About Us

Heath Hoglund is President of Via Licensing Alliance. A highly respected global leader within the intellectual property space, Heath leverages over 30 years of technology and intellectual property expertise to lead Via LA’s transparent IP licensing solutions, balancing the needs of implementers and innovators around the world. He has forged a reputation for collaborating across the ecosystem to maximize innovation, foster participation, and advance technology adoption.

Heath led the formation of Via LA in May 2023, when Via Licensing and MPEG LA – two of the most successful patent pool administrators globally – united to form the industry’s largest collaborative licensing organization. Via LA administers dozens of licensing programs in audio, video, broadcast, power, and more for a variety of technologies, consisting of 25,000 patents in over 130 countries, with nearly 100 current patent holders and over 3,000 current licensees.

Prior to joining Via in February 2022, Heath was the Vice President of Intellectual Property and Standards at Dolby in San Francisco, where he had global responsibility for patents, trademarks and copyrights. In this role, he led the development of Dolby’s patent portfolio, oversaw Dolby’s patent licensing programs, and led the formation and design of several collaborative patent pools and standards activities.

Before joining Dolby, Heath founded Hoglund & Pamias, a full-service IP law firm in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he represented a broad range of clients in the federal courts and at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He also served as an adjunct professor of patent law at the University of Puerto Rico School of Law.

Heath was named #1 on IAM Magazine’s 2024 Top 40 Market Maker List and has been named to IAM’s Strategy 300 List for several years running. He previously served as chair of the American Bar Association IP Section’s Patent Division and is the former president of the San Francisco IP Law Association.

Heath has a JD (cum laude), an MS, and a BS (cum laude) from the University of Minnesota.

As the Chief Licensing Officer at Via Licensing Alliance, Jane Bu is a pivotal member of the executive team. Her deep expertise in intellectual property strategy and multi-party licensing programs is widely recognized within the industry, and she is a frequent speaker at international IP events. Leveraging more than two decades of experience in all aspects of patent and IP law, Ms. Bu specializes in patent licensing transactions, and when necessary, utilizing strategic cross-border enforcement actions to help technology companies worldwide develop, protect, and monetize valuable IP.

At Via Licensing Alliance, an independently managed entity with over 25 years of rich IP licensing history and owned by industry-leading participants, Ms. Bu leads a global team of licensing experts. Her team focuses on providing licensees streamlined access to essential IP through Via LA’s diverse patent pool offerings. In her role, she plays a crucial part in driving licensee participation in some of the industry’s most successful collaborative licensing programs. Ms. Bu is committed to Via LA’s mission to fostering fair and transparent licensing practices, striking a true balance between the needs of innovators and manufacturers worldwide.

Before her tenure at Via LA, Ms. Bu honed her skills in high-tech patent litigation and transactions at international law firms, such as Ropes & Gray and McDermott Will & Emery. Her private practice included management of complex IP litigations, encompassing both offensive and defensive strategies, and advised many technology firms on portfolio development and monetization matters.

Ms. Bu’s career began in the field of medicinal research, where she was a patented scientist focused on designing and synthesizing novel drug candidates for neurological disorders.  Her academic credentials include a Juris Doctor (cum laude) from Santa Clara University School of Law, and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of California, San Diego, among other art and music-based minors. Ms. Bu is also a registered U.S. patent attorney, further underscoring her comprehensive expertise in the field of intellectual property.

Jonathan Gramil is Chief Operating Officer of Via Licensing Alliance, the collaborative global licensing leader.

Jonathan is a multi-dimensional executive with an established record leading cross functional teams while driving sustainable growth and quantifiable operational efficiencies.

At Via LA, a leader in multi-party licensing programs and an independently managed company owned by industry-leading participants with over 25 years of intellectual property licensing leadership, Jonathan oversees the company’s finance, accounting, business systems, and global operations teams. He also created the company’s license compliance program, which now functions within the legal department. His success in fostering a positive work environment across a diverse set of resources maximizes the productivity of Via LA’s global team. As a distinguished leader at Via LA, Jonathan drives the company’s strategic plan to optimize operational business growth.

Jonathan led the acquisition and integration endeavor of MPEG LA, thus leading to the formation of Via LA, a new collaborative licensing organization combining the expertise, infrastructure, and relationships of two of the most successful patent pool administrators.

Prior to joining Via LA, Jonathan was instrumental in developing and growing new business models at Ernst & Young. He also held several audit, compliance, revenue, operations, and sales roles at Riverbed Technology, Parker & Lynch, KPMG, and Oracle.

Jonathan has a BBA in accounting from Loyola University Maryland.

As Vice President, Program Management, Willy Chang leads the operation of video, power, and broadcast patent pools at Via Licensing Alliance, where he formulates and executes plans to grow these pools in a manner that is fair and reasonable to both licensors and licensees.

Willy’s intellectual property experience runs the gamut having worked in prosecuting, litigating, and licensing all types of intellectual property. Prior to Via LA, Willy was Senior Director at Qualcomm, where he worked on the outbound licensing of cellular essential SEPs. He was also Senior Counsel at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd., where he focused on international patent litigation and inbound patent licensing. His experience as both a licensor and licensee, as well as his experience in litigating patents domestically and internationally, give him a strong foundation on which to guide Via LA’s patent pools through legal and business issues.

Willy has additional experience as an attorney at Fish & Richardson, where he focused on patent litigation and prosecution, and as an attorney at Baker & Hostetler, where he focused on copyrights, trademarks, and patents.

Willy earned his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and History at New York University, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude with Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Alpha Theta honors.  He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, where he was Managing Editor of the Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review.  He is a registered patent attorney and is licensed to practice law in New York, California, and various federal courts in the United States.

Hélène Jay is Vice President of Media Programs at Via Licensing Alliance, the collaborative licensing leader. An accomplished IP leader and attorney, Ms. Jay has over 20 years of experience collaborating with licensees and licensors across the IP ecosystem to develop joint licensing programs covering speech and audio compression technologies, broadcast, automotive, and wireless standards.

In her current role at Via LA, an independently managed company owned by industry-leading participants with over 25 years of IP licensing leadership, Ms. Jay is responsible for the company’s Advanced Audio Coding program. AAC is one of the industry’s most successful patent pools offering access to more than 6,000 patents with nearly 1,000 licensees. Ms. Jay is an indispensable member of the team, closing some of the most significant licensing deals in the industry with the largest device manufacturers in the world, notably OPPO, Reliance, TCL, and Xiaomi. She also collaborates with many major global innovators in Via LA’s pools, including Apple, AT&T, Dolby, Fraunhofer, Microsoft, NTT, Orange, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, and Sony.

Also in this role, Ms. Jay led the initiative to develop the new MPEG-H patent pool. The international standard MPEG-H 3D Audio brings the next level of entertainment to the user and enables content providers to create an innovative and immersive experience. Under her leadership, the pool’s aggregation represents more than 95% of the total SEP stack for the implementation of this spatial audio technology. Very few joint licensing programs attain this level of IP coverage. Ms. Jay’s leadership, deep industry knowledge, and established relationships with the global partners involved in MPEG-H enabled her to bring this extraordinary pro-ecosystem program to the market.

Before joining Via LA, Ms. Jay resided in Montréal, where she served as the vice president of licensing for Voice Age. She began her career as the trusted Legal Counsel of the European Standardization Organization, ETSI.

Ms. Jay studied in Paris and Oxford and holds a Master of Université Paris X Nanterre in International Business Law.

Kyle Niemi is the General Counsel at Via Licensing Alliance.  In this role, Kyle leads the legal function at Via LA and provides cross-functional support to business teams, with a focus on developing practical and actionable legal guidance to help the business meet its goals.  Kyle also oversees Via LA’s legal operations and compliance teams.

Prior to joining Via LA, Kyle was legal counsel to the engineering, supply chain and trade groups at Solidigm.  Prior to that, Kyle was at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, where he practiced in a broad range of areas including IP, securities, commercial and antitrust litigation, and also advised on M&A and technology licensing transactions.

Kyle earned his JD at Stanford Law School and his BA in Biology at Case Western Reserve University.

Raleigh Hogan-Miller is Head of Communications and Marketing at Via Licensing Alliance. In this role, Raleigh leads communications and marketing for the organization, collaborating with Via LA’s business and legal teams to develop and implement comprehensive communications strategies to support the company’s business goals.

With nearly two decades of experience in strategic communications, Raleigh has managed multi-channel communications programs at a variety of global and boutique PR firms for clients including Fortune 100 companies, trade associations and VCs, mostly in highly regulated industries.

Raleigh previously served on the leadership team of the Corporate Reputation practice at FTI Consulting, a global business advisory and communications consulting firm. Prior to FTI Consulting, Raleigh held roles leading media relations at energy trade group American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers and as Vice President at Burson, one of the largest PR firms globally.

Raleigh earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California.

Jim Finnegan is a Partner at Red Chalk Group, a boutique professional services firm. At Red Chalk, Jim provides patent business strategy and execution advice on critical intellectual property issues to leaders in international Fortune 100 companies, technology companies, and private equity firms.

Prior to joining Red Chalk, Jim was Vice President, Intellectual Property Strategy at Comcast Corporation for 17 years, responsible for the continued development and execution of Comcast’s corporate IP strategy, capitalizing on the strong innovation that took place across the company including Comcast Cable, NBC Universal and Sky.  Prior to Comcast, he served as Vice President, Intellectual Property, for Qimonda AG in Munich, Germany, where he managed licensing, litigation and patent development related to the spin-out of the semiconductor memory business company from its parent, Infineon Technologies, AG.  He also spent 17 years at AT&T and Lucent Technologies contributing to the success of its patent business.  As part of that team, he held various senior roles related to international technology licensing, patent portfolio optimization, standards patent licensing and business planning.  He also managed Lucent’s worldwide portfolio of over twenty-five thousand patents.  Jim began his career in semiconductor manufacturing for AT&T.

Jim has spoken at various venues on the value of intellectual property and standards licensing including the Licensing Executive Society’s IP100 Executive Forum, and at the National Academies’ Board on Science, Technology and Economic Policy. He has been recognized by Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) on its list of the IAM Strategy 300 – The World’s Leading IP Strategists.  Jim holds a Master’s Degree, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering as well as an M.B.A., all from Lehigh University.

Injung Lee recently founded Joonserve IP Consulting firm and is dedicated to providing expert guidance and innovative solutions to IP clients worldwide.  With a distinguished career spanning approximately four decades in intellectual property (IP) management and legal affairs, Injung is recognized for his ability to navigate complex IP landscapes and formulate and implement creative solutions. He crafts strategies that not only maximize the value of intellectual assets but also effectively mitigate risks while negotiating and completing deals.

Before starting Joonserve, Injung worked for Samsung for over 16 years, holding key executive positions, all within IP and legal capacities.  He last served as Executive Vice President and Head of the IP Center of Samsung Electronics, responsible for its global patent portfolio management, inbound and outbound patent licensing programs and projects, as well as global IP litigation and disputes.  Throughout his illustrious career at Samsung, he played a pivotal role in shaping and safeguarding the company’s formidable IP portfolio while supporting Samsung’s Business Units’ needs and objectives. His accomplishments include negotiating significant licensing agreements, resolving intricate legal disputes, and spearheading high-stakes litigations against industry giants. In that regard, throughout his career, he has managed and resolved various IP disputes and agreements with nearly all global technology companies around the world.

Injung’s expertise spans a wide range of industries, with a particular focus on the IT and Electronics sectors, including telecommunications and semiconductor businesses. His profound understanding of licensing and litigation intricacies has earned him a reputation as an effective IP negotiator and thought leader in the field.

Beyond his professional achievements, Injung holds a Master of Intellectual Properties from UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Seoul National University. This academic background, combined with his hands-on experience, equips him with a unique perspective and insight into the complexities of the IP landscape.

As Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Andy Sherman oversees Dolby’s patent and IP licensing businesses, government relations, and Dolby’s worldwide legal affairs, including all corporate, regulatory, intellectual property, litigation, and licensing activities. Andy also serves as the chair of the board of directors of Via Licensing Alliance, a leading global provider of multilateral patent licensing solutions.

Prior to joining Dolby, Andy served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel at CBS Interactive, where he led the legal group advising CBS’s online entertainment, mobile, technology, sports, news, games, lifestyle, and international business units. Andy joined CBS Interactive following CBS’s acquisition of CNET Networks, where he was Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, responsible for global legal and regulatory matters.

Earlier in his career, Andy worked in private practice with Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich (now DLA Piper), specializing in the representation of emerging technology companies in intellectual property and technology-related legal matters. Andy holds a JD from the University of the Pacific, as well as a BS degree from the University of Southern California.

Andy is the executive sponsor of Mundo, Dolby’s employee network dedicated to the Hispanic members of the Dolby community. Andy was born in Uruguay and grew up in Argentina and other international locations.

Jako Eleveld has been on the executive team of Philips Intellectual Property & Standards since 2009. Philips Intellectual Property & Standards is a leading industrial IP organization that handles all IP matters for Royal Philips. Mr Eleveld leads a successful global licensing team covering IP creation, standardization, new program development, licensing programs and software licensing, and manages his own profit and loss account with very significant value creation from Philips intellectual property.

Philips has invested billions of euros in research and development and has a long history in making many resulting technologies available to third parties through licensing. Patent and technology licenses can be obtained directly from Philips’ own global licensing team, and in certain cases also through patent pools and partnerships. For decades, Philips Intellectual Property & Standards has been at the forefront in developing standards, patent pools and other innovative solutions to promote the IP marketplace.

Mr Eleveld has about 25 years’ experience in IP business. In previous positions, he was responsible for the IP portfolio and transactional matters of Philips Semiconductors (now NXP), Philips Innovation and Emerging Businesses, and Philips Consumer Lifestyle. His experience covers the whole spectrum of intellectual property, including portfolio management, standardization, acquisition, licensing, litigation, mergers and acquisitions and other transactions – always with a good view on the relationship between intellectual property and business impact. Mr Eleveld is also a board member of various IP companies, including Access Advance, One-Blue and Open Invention Network.

Mr Eleveld holds an MSc in applied physics from the University of Twente, the Netherlands and is a European and Dutch patent attorney, as well as a representative before the EUIPO. In 2018, 2019 and 2020, IAM listed him in the Top 40 of Global IP Market Makers.

Ms. Keiko Higuchi is Senior Manager and Head of Patent Pools, Corporate Legal and Licensing Division of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation.

Ms. Higuchi has been dealing with intellectual property licensing and transaction for more than 30 years. Her previous career includes managerial position at Renesas Electronics Corporation and at Megachips Corporation where she dealt with licensing and IP litigations mainly in the field of semiconductor business.

Ms. Higuchi received her bachelor’s degree in North American Studies at the University of Tokyo.

Heath Hoglund is President of Via Licensing Alliance. A highly respected global leader within the intellectual property space, Heath leverages over 30 years of technology and intellectual property expertise to lead Via LA’s transparent IP licensing solutions, balancing the needs of implementers and innovators around the world. He has forged a reputation for collaborating across the ecosystem to maximize innovation, foster participation, and advance technology adoption.

Heath led the formation of Via LA in May 2023, when Via Licensing and MPEG LA – two of the most successful patent pool administrators globally – united to form the industry’s largest collaborative licensing organization. Via LA administers dozens of licensing programs in audio, video, broadcast, power, and more for a variety of technologies, consisting of 25,000 patents in over 130 countries, with nearly 100 current patent holders and over 3,000 current licensees.

Prior to joining Via in February 2022, Heath was the Vice President of Intellectual Property and Standards at Dolby in San Francisco, where he had global responsibility for patents, trademarks and copyrights. In this role, he led the development of Dolby’s patent portfolio, oversaw Dolby’s patent licensing programs, and led the formation and design of several collaborative patent pools and standards activities.

Before joining Dolby, Heath founded Hoglund & Pamias, a full-service IP law firm in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he represented a broad range of clients in the federal courts and at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He also served as an adjunct professor of patent law at the University of Puerto Rico School of Law.

Heath was named #1 on IAM Magazine’s 2024 Top 40 Market Maker List and has been named to IAM’s Strategy 300 List for several years running. He previously served as chair of the American Bar Association IP Section’s Patent Division and is the former president of the San Francisco IP Law Association.

Heath has a JD (cum laude), an MS, and a BS (cum laude) from the University of Minnesota.