Team Members

• Barry Brager
• Dr. Jeff Davidson
• Ed Carreras
• Chad Kitchen
• Bill Black
• Michael Bredahl
• Dr. Dan Phelps
• Frank Koperda
  

THE PERCEPTION PARTNERS TEAM

Barry Brager

Barry is the Founder and Managing Partner of Perception Partners®. He manages operations and is responsible for a diverse team of technical, business and legal experts. In addition, Barry leads ongoing development of patent-pending quantitative and qualitative analytical tools for data and text mining that have been used to analyze more than 250,000 patents worldwide and which have supported decisions related to more than $1 billion in financial transactions.

Barry is also the Chief Executive Officer of Starpound Corporation. Starpound is an IP management company that licenses technology to turn mobile phones into remote control devices. Barry holds one patent and multiple pending related to these endeavors.

Barry holds several leadership positions in the IP industry. He is the Small Business Committee Chair of the Intellectual Property Owners Association based in Washington D.C., which the only association in the U.S. that serves all IP owners in all industries and all fields of technology. He is also the co-chair of the Atlanta chapter of the Licensing Executives Society and will co-chair the LES 2008 Annual meeting in Orlando. Further, he is a member of the Atlanta Chapter Committee of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals and member of the Strategic Planning Committee of the Patent Information Users Group. At the meetings of these groups and others, Barry is a frequent speaker on IP strategy, valuation and the links between patent intelligence and competitive advantage.

Previously, Barry was president of a marketing services firm, the precursor to Perception Partners. Barry is also an award-winning graphic designer and was an adjunct professor at Portfolio Center, one of the nation’s leading creative development institutions. He taught hundreds of classes on computer systems, video editing, interactive animation and creative industry business practices for more than a decade.

Barry graduated in 1992 from Temple University, and in 2003 completed Emory University’s top 10 globally-ranked Executive MBA program, graduating Beta Gamma Sigma and first in his class.

Dr. Jeff Davidson

Jeff is Senior Operations Partner and directs all operational aspects of Perception Partners’ business to ensure that our products and services consistently provide expected value to our customers. For the past 20 years he was at the BOC Group, a $6 billion global industrial gases company, where he most recently was Director of External Technology Sourcing and Competitive Intelligence. In previous positions at BOC, he has led a range of research and information systems groups, and managed the global technology development portfolio and innovation program on behalf of BOC’s executive leadership team. Previously, Jeff was a senior engineer at the International Nickel (INCO) Sterling Forest R&D lab.

Jeff brings a unique blend of technical expertise in applied physical sciences and engineering together with extensive experience in team leadership, project management, organizational process improvement, and implementation of knowledge management tools supporting effective collaboration. His global perspective on technology issues is derived primarily from his time working abroad, including one year at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science, four years developing and leading BOC’s semiconductor research laboratory in Osaka, Japan, and more recently building and directing a competitive technology intelligence team in Chennai, India.

Jeff received his Bachelors, Masters and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University in Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering. He also holds a Masters degree in Management with a concentration in e-Commerce from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He is an active member of the Industrial Research Institute, the American Society of Materials, and the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals. Jeff holds 5 patents related to materials processing, and is the author of over 30 publications in the areas of materials science and technology management.

Eduardo Carreras

Ed is a Consulting Partner with Perception Partners and is the former Chief Intellectual Property Counsel of The Coca-Cola Company and is also Of Counsel at Woodcock Washburn. During his tenure at the Coca-Cola Company, Ed directed a number of initiatives to ensure that the Company maximized the value intrinsic in its intellectual property. He instituted a process to review the existing patent and trademark portfolios to assess the whether the value of the intellectual property was worth the maintenance cost. He was instrumental in leading the Company to approve a technology licensing program and assert its patents against competitors. He adopted a project management approach that enabled the Company to control the high cost of intellectual property litigation.

During his 25 years as an intellectual property lawyer, Ed has handled issues in many technical areas, including fiber optics, lasers, plastic and metal packaging, electro-mechanical equipment, and chemical processes.

Ed began working with Perception Partners after his early retirement from The Coca-Cola Company to help companies develop and focus their intellectual property strategies to protect innovations that lead to competitive advantage.

Ed has a law degree and a B. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Miami. He also has a M. Sc. in Aeronautical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology.

Chad Kitchen

Chad is a Research Partner at Perception Partners in brings text mining, statistical and biotechnology subject matter expertise to a range of analytical and valuation projects. In addition, Chad oversees all aspects of project management to ensure that all work is appropriately estimated, planned, executed, and delivered to firm clients.

Chad possesses more than thirteen years of experience in experimental design and project planning. For the past five years, he has built tremendous expertise at the Emory University Department of Pharmacology. During this time, he identified a novel protein interaction that may lead to an effective anti-inflammatory therapy.

In addition, Chad has significant expertise in animal transgenesis, bioinformatics, and rational drug design. Chad has collaborated with the Emory University Office of Technology Transfer to support litigation preparation and in this role authored market analyses for early stage biotech companies. Further, he is currently a member of the American Society of Pharmacological and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) which facilitates a deeper understanding of those patents that truly represent the cutting edge of bench research.

Chad received his B.S. from Pennsylvania State University where he majored in Molecular and Cell Biology on a full academic scholarship. Soon after graduating with honors, he worked as a project manager for the University of Rochester’s distinguished Center for Cardiovascular Research. He will complete his Ph.D. in Pharmacology at Emory University in February 2008.

Bill Black, CPA, CVA, ABV

Bill Black is a Consulting Partner with Perception Partners, and is a financial professional with extensive experience in business valuation, litigation consulting and litigation support, intellectual property valuation and analysis, forensic accounting and records reconstruction, fraud investigation and analysis, and management strategy and risk assessment. His experience in intellectual property and intangible asset valuation ranges from patent and trade secret valuation to franchise rights valuation to valuing contingent fee cases in a law firm dissolution.

Black has been appointed by courts to provide a neutral financial perspective and to assist the trier of fact in understanding complex business issues. He has been assigned to provide a neutral business valuation in the dissolution of a regional distribution concern, and appointed to serve as an auditor and business valuation expert in winding up the affairs of a personal-injury law firm. Black has advised bankruptcy trustees on solvency and accounting issues. His professional certifications include: Certified Public Accountant (CPA); Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV); Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA); Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE).

Prior to establishing his independent consulting practice, Black directed and managed litigation consulting engagements for Deloitte & Touche and Price Waterhouse. He has served as financial information systems consulting manager for Deloitte Haskins & Sells, and has directed financial planning and analysis for a $500 million group of the Penn Central Corporation. Black worked on the research and technical staff of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, where he assisted in the development and issuance of major components in the conceptual framework for financial accounting and reporting, including Qualitative Characteristics of Accounting Information, Elements of Financial Statements, and Measurement.

Michael Bredahl, CPA

Michael is a Consulting Partner with Perception Partners and has provided intellectual property strategy, commercialization, licensing, and valuation services for more than 14 years to clients in the US, Europe and Asia. He has effectively assessed IP portfolios and executed transactions regarding new products and geographies, new company formations, alliances, joint ventures, sales, and licenses.

Michael is also the founder and Principal of Intellectual Asset Commercialization, Inc. (IAComm), a growth strategy, business development and IP management services firm. IAComm has strategically partnered with Perception Partners to provide more comprehensive solutions to our clients. Prior to founding IAComm, Michael was a professional in Big 4 accounting and consulting firms for nearly 11 years. He initially worked in the valuation practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Michael later co-founded The Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) consulting practice at PwC. He was also a Senior Manager in the IAM and Technology Commercialization practice at Deloitte & Touche.

Michael is a frequent course developer and instructor of educational programs for the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Licensing Executives Society and Biotechnology Industry Organization. Michael holds a Bachelor of Science in accounting and a Master of Business Administration concentrated in finance. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a candidate for the final examination, Level III, toward becoming a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Dr. Daniel J. Phelps

Dan is the Acting Chief Technology Officer of Perception Partners and provides software development and process automation for the company's IP research, transaction and consulting services.

For the last 12 years he has targeted his efforts to working with Intellectual Property. He is expert in finding, organizing, analyzing, and visualizing IP information. He has extensive experience using this refined IP information to help clients organize their patent holdings and develop their own Intellectual Property strategies.

Dan joined the Eastman Kodak Company in 1974. He worked at Kodak until retiring in 2006. Prior to his IP analytical activites at the company, Dan held a variety of individual contributor, group leader, and managerial positions dealing with solid state light emitting devices, solid state light sensing devices, magnetic recording systems and printing systems employing many different marking technologies. Upon retirement, Dan formed DJP Information Consulting Services, LLC.

Dan holds a M.S. and Ph.D. in solid state physics from the University of Illinois.

Frank R. Koperda

Frank is a Consulting Partner with Perception Partners and is a recognized subject matter expert in creating new data technologies. He applies his knowledge to intellectual property issues, and helps stakeholders evaluate a company’s prospect for success. He has spent his career developing many leading-edge products in computing and data communications. Some of his products include the original IBM desktop computers, fast packet data switches, wireless LANs, cable modems, fiber systems, and ADSL products.

Beyond developing products, Frank has 46 domestic and international patents. He assists in managing intellectual property portfolios, assists in patent litigation work, and serves as an expert witness in court proceedings.

Because of his technology expertise, success in bringing products to market, and work with multiple standards committees, Frank is able to provide unique insight to stakeholders in the data, telecommunications and broadband industries. Frank is able to evaluate the main factors in determining if a product is going to succeed, including ensuring that the product meets the needs of the end-user, that it is introduced in the right market window, and that it has unique advantages over competitors.

Frank received his Masters in Computer Engineering from Case Western Reserve University and Physics and Chemistry Degrees from State University of New York at Plattsburgh. He has previously worked for International Business Machines Inc., Scientific-Atlanta, BellSouth and Hayes Corporation.