using EU funds and state aid, including strategic projects concerning construction and operation of broadband networks. Agnieszka has been singled out as a TMT lawyer in the prestigious lawyer rankings Chambers and Partners (Up and Coming) and the Legal 500 (Next Generation Partner).

Vivien Bilquez, Zurich Insurance, Switzerland

With over 15 years of working experience defining and implementing Information Security strategy as Head of Information Security or CISO/CRO in Luxembourg, Vivien Bilquez acquired experiences in different industries such as Insurance, Banking and Healthcare. In his current role as Global Principal Cyber Risk Engineer at Zurich Insurance, Vivien is responsible for assessing the cyber risks of companies locally or globally, before proposing Cyber Insurance and/or Cyber Services. In his free time and for more than 13 years, Vivien shared his passion and has been given Cyber Security & Data Compliance lectures for Master’s Degree students at University.

Discuss the most recent developments around cross-border transfers of personal data, from the perspective of different jurisdictions. This session will cover the "new" EU Standard Contractual Clauses and further instruments to enable cross-border transfers. Additionally, Transfer Impact Assessments (TIAs) as a key process in implementing robust data transfer schemes will be touched upon. Finally, the panel will look at the current status of Privacy Shield 2.0 / Safe Harbor 3.0 and the way forward.

Speakers:

Theodora Dragan, The Pictet Group, Switzerland - Moderator

Theodora is a data protection expert based in Geneva, Switzerland. She is the Swiss DPO of Pictet Group, a founding member of the Swiss DPO Association and a member of the Education Advisory Board of the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Theodora holds a degree in Law with German Law from University College London, and is a guest lecturer on privacy topics at LUISS University of Rome and at the University of St. Gallen. In 2021 and 2022, she was nominated among the Top 100 Digital Shapers in Switzerland by BILANZ magazine.

Tahmina Sahibli, Kahn Pederson, Sweden

Tahmina Sahibli is Partner at Kahn Pedersen, based in Stockholm. Tahmina practices in Kahn Pedersen’s Digital team advising clients on IT contracts and data privacy with a special interest in contract negotiation, cloud strategy, and regulatory issues, as Tahmina frequently represents clients within the insurance and banking sector.

Philip Nolan, Mason Hayes & Curran, Ireland

Philip leads MHC’s renowned Privacy and Data Security team. His market-leading international practice supports some of the world’s most successful tech companies while specializing in solving their complex global privacy problems. Philip has advised on some of the most high-profile privacy investigations in Ireland and globally in recent years. Philip is one of Meta’s leading external privacy counsels in the EU and oversees MHC’s work with Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp which includes significant privacy litigation and complex product counseling. Philip and his team support the Meta businesses on various well-publicized investigations under the GDPR.

Daniel Reis, DLA Piper, Portugal

Daniel Reis is a Partner in our Lisbon office and leads the Technology sector. Daniel is recognized as a leading practitioner in this area, both in the Portuguese market and abroad. He practices in the area of Technology, with a particular focus on Software Licensing and IT services, Data Protection and Cybersecurity, Technology Transactions, Telecom, and Product Compliance. His clients include companies in a range of sectors including software, electronic communications, and consumer products.

Anna Zeiter, eBay, Switzerland

Dr. Anna Zeiter is Associate General Counsel, Data Protection Officer and Chief Privacy Officer at eBay Inc. Before joining eBay in 2014, Anna had been working as a lawyer for two international law firms in Germany, specializing in data protection, IT and ecommerce law. Before working as an attorney Anna Zeiter did her Ph.D. in the field of free speech and media law at the University of Hamburg, she also holds an LL.M. in Law, Science & Technology from Stanford Law School. Anna Zeiter is regularly giving speeches at international data protection conferences and teaches at several universities. In 2020, Anna had been appointed as member of the IAPP (International Association of Privacy Professionals) Board of Directors and as Committee Member of the Global Tech DPO Network in Ireland. Besides that, Anna is member of the Digital Transformations Working Group of the World Economic Forum, co-leading the workstream Business of Data & Data Valuation.

This session will provide an overview of the new EU Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA), as adopted by the EU Parliament. 

Speakers:

Mónica Oliveira Costa, Coelho Ribeiro e Associados, Portugal - Moderator

Mónica Oliveira Costa is a Partner at Coelho Ribeiro & Associados, a member of the Portuguese Bar Association and CIPP/E - Certified Information Privacy Professional/Europe (since 2013). Her main areas of practice are data protection, IT, e-commerce, consumer law, marketing and advertising law. She has authored several articles published and been a speaker at several International and local Conferences in her areas of expertise. Mónica graduated from the Catholic University of Lisbon, Portugal, with subsequent post-graduate studies in consumer law and in IT law. She is recognized as Thought Leader in Data Privacy & Protection, Information Technology and Data Security by Who's Who Legal in Information Technology, recommended by Leaders League in Data Protection & Cybersecurity as well as in Media Law by Media Law International.

Prof. Dr. Peter Georg Picht, LL.M., University of Zurich, Switzerland

Peter Georg Picht studied law at Munich University and Yale Law School, did his Ph.D. (summa cum laude) at Munich University/the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, and holds a master's degree from Yale Law School. He has been working, i.a., with the EU Commission’s DG for Competition, with the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, as well as with two international law firms. Prof. Picht now holds a chair for Economic Law at the University of Zurich and is head of the University’s Center for Intellectual Property and Competition Law (CIPCO). His further affiliations include board memberships in the Academic Society for Competition Law (ASCOLA), the Association Européenne du Droit Èconomique (AIDE), and the Munich IP Dispute Resolution Forum. He is a regular guest professor at King’s College, London, the European University Institute, Florence, and Kyoto University. Prof. Picht’s academic teaching and writing, as well as his counseling activity, focus on intellectual property law, competition law, international private and procedural law, in particular commercial arbitration (mainly IP and Competition), trusts and estates, and corporations.

Mark Peters, Grünecker Patent- und Rechtsanwälte PartG mbB, Germany

Mark Peters is a Senior Counsel at Grünecker’s Munich office who specialises in IT and IP law. Mark has been advising clients, in particular social networks, search platforms and other internet service providers, on online-related matters for more than 15 years. He regularly supports client’s with the implementation of new legislation including the German Network enforcement Act (NetzDG), the DSM Directive or currently the DSA, he is advising in connection with liability for user-generated content and on user contracts and policies. Mark is a certified IT and IP attorney. He obtained an LL.M. on information technology law from the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg.

Discover the most recent developments and challenges in data protection for services relying on artificial intelligence as well as issues around data “ownership”, both as far as input and output data is concerned. Including how to protect data ownership of AI generated works and impact on protectability, registrability and enforcement.

Speakers:

Philippe Gilliéron, Wilhelm Gilliéron Avocats SA, Switzerland

Philippe Gilliéron is a registered Swiss attorney who has been practicing for over 20 years in the fields of IP, IT, Digital and Data Protection. His clients range from start-ups to multinatinal companies. Having published several books and more than 50 publications in these fields, he was appointed as an Adjunct Professor in 2006 at Lausanne Law School where he teaches several courses in these areas. Philippe was trained at both Lausanne and Stanford Law Schools.

Nino Tlapak, DORDA Rechtsanwälte GmbH, Austria

Nino Tlapak joined DORDA's IT and Data Protection team in 2013 and is a partner since 2021. He focuses on data protection and IT-security law. Further areas of practice include e-commerce and outsourcing. Nino is particularly well known for his data protection activities and also functions as coordinator of DORDA's data protection unit as well as external data protection officer for selected clients. In addition, Nino regularly publishes articles in the field of data protection and holds lectures on the same topic at the Danube-University Krems (Data Protection and Privacy – certified program), the technical colleges FH Technikum Wien and FH Campus Wien as well as the IT-Law LL.M. postgraduate program of the University of Vienna.

Julian Potter, WP Thompson, United Kingdom

Julian’s technical areas of expertise include telecommunications and associated technologies including design and fabrication; semiconductors; optics; control systems; software; cryptography; mechanical engineering; nanotechnology; mechanical devices; nuclear physics and imaging; electronics and micro processor design; voice recognition and text-to-speech conversion and oil services technology. He has wide experience in drafting and prosecuting patent applications and representing clients before both the UK Intellectual Property Office and the European Patent Office. Julian is not only a Chartered Patent Attorney, European Patent Attorney and European Trade Mark Attorney, but also an experienced Higher Courts Litigator and has been involved in both Patents Court and Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (formerly Patents County Court) litigation covering a wide range of technologies from cryptographic key exchange architecture (Irdeto v Telewest), design methods for oil exploration drill bits (Halliburton v Smith), GPS applications (GPS industries v Prolink) and biofilms (Innovia Films Ltd v Frito-Lay North America Inc.). Whilst managing the UK patent department of a leading global cellular telecommunications company he gained wide experience of the commercial and strategic value of intellectual property on a global scale and regularly advises clients on the development, exploitation and enforcement of a global intellectual property portfolio.

Is it the holy grail for Tech Start-up growth? Investment and M&A. "If we only had funds..." But a lot more comes with it, and it can be a tougher ride than expected - for all parties. How to get started? What are the potholes and curveballs that often appear in different phases of such a transaction? What are the opportunities and challenges during negotiations? How to navigate post-closing? You will ask yourself these questions in every investment round and M&A transaction - but in Tech Start-ups and Scale-ups, you will face and need to overcome some special hurdles. This session is a chance to peek behind the scenes at such tech transactions and to get some of these questions answered.

Speakers:

Dr. Zahide Altunbas Sancak, Guleryuz Partners, Turkey

Dr. Zahide Altunbas Sancak, a New York and Istanbul qualified lawyer, is a Senior Partner, leading the Corporate/M&A Department of the Istanbul-based Guleryuz Partners Law Firm. She received her LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School and completed her Ph.D. in Istanbul where she wrote and later published her thesis on breach of representations and warranties in share purchase agreements. Dr. Altunbas Sancak is highly specialized in cross-border M&A transactions, including asset deals, share transfers, joint ventures, corporate restructuring, VC/angel investments, and acquisition financing. She also lectures graduate courses on laws of contract and M&As.

Melanie Jungbluth, IDnow Group, Germany

Melanie is General Counsel at IDnow Group. Her practice focuses on all legal aspects of an IT company. She started her career in private practice focusing on IT law, before she went in-house in 2008 joining Gartner; after a decade as EMEA Regional Counsel, she joined IDnow four years ago – a German start-up company by that time, building a legal department, and bringing the company to the next level and international readiness, including but not limited to financing rounds and M&As.

Samuel Klaus, Schellenberg Wittmer, Switzerland

Samuel Klaus is a partner in Schellenberg Wittmer's ICT & Data group in Zurich, with an LL.M. in Law and Technology (Berkeley). His practice focus is ICT, data, IT security and telecommunication. He advises clients in technology transactions, digitalization projects, outsourcings and in all matters related to software development, licensing, e-commerce, data security, data protection and data privacy issues, in particular related to new technologies such as AI, BIM, IoT or DLT. Samuel also lectures LL.M. classes at University of Zurich regarding Software Contracts and Open Source matters.

Emmi Kavander, Kavanders & Co., Switzerland

Emmi Kavander is the CEO of Kavanders & Co., board member, registered financial advisor, and early-stage tech investor with an MBA from the University of London. Specialised in strategy, strategic communications, and business storytelling, she advises and coaches Founders and CEOs in navigating the growth of their business, incl. pitching investors and post-investment collaboration with investors and BoD. Before founding her company in 2020, she had a successful career in sales and communications, incl. leading the Corporate Communications and Investor Relations at a global FinTech scale-up.

Although cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin open many opportunities, authorities all over the world continue to face challenging questions about the nature and the regulation of cryptocurrencies because certain parts of this system and its related risks are largely unknown. The risks vary from fraud to contractual-related issues. This session will look into various legal aspects and regulations around the world: e.g. tax, AML, fraud, contractual matters, regulatory bodies etc.

Speakers:

Katharina Lasota Heller, LEXcellence AG, Switzerland - Moderator

Attorney at law in Switzerland and in Poland, founding partner at LEXcellence AG, over 20 years of experience in IT, IP and FinTech law; doctoral degree in 2003 from Ludwig Maximillian University as a scholar of Max-Planck- Institute in Munich, alumnus of McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento California - LL.M. Studies in 2004; worked for different large law firms in Munich, Warsaw or Vienna; between 2010 and 2015 lead a global compliance program of a South African Company Naspers; visiting professor at Kozminski University in Warsaw IP and Technology Law, President of Swiss-Polish Blockchain Association.

Doron Goldstein, Withers Bergman LLP,  United States

Doron is a privacy and cybersecurity partner and the Americas privacy lead at Withers Worldwide. Doron was named a "Cybersecurity Trailblazer" by the National Law Journal. He was one of the first lawyers in the US to be certified as a Privacy Law Specialist by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), accredited by the American Bar Association. In the unfortunate event of a security incident or data breach, Doron brings to the table extensive experience in working with security specialists and forensic experts to address and mitigate the incident, determine the likely source of the incident, address legal and compliance notification,s and other obligations, and handle law enforcement, regulatory and governmental investigations.

Namita Viswanath, IndusLaw, India

Namita is a Technology, Media & Telecommunications specialist, advising domestic and international clients from start-ups to mature private and public companies and investors in various technology-driven and technology-consuming industries on structuring e-commerce and outsourcing businesses in general and regulatory issues relating to data usage, storage, and security in particular. Namita focuses her practice on software, cloud-based services, artificial intelligence and machine learning, information technology, intellectual property, fin-tech, electronic commerce, health-tech, intermediary liabilities, entertainment and digital business, and all forms of related legal and regulatory compliance and policy and advocacy initiatives.

Stephan Zimmermann, Sygnum Bank, Switzerland

Stephan is a Swiss qualified lawyer with a strong background as an in-house counsel in the financial industry. After working several years as an in-house counsel for major banks and as an entrepreneur helping start up a leading marketplace lending platform in Switzerland, he now focuses on building the bridges between the traditional and the new financial industry as the head of legal of the world’s first digital asset bank covering numerous legal and regulatory challenges of the web3 space.

Discover the most recent developments and challenges in data protection for services relying on artificial intelligence as well as issues around data “ownership”, both as far as input and output data is concerned. Including how to protect data ownership of AI generated works and impact on protectability, registrability and enforcement.

Speakers:

Philippe Gilliéron, Wilhelm Gilliéron Avocats SA, Switzerland

Philippe Gilliéron is a registered Swiss attorney who has been practicing for over 20 years in the fields of IP, IT, Digital and Data Protection. His clients range from start-ups to multinatinal companies. Having published several books and more than 50 publications in these fields, he was appointed as an Adjunct Professor in 2006 at Lausanne Law School where he teaches several courses in these areas. Philippe was trained at both Lausanne and Stanford Law Schools.

Nino Tlapak, DORDA Rechtsanwälte GmbH, Austria

Nino Tlapak joined DORDA's IT and Data Protection team in 2013 and is a partner since 2021. He focuses on data protection and IT-security law. Further areas of practice include e-commerce and outsourcing. Nino is particularly well known for his data protection activities and also functions as coordinator of DORDA's data protection unit as well as external data protection officer for selected clients. In addition, Nino regularly publishes articles in the field of data protection and holds lectures on the same topic at the Danube-University Krems (Data Protection and Privacy – certified program), the technical colleges FH Technikum Wien and FH Campus Wien as well as the IT-Law LL.M. postgraduate program of the University of Vienna.

Julian Potter, WP Thompson, United Kingdom

Julian’s technical areas of expertise include telecommunications and associated technologies including design and fabrication; semiconductors; optics; control systems; software; cryptography; mechanical engineering; nanotechnology; mechanical devices; nuclear physics and imaging; electronics and micro processor design; voice recognition and text-to-speech conversion and oil services technology. He has wide experience in drafting and prosecuting patent applications and representing clients before both the UK Intellectual Property Office and the European Patent Office. Julian is not only a Chartered Patent Attorney, European Patent Attorney and European Trade Mark Attorney, but also an experienced Higher Courts Litigator and has been involved in both Patents Court and Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (formerly Patents County Court) litigation covering a wide range of technologies from cryptographic key exchange architecture (Irdeto v Telewest), design methods for oil exploration drill bits (Halliburton v Smith), GPS applications (GPS industries v Prolink) and biofilms (Innovia Films Ltd v Frito-Lay North America Inc.). Whilst managing the UK patent department of a leading global cellular telecommunications company he gained wide experience of the commercial and strategic value of intellectual property on a global scale and regularly advises clients on the development, exploitation and enforcement of a global intellectual property portfolio.

Is it the holy grail for Tech Start-up growth? Investment and M&A. "If we only had funds..." But a lot more comes with it, and it can be a tougher ride than expected - for all parties. How to get started? What are the potholes and curveballs that often appear in different phases of such a transaction? What are the opportunities and challenges during negotiations? How to navigate post-closing? You will ask yourself these questions in every investment round and M&A transaction - but in Tech Start-ups and Scale-ups, you will face and need to overcome some special hurdles. This session is a chance to peek behind the scenes at such tech transactions and to get some of these questions answered.

Speakers:

Dr. Zahide Altunbas Sancak, Guleryuz Partners, Turkey

Dr. Zahide Altunbas Sancak, a New York and Istanbul qualified lawyer, is a Senior Partner, leading the Corporate/M&A Department of the Istanbul-based Guleryuz Partners Law Firm. She received her LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School and completed her Ph.D. in Istanbul where she wrote and later published her thesis on breach of representations and warranties in share purchase agreements. Dr. Altunbas Sancak is highly specialized in cross-border M&A transactions, including asset deals, share transfers, joint ventures, corporate restructuring, VC/angel investments, and acquisition financing. She also lectures graduate courses on laws of contract and M&As.

Melanie Jungbluth, IDnow Group, Germany

Melanie is General Counsel at IDnow Group. Her practice focuses on all legal aspects of an IT company. She started her career in private practice focusing on IT law, before she went in-house in 2008 joining Gartner; after a decade as EMEA Regional Counsel, she joined IDnow four years ago – a German start-up company by that time, building a legal department, and bringing the company to the next level and international readiness, including but not limited to financing rounds and M&As.

Samuel Klaus, Schellenberg Wittmer, Switzerland

Samuel Klaus is a partner in Schellenberg Wittmer's ICT & Data group in Zurich, with an LL.M. in Law and Technology (Berkeley). His practice focus is ICT, data, IT security and telecommunication. He advises clients in technology transactions, digitalization projects, outsourcings and in all matters related to software development, licensing, e-commerce, data security, data protection and data privacy issues, in particular related to new technologies such as AI, BIM, IoT or DLT. Samuel also lectures LL.M. classes at University of Zurich regarding Software Contracts and Open Source matters.

Emmi Kavander, Kavanders & Co., Switzerland

Emmi Kavander is the CEO of Kavanders & Co., board member, registered financial advisor, and early-stage tech investor with an MBA from the University of London. Specialised in strategy, strategic communications, and business storytelling, she advises and coaches Founders and CEOs in navigating the growth of their business, incl. pitching investors and post-investment collaboration with investors and BoD. Before founding her company in 2020, she had a successful career in sales and communications, incl. leading the Corporate Communications and Investor Relations at a global FinTech scale-up.

Although cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin open many opportunities, authorities all over the world continue to face challenging questions about the nature and the regulation of cryptocurrencies because certain parts of this system and its related risks are largely unknown. The risks vary from fraud to contractual-related issues. This session will look into various legal aspects and regulations around the world: e.g. tax, AML, fraud, contractual matters, regulatory bodies etc.

Speakers:

Katharina Lasota Heller, LEXcellence AG, Switzerland - Moderator

Attorney at law in Switzerland and in Poland, founding partner at LEXcellence AG, over 20 years of experience in IT, IP and FinTech law; doctoral degree in 2003 from Ludwig Maximillian University as a scholar of Max-Planck- Institute in Munich, alumnus of McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento California - LL.M. Studies in 2004; worked for different large law firms in Munich, Warsaw or Vienna; between 2010 and 2015 lead a global compliance program of a South African Company Naspers; visiting professor at Kozminski University in Warsaw IP and Technology Law, President of Swiss-Polish Blockchain Association.

Doron Goldstein, Withers Bergman LLP,  United States

Doron is a privacy and cybersecurity partner and the Americas privacy lead at Withers Worldwide. Doron was named a "Cybersecurity Trailblazer" by the National Law Journal. He was one of the first lawyers in the US to be certified as a Privacy Law Specialist by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), accredited by the American Bar Association. In the unfortunate event of a security incident or data breach, Doron brings to the table extensive experience in working with security specialists and forensic experts to address and mitigate the incident, determine the likely source of the incident, address legal and compliance notification,s and other obligations, and handle law enforcement, regulatory and governmental investigations.

Namita Viswanath, IndusLaw, India

Namita is a Technology, Media & Telecommunications specialist, advising domestic and international clients from start-ups to mature private and public companies and investors in various technology-driven and technology-consuming industries on structuring e-commerce and outsourcing businesses in general and regulatory issues relating to data usage, storage, and security in particular. Namita focuses her practice on software, cloud-based services, artificial intelligence and machine learning, information technology, intellectual property, fin-tech, electronic commerce, health-tech, intermediary liabilities, entertainment and digital business, and all forms of related legal and regulatory compliance and policy and advocacy initiatives.

Stephan Zimmermann, Sygnum Bank, Switzerland

Stephan is a Swiss qualified lawyer with a strong background as an in-house counsel in the financial industry. After working several years as an in-house counsel for major banks and as an entrepreneur helping start up a leading marketplace lending platform in Switzerland, he now focuses on building the bridges between the traditional and the new financial industry as the head of legal of the world’s first digital asset bank covering numerous legal and regulatory challenges of the web3 space.