Learning the Basics: Using IP Contracts to Protect Intellectual Property

Shannon McCue has spent the last 22 years managing global intellectual property portfolios and litigating IP issues across the United States.

As a partner at BakerHostetler, Co-Chair of Hahn Loeser’s Intellectual Property section, and general counsel at Ironhawk Industrial, his expertise spans working with Fortune 500 companies and world-wide tech giants to mid-sized manufacturers and entrepreneurs. He brings this expertise to his IP consulting activities under the brand CueCards Legal.

? Shannon has provided IP services to household brands like AT&T, Hewlett Packard, Lincoln Electric, North Face, Timberland, VANS Shoes, Volvo, Electrolux, American Axle, and Nordson. He also has specific experience managing unique intellectual property issues relating to the cannabis and vaping industries including litigation in California and the International Trade Commission.

Named one of the nation’s top lawyers by Super Lawyers Magazine, his opinions on intellectual property rights have been published in various legal channels including Wolters Kluwer’s IP Litigator? and The Licensing Journal.

Through his monthly CueCards™ blog, Shannon continues to offer practical IP tips and strategies for businesses of all sizes. Shannon is also a regular speaker for the American Bar Association having been a panelist on webinars for International Enforcement of IP rights, Advanced Design Patent Strategies and Essential IP Agreements.

Outside of his legal career, Shannon is an accomplished amateur race car driver and a certified instructor with Porsche Club of America. He is an advocate for the arts, having served on the board of directors for SPACES, and provides services to artists and creative startups at discounted rates.

Heather N. Bowen, Esq., CIPM is a solutions-oriented data privacy, intellectual property, commercial, and technology transactions attorney with demonstrated experience advising entrepreneurs, startups, mid-size, and large enterprises on strategic initiatives as well as business and legal operations. She is a OneTrust Fellow of Privacy Technology and an International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM). She is based on the East Coast and is licensed to practice law in New York and Minnesota. Heather has served as corporate counsel to global companies in the media & entertainment, software-as-a-service ("SaaS"), advertising and marketing technology, and healthcare technology spaces and has also guided over 125 startup businesses in New York avoid pitfalls as they navigated from newly-commenced startups to established and successful corporate entities.

While obtaining her J.D. from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in Chicago, IL, she externed at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and was a Scholar of the Hispanic National Bar Association ("HNBA") / Microsoft Intellectual Property Law Institute. She also served as an intern at a global manufacturing company ("Jabil"), as a legal research assistant for a legal writing and common law reasoning course at Northwestern Law, and as an assistant program director of one of Chicago's premier pipeline organizations ("Just the Beginning").

Heather serves as an Associate Editor of the American Bar Association's TYL (formerly "The Young Lawyer"). In this role, Heather writes, edits, and proofreads articles and other communication; will represent with senior leadership at next year's ABA Midyear Meeting as well as the Young Lawyers Division ("YLD") Spring Conference; and collaborates on print, web, social media, and other multimedia. She continues to be a thought leader through frequent publications in the legal press, speaking engagements, and leadership in multiple bar association committees.

Heather also serves as President of the Board of Directors for BLACK ("Building Leadership And Community Knowledge") and past President of the Board of Directors for the Anselmo Academy of Music and the Arts (previously the "Piano School of NYC"). As a multi-instrumentalist herself, she encourages her community to be empowered through music, arts, and education. #KeepStriving