PIERRETTE BRETON has over 25 years of experience in the field of semiconductor technology. Before founding Global Intellectual Strategies in August 2000, she spent eight years with Northern Telecom’s Semiconductor Group in wafer fabrication and device testing, followed by ten years in integrated circuit design analysis; four years with Semiconductor Insights, and six years with Chipworks. This extensive and functional experience has laid the foundation for her work in support of Intellectual Property Management.

Since 1994, Pierrette has consulted in patent matters involving licensing strategies and claim application. She has been deposed on numerous occasions in support of Patent Litigations and has testified at trial as an Expert Witness within the semiconductor discipline.

Pierrette Breton is a registered U.S. and Canadian Patent Agent and is a named inventor in two U.S. and corresponding Canadian patent applications. She holds a diploma in Electro Mechanical Engineering from Algonquin College in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

DR. MARC PEPIN holds a PhD in Physics. His doctorate and post-doctorate work was related to polymer science. He conducted simulations of polymers in melts and solutions, and he studied single chain dynamics. His research was directed to a large number of applications including plastic materials (blends), micelles, thin films, polymer brushes, bio-materials, DNA sequencing, and lab-on-a-chip devices, for example.

Marc has over six years of work experience in IP (Intellectual Property), which includes drafting and prosecuting patent applications for inventions in the Hi-tech sector. His drafting experience has provided him with extensive exposure to the telecommunications sector. As an Intellectual Property Analyst for the GIS team, Marc has been involved in a number of IP related activities including Patent Portfolio analyses, Patent Licensing, Prior Art searches, and in Infringement and Validity analyses.

DAVID FRASER is an Intellectual Property Analyst with over 5 years of experience in licensing strategies and patent claim applications with a particular emphasis on semiconductor devices and computer systems, as well as patent portfolio analysis and evaluation.

Prior to joining GIS, David spent 15 years in various technical positions in Canada and Japan where he worked on designing electro-optical systems for the telecommunications industry as well as conducting research in parallel computing, computer architecture, ATM and SONET network systems.

David holds a M.A.Sc in Electrical Engineering from the University of British Columbia and a B.Sc.Eng. in Mathematics and Engineering from Queen’s University. David is a member of the Licensing Executive Society and Professional Engineers Ontario.

CAROLYN HAYDEN brings over 20 years of experience in the semiconductor industry. Prior to GIS, Carolyn was a consultant with Semiconductor Insights and iPWERX where she provided services in IP management, licensing, litigation, trade secret misappropriation and open source software due diligence. Carolyn has been deposed in support of patent litigation and has testified at trial as a witness in the area of semiconductors.

The majority of her roles were held with Nortel Networks in the area of manufacturing, testing of semiconductors, as well as, hardware design support, software management, hardware design IP management and licensing for Nortel’s global hardware design community.

Carolyn received her B.Eng in 1986 from Concordia University. She is a current member of the Licensing Executive Society (LES). She is also the former Co-Chair of a working group within the VSIA (Virtual Socket Interface Alliance). Carolyn has published IP articles in the EE Times and the Korean IP Exchange (KIPEX).

ALFIO FERRARA started his career as a hardware designer. He spent nine years at Harris Farinon where he led a H/W design team. Alfio joined Alcatel (formerly Newbridge) in 1997 where he continued his career managing hardware and ASIC design groups.

Prior to joining GIS, Alfio was Director of Engineering at GenieView, Inc. where he led a small team of R&D engineers in new product development.

Alfio holds a B. Eng. (Communications).

STEPHEN POWELL joined Global Intellectual Strategies as an IC design analyst. He comes to us with over seven years of experience across several fields, including RF design, DSP and Software, and has been involved in the top-to-bottom design of several communication/GPS products at different companies.

Stephen holds a B.Eng, M.A.Sc in Electrical Engineering, and a B.Sc in Physics/Math.

ALEXANDER SORKIN brings broad experience as a CE analytical and FA lab tools expert. He has over six years of extensive experience in IC Micro-surgery by FIB (Focus Ion Beam). He is a technical expert in analytical tools and processes such as IC circuit editing, sample preparation, FIB, SEM/Dual beam, chemical wet/dry etching and other. Alexander is familiar with IC microstructure and fabrication processes. Before joining GIS, Alexander worked at Intel where he was Team Manager of the Circuit Edit Lab and was involved in the FS/BS debugging process of numerous projects, including Centrino projects in various process technologies (130nm, 90nm, 65nm, 45nm).

Alexander holds a B.Sc. in Electronic and Electrical Engineering from ORT Braude College, Israel from 1996. He is also a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

GILES BABIN specializes in Hardware/Software interaction, bus analysis, and system level reverse-engineering. Prior to joining GIS as a Lab Engineer, he spent several years participating in the hardware and software design of autonomous intelligent robots for two Ottawa Startups.

Giles holds a degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Ottawa along with a degree in Electro-Mechanical technology.

ELLEN BRAYTON brings a broad range of knowledge and experience in her role as Operations Manager with more than 20 years of experience in the semiconductor industry. Before joining GIS in May 2004, she spent five years with SiberCore Technologies in a Marketing Communications role. Prior to this, Ellen spent 18 years with Zarlink (formerly Mitel Semiconductor) where she held various positions from a technical documentation specialist to a managerial role in marketing communications.

Ellen is responsible for overall management of the day-to-day operations for the Company including the following functions: human resources, documentation, research, marketing, purchasing, facilities management, and IT.