Keith Bergelt, Chief Executive Officer
Keith Bergelt is the chief executive officer of Open Invention Network (OIN), the collaborative enterprise that enables innovation in open source and an increasingly vibrant ecosystem around Linux. In this capacity he is directly responsible for enabling, influencing and defending the integrity of the Linux ecosystem. Central to the achievement of his goals is the acquisition and transfer of patent rights designed to permit members of the Linux ecosystem to operate free of the threat of assertion and litigation from those whose business models are antithetical to innovation and global economic growth in information technology and computing.
Prior to joining the Open Invention Network, Mr. Bergelt served as president and CEO of two Hedge Funds – Paradox Capital and IPI – formed to unlock the considerable asset value of patents, trademarks and copyrights in middle market companies. Paradox and IPI were the first Funds of their kind to offer specialty lending products supported exclusively by intellectual property. Driven by Mr. Bergelt’s creativity and entrepreneurial approach, these funds enabled the emergence of patents, trademarks and copyrights as a viable source of collateral in asset-based loans, forever reshaping the emerging IP Finance landscape.
During Mr. Bergelt’s stewardship of these IP-based lending activities, he raised more than $300 million dollars and financed portfolio companies of private equity firms including Texas Pacific Group, Kelso & Co., JH Whitney, Weston Presidio, Goode Partners, Palladium Capital and Castanea Partners, among others.
Previously, Mr. Bergelt served as a senior advisor to the technology investment division at Texas Pacific Group. He also headed business development, intellectual property and licensing for the Kelso & Company portfolio company Cambridge Display Technology in the United Kingdom. Additionally, he established and served as General Manager of the Strategic Intellectual Asset Management business unit at Motorola Corporation and served as Motorola’s director of Technology Strategy.
Mr. Bergelt was a co-founder of the Intellectual Property Advisory Practice within the Electronics and Telecommunications Industry group at SRI Consulting in Menlo Park, California.
Prior to his extensive private sector experience, Mr. Bergelt served for twelve years as a diplomat with postings at the United Nations in NY and the American Embassy in Tokyo, Japan where he was involved in the negotiation of IP rights protection in Asia.
Mr. Bergelt holds an Artium Baccalaureus degree from Duke University, a Jurist Doctorate degree from Southern Methodist University School of Law and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Theseus Institute in France. He is a frequent speaker on corporate strategy, finance and intellectual property management.
Keith Bergelt
Chief Executive Officer
Keith Bergelt is the chief executive officer of Open Invention Network (OIN), the collaborative enterprise that enables innovation in open source and an increasingly vibrant ecosystem around Linux.
Jaime Siegel, Global Director of Licensing
“I believe Open Source controls innovation which is verified by how quickly China has adopted it as a new business model in order to contribute to the global economy,” says Jaime.
A “reformed” Intellectual Patent (IP) attorney who attended Brooklyn Law School after earning his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University, Jaime always wanted to pursue aerospace litigation. Although he worked on several well-known airline cases, his career took him a different direction. Following graduation, he kicked off his career in New York City at one of the top firms in the world for patent litigation, Fish & Neave, followed by a stint of several years at a firm with an equal history, Kenyon & Kenyon. He then ventured onto Sony Corporation of America where he worked in several capacities over the course of 16 years.
Today, the New York native and man who has travelled the world (88 countries and counting) enjoys his work. Jaime joined OIN in 2015 and since that time has continued in his role as the Global Director of Licensing. In addition, he is an Adjunct Professor at the University of California Irvine School of Law, a National Trustee of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a National Advisory Board Member for Teen Cancer America, is CEO of his IP consulting firm Cerebral Assets and is the CEO of his latest entrepreneurship adventure, FlipTix.
He lives in Newport Beach, California, with his wife and is a father to two daughters. He enjoys wine, experimenting in the kitchen and occasional golf.
Jaime Siegel
Global Director of Licensing
A “reformed” Intellectual Patent (IP) attorney who attended Brooklyn Law School after earning his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University…
Ed Meintzer, CFO & Director of Communications
Ed’s career began as a United States Navy Submarine Officer before it took some interesting twists and turns.
After earning his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Northwestern University and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Maryland, Ed served as the Main Propulsion Assistant on board the nuclear attack submarine U.S.S. Birmingham (SSN695) and later as an Export Licensing Officer for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Then, he took a position with Wachovia Securities, where he structured debt capital of all types, including senior debt, Intellectual Property (IP)-based loans and mezzanine investments across a diverse set of industries for various size clients, ranging from mid-market to large corporate entities.
Prior to joining Open Invention Network (OIN) as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Director of Communications in 2008, Ed worked for two award-winning investment funds as the Executive Managing Director and Head of Business Development. Both funds were formed to offer asset-based loans and credit enhancements with IP for collateral and both were the first of their kind offer debt capital supported by patents, trademarks and copyrights.
Throughout his career, Ed has been involved in bank and bond transactions totaling over $12 billion in raised capital and raising over $300 million in investment capital. In addition, he has managed the origination, underwriting, and structuring of a number of financial transactions, including loans to Rachel Ashwell, Wise Foods, Cranium and BCBG Max Azria. He has also financed portfolio companies of private equity firms such as Texas Pacific Group, Kelso & Co., JH Whitney and Weston Presidio.
Outside of work, Ed is a father of two girls, husband and family man. He enjoys biking, tasting different cuisines and traveling.
Ed Meintzer
CFO & Director of Communications
After earning his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Northwestern University and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Maryland…
Kevin Huang, Director of Licensing, APAC
Open source is anything but new to Kevin. In fact, he has been exposed to open source technologies for his entire career. Prior to joining OIN in 2015, Kevin worked with Oracle, moved to IBM, landed with HP and then transitioned to Canonical. He held a variety of positions with these different firms, including Director of Cloud Business for APAC, Regional OEM Business Manager for APAC and Senior Business Development Manager of Consulting Services among others. In addition to OIN, Kevin drives business development for FOSSID, another company which utilizes open source for its key applications.
“Open source is here today and will forever be part of our future,” says Kevin, who brings a long history of building connections between community, business interests and policy makers throughout the Asia-Pacific region. “Open source is the new cultural norm and it’s only a matter of time until virtually every company embraces it as a business model. It’s an exciting time to be in Asia where China, especially, is quickly moving in the direction or understanding and adopting open source as a cultural norm.”
Kevin was born and educated in Taipei City, Taiwan, a place he still calls home. After earning his undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from National Central University, he attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Master’s of Business (MBA) program.
He enjoys staying active and outside of work he plays golf and badminton, as well as spends time with his wife and two daughters.
Kevin Huang
Director of Licensing, APAC
Open source is anything but new to Kevin. In fact, he has been exposed to open source technologies for his entire career. Prior to joining OIN in 2015, Kevin worked…
Valer Mischenko, Regional Director, Licensing
Valer Mischenko graduated as spacecraft engineer with a specialization in control systems, algorithms, and software. He later obtained a degree in business administration. Valer participated in several international space projects before he switched over to information and communication technology.
Previously he was general director of NLnet Foundation, a charity which stimulates network research and development in the domain of Internet technology. Prior to NLnet he worked as COO within several ICT companies.
Valer Mischenko
Regional Director, Licensing
Valer Mischenko graduated as spacecraft engineer with a specialization in control systems, algorithms, and software. He later obtained a degree…
Hisao Yamasaki, Director of Licensing, Northeast Asia
A Japanese-native, Hisao is known as an innovator, leader, avid learner and family man among friends and colleagues.
During the course of his career, he has started and operated multiple businesses, specializing in Intellectual Property (IP), several of which have relied on open source technologies and one which uses open source programs powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI). In the corporate sector, he spent 25 years with Hitachi, Ltd., focused on Intellectual Property (IP), licensing, litigation, business development and sales transactions. He also led RPX Asia — a leading provider of patent risk management solutions — as the President.
Hisao is dedicated to learning and giving back to his community, as well as inspiring students. He holds two masters’ degrees in law and a bachelor’s degree in IP law. Combining his education and experiences, he is an active IP faculty member for the Osaka Institute of Techn0logy, and previously worked in academia for Kyoto University, the 2nd oldest university in Japan.
“To further innovation, we must secure freedom of action in core Linux and adjacent open source technologies,” he says. “While patents provide incentives for innovation by granting exclusive rights for inventors, the patent system alone is not always perfectly aligned with continued innovation and healthy industry growth. Patent aggressors — such as Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs) — are negatively impacting our world. I believe finding a good balance between exclusive patent rights and the freedom to operate in specific areas, such as open source, is achievable.”
In addition to expanding the OIN community in Northeast Asia, Hisao is the Founder & Managing Director of Syndefense, a business that helps companies develop strategic defenses from aggressive patent monetizers to achieve rational corporate-to-corporate, direct IP asset transactions without involving PAEs. He also serves as the President of Unified Patents Asia and directs Kyoto University’s Strategy & Planning Office of Society-Academia Collaboration.
Outside of work, Hisao enjoys being a husband, father of four children and a dog, and finds pleasure in preserving traditional Japanese cultures and historic Japanese buildings.
Hisao Yamasaki
Director of Licensing, Northeast Asia
During the course of his career, he has started and operated multiple businesses, specializing in Intellectual Property (IP), several of which have relied on open source technologies…
Tsugikazu Shibata, Technical Director, Asia
Tsugikazu, who most call Shibata-san, is described by colleagues and friends as an extremely passionate professional dedicated to the open source evolution to which he is anything but a newcomer. In fact, he’s been connecting dots between organizations and the open source community since the free-software movement began in the 1980s.
Born in Tokyo, Japan, Tsugikazu has worked with companies all over the world — including the United States, Europe, China, Vietnam and India — for his knowledge and experience about open source. As a member of the open source community, he has contributed to many projects and has spoken at many open source conferences for both OIN and the Linux Foundation. He founded and serves as an advocate of the Long-Term Support Initiative (LTSI) in 2011, an ecosystem-wide collaborative project under the Linux Foundation to create and maintain a long-term sustainable kernel for industry, which also contains such features as cutting-edge device support, as well as security and bug fix patches. As for open source governance, he has served on OIN’s technical committee for a decade, is a board member of the Linux Foundation and remains an active member of many open source embedded and cloud projects.
Prior to joining OIN, Tsugikazu served NEC as the Chief Advanced Technologist and led the Open Source Promotion Center as a company representative. As the Technical Director of Asia for OIN, Tsugikazu provides support to the licensing team.
For a tech guy, it may be a surprise to learn one of Tsugikazu’s favorite activities outside of work is skiing. An avid, expert skier, he was a ski instructor in Japan and skis in Europe, the United States and other countries as often as he can.
Tsugikazu Shibata
Technical Director, Asia
Tsugikazu, who most call Shibata-san, is described by colleagues and friends as an extremely passionate professional dedicated to the open source evolution to which he is anything but a newcomer.
Raffi Gostanian, Jr, Chief Patent Officer
Raffi manages the OIN patent portfolio and is responsible for the review, acquisition and maintenance of OIN’s global patent assets. A risk taker (he has started a number of companies and once bungee jumped out of a hot air balloon), Raffi is dedicated to the development of software-driven patent metrics and subscribes to the philosophy that “a great leader is an incredible listener.”
He left his hometown of New York City to attend Texas A&M University where he received a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. He continued his education simultaneously, earning two master’s degrees – a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Texas at Dallas and a Master of Science in Telecommunications Systems from Southern Methodist University – while working full-time.
Raffi’s career led him down interesting and varied paths working for an assortment of venture capital-backed start-ups, financial corporations, pre- and post-IPO firms, public multinational enterprises, private technology companies and law firms. He has also held a wide range of positions from a software developer and Intellectual Property (IP) manager to executive leadership roles with companies including Inet Technologies and Nortel Networks, as well as such law firms as Jackson Walker and Haynes and Boone.
In addition to serving as OIN’s Chief Patent Officer — a position he has held since 2008, Raffi develops IP technology solutions for companies including IBM and Toyota. He is a Registered Patent Agent, has prepared and prosecuted nearly 2,000 patent applications (including over 400 blockchain-related patent applications) and is a Certified Patent Valuation Analyst who has completed over 60 intangible asset valuations.
Raffi Gostanian, Jr
Chief Patent Officer
Raffi manages the OIN patent portfolio and is responsible for the review, acquisition and maintenance of OIN’s global patent assets. A risk taker (he has started a number of companies…
Christina Motley, Fractional CMO
Christina Motley is an inquisitive, creative and energetic professional who thrives at working with teams toward a common vision, sharing her talents to make a positive difference and consistently taking action to get results. She is committed to lifelong learning, developing trust-based relationships and contributing to thriving businesses.
As a former journalist and published author, writing is in her DNA. “I believe content is a unique discipline. It’s deliberate. It’s purposeful. It’s the essence behind every successful marketing, communications and public relations campaign. Good, quality content captures and tells compelling and memorable stories which in turn, create experiences that matter to the intended target audiences, touch their hearts and minds, moving them to act.”
Christina brings a unique depth and breadth of experience to OIN. Her 25+ years in marketing spans across diverse industries — including B2B, B2C, nonprofits, government, Venture-Capital (VC)-backed and public entities — as well as working in various environments from start-ups to global Fortune 500 companies. She has founded, operated and sold several businesses throughout her career, as well as working in the corporate sector.
Others describe her as a self-taught throw chef, foodie, wine enthusiast and entertainer. In her spare time, she enjoys decorating, crafting, spending time with her daughter, Goddaughter, friends and family, reading, adventures, new experiences, personality tests, music and sharing knowledge.
Christina Motley
Fractional CMO
Christina Motley is an inquisitive, creative and energetic professional who thrives at working with teams toward a common vision, sharing her talents to make a positive difference and…