By SEMA Washington, D.C., Staff

SEMA members have a unique opportunity to schedule a free one-on-one meeting with an expert on intellectual property rights (patents, trademarks, copyrights), pricing policies, the research and development (R&D) tax credit or product liability. Meetings are available in 20-minute segments to all SEMA members registered to attend the 2015 SEMA Show in Las Vegas. The meetings will take place Tuesday, November 3, and Wednesday, November 4, 2015, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., in Room N242 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

To schedule a meeting with one of the nine experts, please contact Ashley Ailsworth with your preferred meeting time and the subject matter in which you are interested. She can be reached at ashleya@sema.org or 202-783-6007, ext. 19.

Our experts include:

Kirk Chen
Research & Development tax credit
Meritum Consulting
Houston

Brandon Fernald
Products Liability and Litigation
Fernald Law Group
Los Angeles

Marshall Honeyman
Getting patents, analysis of patent claims and managing IP protection in Supplier/OEM relationships; Honeyman is a partner at Lathrop and Gage, and is also a former examiner and associate solicitor with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Lathrop & Gage LLP
Overland Park, Kansas

Steve Lustig
Trademark and copyright protection and enforcement in the automotive industry, international trademark rights and anti-counterfeiting strategies.
Dickinson Wright PLLC
Washington, D.C.

Justin Poplin
Patent protection, licensing and enforcement; utility and design patents; cost-effective patent acquisition strategies; avoiding patent infringement claims; and cost-effective alternatives to patent litigation. Poplin has a degree in mechanical engineering and is the department chairman for a large, sophisticated patent group. He formerly clerked for an administrative patent judge at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Lathrop & Gage LLP
Overland Park, Kansas

Robb Roby
OEM and aftermarket patent protection, licensing and enforcement.
Knobbe Martens
Irvine, California

John Walcher
Mergers, acquisitions and strategic planning; helps clients sell their businesses for maximum value or grow their businesses through acquisitions and other strategies; also provides exit planning, financing, strategic planning and valuation services to companies of all sizes.
Veritas Advisors
Orange County, California

Andrew Young
Patent protection, licensing and enforcement, including international rights acquisition, management and enforcement strategies.
Lackenbach Siegel LLP
Scarsdale, New York

Eugene F. Zelek Jr.
Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) and resale price policies, differentiated pricing, distribution agreements and channel relationships.
Freeborn & Peters LLP
Chicago

Don’t let this chance slip by! To schedule an appointment, contact Ashley Ailsworth at ashleya@sema.org or 202-783-6007, ext.19. 

By SEMA Washington, D.C., Staff

SEMA members have a unique opportunity to schedule a free one-on-one meeting with an expert on intellectual property rights (patents, trademarks, copyrights), pricing policies, the research and development (R&D) tax credit or product liability. Meetings are available in 20-minute segments to all SEMA members registered to attend the 2015 SEMA Show in Las Vegas. The meetings will take place Tuesday, November 3, and Wednesday, November 4, 2015, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., in Room N242 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

To schedule a meeting with one of the nine experts, please contact Ashley Ailsworth with your preferred meeting time and the subject matter in which you are interested. She can be reached at ashleya@sema.org or 202-783-6007, ext. 19.

Our experts include:

Kirk Chen
Research & Development tax credit
Meritum Consulting
Houston

Brandon Fernald
Products Liability and Litigation
Fernald Law Group
Los Angeles

Marshall Honeyman
Getting patents, analysis of patent claims and managing IP protection in Supplier/OEM relationships; Honeyman is a partner at Lathrop and Gage, and is also a former examiner and associate solicitor with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Lathrop & Gage LLP
Overland Park, Kansas

Steve Lustig
Trademark and copyright protection and enforcement in the automotive industry, international trademark rights and anti-counterfeiting strategies.
Dickinson Wright PLLC
Washington, D.C.

Justin Poplin
Patent protection, licensing and enforcement; utility and design patents; cost-effective patent acquisition strategies; avoiding patent infringement claims; and cost-effective alternatives to patent litigation. Poplin has a degree in mechanical engineering and is the department chairman for a large, sophisticated patent group. He formerly clerked for an administrative patent judge at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Lathrop & Gage LLP
Overland Park, Kansas

Robb Roby
OEM and aftermarket patent protection, licensing and enforcement.
Knobbe Martens
Irvine, California

John Walcher
Mergers, acquisitions and strategic planning; helps clients sell their businesses for maximum value or grow their businesses through acquisitions and other strategies; also provides exit planning, financing, strategic planning and valuation services to companies of all sizes.
Veritas Advisors
Orange County, California

Andrew Young
Patent protection, licensing and enforcement, including international rights acquisition, management and enforcement strategies.
Lackenbach Siegel LLP
Scarsdale, New York

Eugene F. Zelek Jr.
Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) and resale price policies, differentiated pricing, distribution agreements and channel relationships.
Freeborn & Peters LLP
Chicago

Don’t let this chance slip by! To schedule an appointment, contact Ashley Ailsworth at ashleya@sema.org or 202-783-6007, ext.19. 

By Michael Hart

	At least three conference sessions at the SEMA Show will be devoted to the business opportunities associated with racing.

Maybe not every single aftermarket industry customer has dreams of seeing his or her vehicle cross the finish line first. Nevertheless, the industry can trace its roots back to the sport of racing, and it remains important both as a business segment itself and a fomenter of new ideas.

“Things like dry lake-bed racing and drag racing—those were the kinds of things that were the impetus for the companies that we’ve come to represent today,” said SEMA Director of Market Research Gavin Knapp.

Indeed, racing remains such an important part of the automotive aftermarket industry that at least three conference sessions at the SEMA Show will be devoted to the business opportunities associated with racing.

Knapp will lead an important session entitled, “How Big Is the U.S. Racing Market?” in which he will release the results of a comprehensive research study SEMA has conducted on the size and scope of the racing business, viewed from a different perspective than most studies.

“Most research typically focuses on things such as sponsorship dollars, media results or attendance,” he said. “Those are great metrics for the sport itself, but if you are trying to sell parts for race cars, those things are secondary. What you want to know is how many race cars are out there in the world.”

The connections between racing and the general industry are quite strong.

“Racing is the testbed,” Knapp said. “It lends itself to coming up with new ideas that can get filtered into the more general market. “You have the R&D world and then you filter the technology down.”

Examining that symbiotic union between the two facets of the market will be Cameron Douglass, director of marketing at OPTIMA Batteries, who will talk about the “Camaraderie and Competition That Fuels Industry Growth.”

Then Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula Drift, will outline the business opportunities associated with one of the most exciting new phenomena in the automotive world. His session, “Is a Drift Car a Race Car? How Your Business Can Profit From a Booming Marketplace,” will cover how Formula Drift brings together traditional racing and extreme sports with a rapidly evolving technology that is drawing huge crowds.

“Any business that is selling into the racing market or just looking for the new products that its customers are interested in, whether they’re manufacturers or retailers, they’re going to benefit from these sessions,” Knapp said.

Register now for these three must-attend sessions.

View a complete list of SEMA Show Education sessions available.

By Michael Hart

	At least three conference sessions at the SEMA Show will be devoted to the business opportunities associated with racing.

Maybe not every single aftermarket industry customer has dreams of seeing his or her vehicle cross the finish line first. Nevertheless, the industry can trace its roots back to the sport of racing, and it remains important both as a business segment itself and a fomenter of new ideas.

“Things like dry lake-bed racing and drag racing—those were the kinds of things that were the impetus for the companies that we’ve come to represent today,” said SEMA Director of Market Research Gavin Knapp.

Indeed, racing remains such an important part of the automotive aftermarket industry that at least three conference sessions at the SEMA Show will be devoted to the business opportunities associated with racing.

Knapp will lead an important session entitled, “How Big Is the U.S. Racing Market?” in which he will release the results of a comprehensive research study SEMA has conducted on the size and scope of the racing business, viewed from a different perspective than most studies.

“Most research typically focuses on things such as sponsorship dollars, media results or attendance,” he said. “Those are great metrics for the sport itself, but if you are trying to sell parts for race cars, those things are secondary. What you want to know is how many race cars are out there in the world.”

The connections between racing and the general industry are quite strong.

“Racing is the testbed,” Knapp said. “It lends itself to coming up with new ideas that can get filtered into the more general market. “You have the R&D world and then you filter the technology down.”

Examining that symbiotic union between the two facets of the market will be Cameron Douglass, director of marketing at OPTIMA Batteries, who will talk about the “Camaraderie and Competition That Fuels Industry Growth.”

Then Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula Drift, will outline the business opportunities associated with one of the most exciting new phenomena in the automotive world. His session, “Is a Drift Car a Race Car? How Your Business Can Profit From a Booming Marketplace,” will cover how Formula Drift brings together traditional racing and extreme sports with a rapidly evolving technology that is drawing huge crowds.

“Any business that is selling into the racing market or just looking for the new products that its customers are interested in, whether they’re manufacturers or retailers, they’re going to benefit from these sessions,” Knapp said.

Register now for these three must-attend sessions.

View a complete list of SEMA Show Education sessions available.

By Michael Hart

	At least three conference sessions at the SEMA Show will be devoted to the business opportunities associated with racing.

Maybe not every single aftermarket industry customer has dreams of seeing his or her vehicle cross the finish line first. Nevertheless, the industry can trace its roots back to the sport of racing, and it remains important both as a business segment itself and a fomenter of new ideas.

“Things like dry lake-bed racing and drag racing—those were the kinds of things that were the impetus for the companies that we’ve come to represent today,” said SEMA Director of Market Research Gavin Knapp.

Indeed, racing remains such an important part of the automotive aftermarket industry that at least three conference sessions at the SEMA Show will be devoted to the business opportunities associated with racing.

Knapp will lead an important session entitled, “How Big Is the U.S. Racing Market?” in which he will release the results of a comprehensive research study SEMA has conducted on the size and scope of the racing business, viewed from a different perspective than most studies.

“Most research typically focuses on things such as sponsorship dollars, media results or attendance,” he said. “Those are great metrics for the sport itself, but if you are trying to sell parts for race cars, those things are secondary. What you want to know is how many race cars are out there in the world.”

The connections between racing and the general industry are quite strong.

“Racing is the testbed,” Knapp said. “It lends itself to coming up with new ideas that can get filtered into the more general market. “You have the R&D world and then you filter the technology down.”

Examining that symbiotic union between the two facets of the market will be Cameron Douglass, director of marketing at OPTIMA Batteries, who will talk about the “Camaraderie and Competition That Fuels Industry Growth.”

Then Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula Drift, will outline the business opportunities associated with one of the most exciting new phenomena in the automotive world. His session, “Is a Drift Car a Race Car? How Your Business Can Profit From a Booming Marketplace,” will cover how Formula Drift brings together traditional racing and extreme sports with a rapidly evolving technology that is drawing huge crowds.

“Any business that is selling into the racing market or just looking for the new products that its customers are interested in, whether they’re manufacturers or retailers, they’re going to benefit from these sessions,” Knapp said.

Register now for these three must-attend sessions.

View a complete list of SEMA Show Education sessions available.

By Michael Hart

	At least three conference sessions at the SEMA Show will be devoted to the business opportunities associated with racing.

Maybe not every single aftermarket industry customer has dreams of seeing his or her vehicle cross the finish line first. Nevertheless, the industry can trace its roots back to the sport of racing, and it remains important both as a business segment itself and a fomenter of new ideas.

“Things like dry lake-bed racing and drag racing—those were the kinds of things that were the impetus for the companies that we’ve come to represent today,” said SEMA Director of Market Research Gavin Knapp.

Indeed, racing remains such an important part of the automotive aftermarket industry that at least three conference sessions at the SEMA Show will be devoted to the business opportunities associated with racing.

Knapp will lead an important session entitled, “How Big Is the U.S. Racing Market?” in which he will release the results of a comprehensive research study SEMA has conducted on the size and scope of the racing business, viewed from a different perspective than most studies.

“Most research typically focuses on things such as sponsorship dollars, media results or attendance,” he said. “Those are great metrics for the sport itself, but if you are trying to sell parts for race cars, those things are secondary. What you want to know is how many race cars are out there in the world.”

The connections between racing and the general industry are quite strong.

“Racing is the testbed,” Knapp said. “It lends itself to coming up with new ideas that can get filtered into the more general market. “You have the R&D world and then you filter the technology down.”

Examining that symbiotic union between the two facets of the market will be Cameron Douglass, director of marketing at OPTIMA Batteries, who will talk about the “Camaraderie and Competition That Fuels Industry Growth.”

Then Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula Drift, will outline the business opportunities associated with one of the most exciting new phenomena in the automotive world. His session, “Is a Drift Car a Race Car? How Your Business Can Profit From a Booming Marketplace,” will cover how Formula Drift brings together traditional racing and extreme sports with a rapidly evolving technology that is drawing huge crowds.

“Any business that is selling into the racing market or just looking for the new products that its customers are interested in, whether they’re manufacturers or retailers, they’re going to benefit from these sessions,” Knapp said.

Register now for these three must-attend sessions.

View a complete list of SEMA Show Education sessions available.