Professional Background of
Jeffrey Dean Lindsay

Appleton, Wisconsin

Recent news

In 2022, the UK's IAM Media (formerly Intellectual Asset Management magazine), a major publisher and event organizer for the global intellectual property profession, recognized me as one of the world's leading IP strategists in their IAM Strategy 300 listing. I was surprised, even though this has happened each year since 2015, the first year when in-house IP workers could be considered (I was head of IP at Asia Pulp and Paper in China at the time). The surprise comes in part because the competition has definitely become more challenging. For my 2022 honor, see https://www.iam-media.com/rankings/strategy-300/profile/person/jeff-lindsay.

More recently, I was also named by IAM Media as one of their "Strategy 300 Global Leaders" for 2023, another surprise. See https://www.iam-media.com/survey/strategy-300-global-leaders/2023/article/jeff-lindsay.

Overview

I am currently working for a variety of clients on my own through Planet Lindsay, LLC, while also serving as a Senior Advisor for ipCapital Group since Sept. 2020, an innovation and intellectual property (IP) strategy group that I consider to be one of the best in the business. There I work with clients to help them extract more value from their innovation work, to cope with the threats and opportunities of disruptive innovation using aggressive IP strategy, and to more rapidly create new products and IP in targeted areas.

Prior to teaming up with ipCapital Group, I had the excitement of what was probably my most productive year of R&D work in my career, serving as Head of R&D and Intellectual Property for a rapidly growing consumer products company, Lume Deodorant, recently acquired. In 2019 I was invited to join Lume as a startup which formed years after I drafted and prosecuted their initial patents, and began working for them in June 2019 while living in China. Most of my time went into developing several new products, with an emphasis on formulation and understanding the mechanisms involved in some of the breakthroughs we've seen.

Prior to Lume, I was in China since 2011 where I was Head of IP for a large Asian company, Asia Pulp and Paper (China), one of the largest forest products companies in the world and part of the world's largest family owned company, Sinar Mas of Jakarta, Indonesia. Working in China was a tremendous and life-changing experience (I love Shanghai, the diverse Chinese peoples, Chinese culture, and the Chinese language). At APP, I pursued innovation and IP strategy to help my employer and its many inventors, teams, and associated companies. It was a challenging and sometimes painful time, but one of the best parts of my life.

My goal at APP and with other past and current employers is to not just obtain valuable IP, but help others figure out what to create and protect in the first place. That's part of IP strategy, and something that I've tried to promote among others through writing and speaking. I think I have some interesting approaches to IP strategy, and in every year since 2015 so far, I have named as one of the world's leading IP strategists in the IAM300 list (www.iam-media.com/strategy300/) by Intellectual Asset Management, a major publication in the IP profession (this is based on peer recognition, as described in their methodology for selecting honorees).

I am the former Corporate Patent Strategist for Kimberly-Clark, a former Director in an innovation-oriented business consultancy, InnovationEdge, and a former professor. By understanding inventors and their technology, as well as the pains of bringing inventions to the market, I help bridge the gaps that hinder innovation and make R&D teams more productive and successful.

I've described some of my approaches in a book, Conquering Innovation Fatigue, with co-authors Cheryl Perkins and Mukund Karanjikar, published by John Wiley & Sons (New York, July 2009).

Prior to joining APP, I was Director of Solution Development at Innovationedge, a leading innovation consultancy. At Innovationedge, I worked with one of the world's leaders in innovation, Cheryl Perkins, who was Chief Innovation Officer and Senior VP at Kimberly-Clark before forming her business consultancy. We helped some of the world's largest and most interesting corporations in advancing innovation, new product development, and IP strategy, while also working with carefully selected start-ups and inventors to assist them in bringing their technology to major corporations. I am grateful for the many opportunities I had at Innovationedge and for all I was able to learn from Cheryl and my outstanding coworkers. It's wonderful to see successful new products on the shelf or in industry where I played a role in helping to bring about change and innovation.

Before joining Cheryl's team at Innovationedge, I was in her organization at Kimberly-Clark Corporation, where I was Corporate Patent Strategist and Senior Research Fellow. There I worked with many groups around the Corporation to develop and execute our intellectual asset strategy. My initiatives there included introduction of low-cost methods to strengthen intellectual asset portfolios and disrupt the competition. The unusual position of Corporate Patent Strategist came about after I became a registered US patent agent in 1994 and began aggressively applying principles of IP law to enhance R&D efforts to yield stronger patents. So I was a patent agent in R&D as well as an inventor with broad technical and business interests. Kimberly-Clark graciously provided many opportunities for me to grow and contribute, including opportunities to assist in drafting, crafting, and creating patents and inventions. The combination of years of R&D work plus patent-specific projects resulted in receiving over 100 patents (including chemical patents, diagnostics patents, business method patents, process and product patents, etc.).

I enjoy working with inventors and corporations in strengthening their IA strategy and innovation systems. I have experience in both the corporate world and academia, and enjoy bridging the gap between the two by helping companies with open innovation and helping universities connect their inventions to the marketplace. My skill sets include driving innovation in both technology and business methods or business models, guiding innovation strategy and intellectual asset strategy, and conducting value network analysis to understand organizational behavior and ecosystems of innovation. I also love hands-on work in formulating new consumer products such as deodorants, creams, cosmetics, etc. Plus I'm an avid blogger, writer, photographer, and cook, though that's been on the wane since moving to Shanghai. I am active in my community and church, speak German and Chinese (including basic reading and writing abilities), know a little Spanish and Hmong, and enjoy a diversity of cultures. But the Chinese language is my passion right now. Tough, but I love it.

Areas of Expertise

Open innovation, intellectual property strategy, cosmetic formulation, cosmetic chemistry, new business development, biomaterials, bioproducts, external business development, alliances and licensing, innovation systems, technology scouting, private brand development, value network analysis, university-industry relationships, public speaking, amateur magic, and photography. Technical experience includes cellulose chemistry (a subject of several of my chemical patents), consumer products manufacturing, fluid flow in fibrous media, recycling and deinking, multiphase flow and heat transfer, predictive test methods and test method development, fiber-water interactions in paper and cellulosic materials, etc. I am also a registered patent agent before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and have a strong interest in patents and patent law.

Employment History

ipCapital Group, Williston, Vermont (but working remotely from Wisconsin), Senior Advisor.

Lume Deodorant, Salt Lake City, Utah and Appleton, Wisconsin (working remotely), June 2019 to Aug. 2020, Head of R&D and IP.

Asia Pulp and Paper, Shanghai, China, June 2011 to May 2019, Head of Intellectual Property.

Innovation Edge, Neenah, Wisconsin: August 2007 to June 2011, Director of Solution Development.

Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Neenah, Wisconsin: May 1994-August 2007.

At K-C I helped build new patent estates in areas such as RFID, new tissue and feminine care products, business methods, and other areas. I worked with management to create a community of practice in intellectual assets that brought together Legal, management, and the technical community to strengthen best practices, increase skills, and network. I helped create the Cross-Sector Business Methods Group to pursue business method patents and help many groups across the Corporation recognize the value of their innovations in how K-C did business. I worked with patent review boards across the Corporation to drive and improve strategy. I introduced defensive publications and other low-cost intellectual asset tools as part of an expanded approach for cost-effective intellectual assets. I also conducted proprietary research related to improving the performance of various consumer products produced by Kimberly-Clark.

Institute of Paper Science and Technology (formerly Institute of Paper Chemistry), Atlanta, Georgia: 1987-1994.

Research Assistant, BYU Combustion Laboratory, Provo, Utah, March 1982 to Dec. 1986.

Education and Training

U.S. Patent Agent, Reg. No. 41,155, certified Aug. 4, 1997.

Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, Dec. 1986.
Dissertation: "Laser Anemometer Measurements in Simulated Gasifier Flows with Swirl."

B.S., Chemical Engineering, summa cum laude, Brigham Young University, Aug. 1983.

Honors and Awards

Publications and Patents

Other Papers and Presentations

Conferences and Workshops

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Curator: Jeff Lindsay ,  Contact:
Last Updated: June 28, 2023
URL: "https://www.JeffLindsay.com/resume4.shtml"