Micky Minhas is senior vice president of technology and corporate development at Avanci, where he works with a team of IP leaders to create and support independent patent licensing platforms for advanced technologies. He previously served as vice president and chief patent counsel at Microsoft, leading the patent group from 2012. His responsibilities included outbound and inbound IP licensing, patent strategy, acquisitions and divestitures, preparation and prosecution, and oversight of conflicts, indemnification, and pre-litigation matters. Before Microsoft, Micky was vice president of patent strategy at Qualcomm, where he helped shape patent and licensing strategies for its multi-billion-pound licensing programme. He also led global patent preparation and filing, litigation readiness, arbitration, acquisitions, and Qualcomm’s European Patent Oppositions practice. Micky holds a BS and MS in electrical engineering from Marquette University and George Washington University, and JD/LLM degrees from the University of New Hampshire’s Franklin Pierce School of Law, where he serves as director of the Franklin Pierce IP Centre.