EXPERIENCE:

Brent is a Shareholder and Chair of the Emerging Business and Technology Practice Group. He concentrates in intellectual property, licensing, technology transactions, corporate law, and general legal compliance. Brent provides a broad spectrum of legal services to entrepreneurs, emerging technology companies, and innovative enterprises of all sizes. His practice bridges numerous legal areas including intellectual property strategy and prosecution, licensing and technology transactions, intellectual property auditing and controls, media and entertainment issues and transactions, open source issues and licensing, Internet-related law, virtual reality law, sweepstakes and gambling, venture funding transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and commercial transactions of all kinds. Brent's multidiscipline experience also enables him to serve his clients in areas relating to software, digital media, telecommunications, nanotechnology, materials science, security systems, mechanical devices, medical devices, and business methods.

BACKGROUND:

Brent was a founding partner of the noted San Francisco law firm, Britton Silberman & Cervantez. A former software engineer, he is the only graduate of the MIT Media Lab to become an attorney and was recently invited to deliver the Distinguished Alumni Lecture at the MIT Media Lab. Brent is an adjunct professor at the University of Tampa Sykes College of Business. He writes and lectures frequently on topics relating to the law and business of innovation, entrepreneurship, and ethics in technology, science, art, and design. Brent was featured in Gulf Coast Business Review's cover story "Ideas to Money." Brent's blog is at http://brentbritton.com.

EDUCATION:

• Boston University, J.D., with honors
  • Founding editor-in-chief, Journal of Science & Technology Law, (1994)
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, S.M. (1991)
• University of Maine, B.A., with high distinction (1989)

PROFESSIONAL:

• Florida Bar (2005)
• California Bar (1994)
• New York Bar (2004)
• U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
• U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• Florida Trend "Legal Elite," 2008
• Best Lawyers in America, 2010
• Tampa Bay's 100 Most Influential Business Leaders, Tampa Bay CEO Magazine
• "Who's Who in the Law," Tampa Bay Business Journal
• "Who's Who in Business," Tampa Bay Business Journal

CIVIC:

• MIT Club of Tampa Bay, Immediate Past President
• Tampa Bay Technology Forum, Board of Directors
• Museum of Science and Industry, Board of Directors

RECENT PUBLICATIONS AND LECTURES:

• "Social Media in Context" - Business Outreach Speaker Series, January 22, 2010
• "Ideas2Money; Intellectual Property for the Uninitiated" - St. Petersburg College Entrepreneurship Program, January 21, 2010
• "Top Ten Legal Issues for Entrepreneurs" - StarTEC Tec Talk, January 12, 2010
• Panelist, "Getting Into the Go-To-Market Zone" - The Business Innovation and Growth (BIG) Summit, Orlando, November 19, 2009
• Keynote, "Three Reasons Why the Entrepreneurial Age Begins Today" - TechVenture2009, November 16, 2009
• "What it Takes to Launch a Successful Business ('Is My Idea a Business' and 'Entrepreneurship in the Internet Age')" - USF St. Pete Kickstart Bootcamp, November 13, 2009
• "Pitch 2.0 - Perfecting Your Pitch" - StarTEC Ideafest, November 6, 2009
• Panelist, "Maximizing Opportunity in Seed and Early Stage Investment" - Space Investment Summit 7, Boston, September 30, 2009 - Learn more
• Guest, "Copyrights and Trademarks: What You Need to Know for Your Website" - Small Business Trends Tweetcast, August 26, 2009 - Learn more
• Moderator/Emcee, Internet & Technology Summit, August 25, 2009 - Learn more
• Keynote, "Company 2.0: Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century" - St. Petersburg College Symposium, June 18, 2009 - Watch video
• Art Law - A Cosmic Perspective: The Basics of Art Law and Why Artists Need to Learn About It, All Conference Keynote, 3rd Annual Self Employment in the Arts Conference, March, 2009
• Ideas2Money: IP for Entrepreneurs, TBTF 7th Annual Entrepreneur Bootcamp, February, 2009
• The Network Makes The Rules, Sarasota International Design Summit, October 27-28, 2008
• Best Practices in IP Due Diligence. South Florida Business Review, October 13, 2008 (with Scott Coffey)
• Beware the Forgotten Founders (and Other Tips for IP Due Diligence), The Daily Deal, May 30, 2008
• CEO Lounge, Talk Radio 860AM WGUL, March, 2008 - January, 2009
• Protect Your Ideas -- Turning Intellectual Property into Value, Parts I-VII, Bay Area Business Magazine, February, 2008 - April, 2009
• Intellectual Property Audits: How to Verify That You Own Your IP, eWeek, January 18, 2008