Volunteer Spotlight: David Tenenbaum

David Tenenbaum is a Principal at the Chicago office of Global Economics Group, a consulting firm that provides economic analysis services in complex legal, regulatory, and policy matters. His practice is focused on the valuation of intellectual property (IP) in litigation and transactional settings. Mr. Tenenbaum has been an active volunteer at INTA for 20 years, having served on numerous committees and task forces, and as a moderator and speaker at several programs.

An important part of Mr. Tenenbaum’s work is finding analytically sound and rigorous ways to determine the commercial value of specific IP-based elements in multi-faceted products or services. This is challenging because of the need to distinguish between the value of the IP rights under consideration and the value of other IP elements and of non-IP contributions made by the user of those rights.

Mr. Tenenbaum’s daily work involves a broad range of activities-from “deep thinking” about ways to solve specific project issues or data challenges to more “rolled-up sleeves” work, such as building financial models or drafting reports. Project team meetings and calls with clients are often in the mix as well.

A particularly tricky matter Mr. Tenenbaum has been involved with was a valuation of licensing rights to the marks of a very large, not-for-profit social welfare organization for use by a for-profit entity in a variety of product offerings. The challenge consisted of ascertaining and quantifying the economic impact (i.e., incremental profits) that the endorsement from the not-for-profit was likely to have on the business of the licensee over the duration of the license.

When asked to pick a favorite INTA project he has worked on, Mr. Tenenbaum initially found it difficult to articulate just one. He says every project he has worked on has been enjoyable and has been a valuable experience. “If I had to pick one type of project as my ‘favorite,’ that would be serving as panel moderator for workshop-style sessions at Annual and Leadership Meetings,” Mr. Tenenbaum says. “These types of sessions present unique challenges and opportunities for multi-disciplinary teamwork.” David currently serves as Chair of the Study Development and Research Agenda Subcommittee of the Impact Studies Committee.

When asked about technology in the workplace, Mr. Tenenbaum says it has made his job easier. Cloud-based, secure, word-searchable databases have made the process of identifying and reviewing pertinent documents dramatically faster and more reliable. An ever-increasing universe of business databases has made the research aspect of his work more efficient and farther reaching. Web-based videoconferencing and file sharing tools have greatly reduced the need for travel and meetings. On the flip side, the latter has led to fewer opportunities for direct, face-to-face interaction and rapport building with clients.

Mr. Tenenbaum enjoys spending time with his family and being involved in his three children’s endeavors, which gives him a window into the challenges and opportunities facing young people, from high school on to college and into post-college life. He enjoys reading about world politics and business news from a wide variety of perspectives. Mr. Tenenbaum and his wife also enjoy exploring the outstanding Chicago food scene!

Although every effort has been made to verify the accuracy of items in the INTA Bulletin, readers are urged to check independently on matters of specific concern or interest.

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