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Welcome to the BlueFoot Dance!

At BlueFoot, we can't stop thinking about strategy and how it is evolving. After all, that's where we got our name "BlueFoot" from, and what we love to help our clients do. That's why we are thrilled to launch a podcast about strategy and the thought leaders throughout industry that move it forward.


In the BlueFoot Dance, our podcast, we want to learn two things from the guests that join us: Their vision of how strategy will evolve and who the person is behind the role.


We couldn't make this podcast without the kindness and effort of the amazing thought leaders that have given us their time, their perspectives, and their book recommendations. Thank you! We really appreciate the thoughtfulness, candor, and fun you bring to our podcasts!


We also want to thank our podcast editor and logistics extraordinaire - Sam Choe, and our podcast marketing guru - Veronica Kim. They have been instrumental in bringing Season One of the BlueFoot Dance to life (and, most importantly, for securing the rights to our awesome jingle)!


And now, on to the episodes! We hope you love them as much as we do. Enjoy!


The BlueFoot Dance

with Masaki Kataoka


Head of Intellectual Property at Lixil


We are so excited to share a fascinating conversation we had with Masaki Kataoka, Head of Intellectual Property at Lixil. We hear about Masaki’s career journey, considering IP from so many various factors and jurisdictions as he worked with joint ventures for Sony, to the unique challenge that he finds himself in at Lixil, bringing together different departments to execute on a clear and holistic IP vision. We also loved our conversations geeking out about space, and were really inspired by Masaki’s vision of how to communicate the value of IP to the business. We are so grateful to Masaki for sharing his time, perspectives, and stories with us. Also, we note that the revenue numbers Masaki mentioned in the podcast were based on 2019 fiscal year numbers.

Masaki's Book Recommendation:


The BlueFoot Dance

with Jennifer Chung


Business Incubation Counsel at Verizon; Former General Counsel at Accuweather


We are so excited to share a fascinating conversation with Jennifer Chung, Business Incubation Counsel at Verizon, and former GC at AccuWeather. We hear about Jennifer's varied career journey, from a NY DA, to protecting the "I Love NY" brand, and finally to her in house counsel positions in the trademark and GC roles. We also loved our conversation about data privacy, how it differs based on regime, and the necessity for IP lawyers to also become data experts. We are so grateful to Jennifer for sharing her time, perspectives, and stories with us!

Jennifer's Book Recommendation:


The BlueFoot Dance

with Alan Minsk


Partner, Patent Strategist, FisherBroyles LLP


We are so excited to share a fascinating conversation with Alan Minsk, Partner and Patent Strategist, at FisherBroyles, LLP. We hear about Alan's varied career journey, from an in house counsel position at a world changing startup, working on pricing and valuation as one of the first employees at Intellectual Ventures, and now at a law firm providing Chief IP Counsel as a service. Alan covered so much in this podcast, from his methodology on patent valuation to the relationship between metaphysics and philosophy. We definitely took notes - we are guessing you will too! We are so grateful to Alan for sharing his time, perspectives, and stories with us!

Alan's Book Recommendation:


The BlueFoot Dance

with Jack Lin


Director, Intellectual Property Counsel, Otsuka Pharmaceuticals


We are so excited to share a fascinating conversation with Jack Lin, Director, Intellectual Property Counsel, at Otsuka Pharmaceuticals. We hear about Jack's career journey, from his early days working with body parts to his current work supporting and protecting the future of medicine with digital health and pharma. We also learn about Jack's view towards giving business-aligned IP strategy, especially with respect to digital health and how the pharma industry must adapt their strategy to consider the confluence of regulatory and technology considerations in this merging digital health space. We are so grateful to Jack for sharing his time, perspectives, and stories with us!

Jack's Book Recommendation:


The BlueFoot Dance

with Jon Wood 


Former Executive Director of Innovation and Collaboration, Bridgestone Americas Inc.



We are so excited to share a fascinating conversation with Jon Wood, Director of Waldron Center of Entrepreneurship and Family Business at Harding University, and former Executive Director of Innovation and Collaboration, Bridgestone Americas Inc. In this episode, we hear about Jon's career journey through technology, business, IP, and now academia. Jon mentioned in this podcast that he always felt the need to make IP valuable to the business, and we see that throughout our conversation with him. We also highly recommend that you check out the Ugandan Prison Project that Jon is involved with. We are so grateful to Jon for sharing his time, perspectives, and stories with us!

Jon's Book Recommendation:


The BlueFoot Dance

with Jon Liu 


Associate General Counsel, Patents, Facebook

In this episode, we hear about Jon’s career journey, especially how he focuses on optimizing resource allocation in IP and making sure that the success metrics for his team align with business goals. We had a blast learning about Jon’s previous entrepreneurial journeys as well, and definitely see how he brings that spirit of entrepreneurship to everything he does at Facebook. We are still rooting for him to bring his college app back to life. 😊 We are so grateful to Jon for sharing his time, perspectives, and stories with us!

Jon's Book Recommendation:


The BlueFoot Dance

with Bruce Wu 


Vice President and Head of Intellectual Property, Nutcracker Therapeutics


In this episode, we hear about Bruce's career journey, especially how he seeks out challenges to use IP in a holistic and creative manner to protect both biotech and hi-tech innovation. We really loved getting to know more about Bruce's leadership style as well -- how he values transparency, and makes the active choice to lead by empathy. We are so grateful to Bruce for sharing his time, perspectives, and stories with us!

Bruce's Book Recommendation:


The BlueFoot Dance

with Anjanette Lecher


Director of Intellectual Asset Management, Corning



We are so excited to share a fascinating conversation with Anjanette Lecher, Director, Intellectual Asset Management at Corning. In this episode, we hear about Anjanette's career journey through technology, business and IP at Corning, her favorite (and definitely memorable) previous jobs, and the importance of linking engineering, business, and IP for IP strategy and patent portfolio management. We are so grateful to Anjanette for sharing her time, perspectives, and stories with us!

Anjanette's Book Recommendation:


The BlueFoot Dance

with Adan Ayala 


General Patent Counsel, Stanley Black & Decker


We are so excited to share a fascinating conversation with Adan Ayala, General Patent Counsel at Stanley Black & Decker. In this episode, we hear about Adan’s career journey in IP, his memorable moments at Stanley, Black & Decker, and how AI can help with patent portfolio management. We also discussed the implications of the usage of AI on society, and its laws and regulations as well. We are so grateful to Adan for sharing his time, perspectives, and stories with us!

Adan's Book Recommendation:


The BlueFoot Dance

with Parjeet Kaur Tawana 


Director of Patents, BenevolentAI



We are so excited to share a fascinating conversation with Parjeet Kaur Tawana, Director of Patents at BenevolentAI. In this episode, we hear about Parjeet’s career journey in IP and her perspectives on the ethics of AI and data as our world continues to become more technologically advanced. We discussed the potential biases that AI could have and what we can do to fix those problems moving forward. We are so grateful to Parjeet for sharing her time, perspectives, and stories with us!

Parjeet's Book Recommendation:


The BlueFoot Dance

with Harry Gwinnell 


Of Counsel, Greenblug & Bernstein; Former Chief IP Counsel at Cargill


We are so excited to share a fascinating conversation with Harry Gwinnell, Of Counsel at Greemblum & Bernstein, former Chief IP Counsel at Cargill, past Vice President of the Intellectual Property Owner's Association, and past President of the Association of Corporate Patent Counsel. In this episode, we hear Harry advocate for IP education and making sure IP adds value to the business (the benefit has to exceed the cost!). And when you hear about his career journey, you’ll love Harry’s other potential career choices. We are so grateful to Harry for sharing his time, perspectives, and stories with us!

Harry's Book Recommendation:


The BlueFoot Dance

with Scott Pojunas 


Head of Patent Engagement Readiness at Google



We are so excited to share a fascinating conversation with Scott Pojunas, Head of Patent Engagement Readiness at Google. In this episode, we hear about Scott advocates for a harmonized view on IP strategy and how his team has really pushed to have it align with the business needs of Google. We also get a peek into his career journey and his favorite bands (we are rooting for the Pojunas family band!). We are so grateful to Scott for sharing his time, perspectives, and stories with us!

Scott's Book Recommendation:


Celebrating 1000 Listens!


The Story about the BlueFoot Dance Theme Song


In this episode, we celebrate reaching our 1000 listen milestone! Thank you to each of our amazing guests for sharing your stories and perspectives, and to our listeners as well! Here's to the next 1000. 😊 And in the meantime, we hope you like the story about how we got our BlueFoot Dance theme song. Enjoy!

The BlueFoot Dance

with Cassandra Derham 


Head of Technical IP at Amadeus SAS


We are so excited to share a fascinating conversation with Cassandra Derham, Head of Technical IP at Amadeus. In this episode, we hear about Cassandra’s perspectives on leadership and hiring, why we need to create a holistic IP strategy, and how to get there. We are so grateful to Cassandra for sharing her time, perspectives, and stories with us!

Cassandra's Book Recommendation:


The BlueFoot Dance

with Manny Schecter


Chief Patent Counsel of IBM


We are so excited to share the fascinating conversation we had with Manny Schecter, Chief Patent Counsel of IBM. We hear about Manny’s craziest job, why he loves his current role at IBM, the need for IP education, and how we should address IP issues related to artificial intelligence. We are so grateful to Manny for sharing his time, perspectives, and stories with us!

Manny's Book Recommendation:


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