Dan Laster joined PATH in the Fall of 2008 as its first General Counsel. He leads the Legal Affairs Division, a team of 13 providing legal support across PATH, including services to global and country programs and shared services. Laster advises PATH leadership and the PATH board of directors. He has been practicing law for almost 30 years, having studied law at University of Michigan and Harvard. He is an intellectual property law expert, with particular emphasis on copyright, trademarks, trade secrets, entertainment and technology (software, internet, and licensing) issues. In addition to private practice, he was associate general counsel at Microsoft from 1992-2001, responsible for managing the trademark, copyright, research and standards practices. Dan was the lawyer who led the team to protect the WINDOWS trademark both in the US and internationally, and was involved in formulating Microsoft's position on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. He has taught intellectual property law both abroad and in the US, and is currently an affiliate associate professor at University of Washington Law School, teaching in the intellectual property masters program. He has served on non-profit boards including the YMCA (Seattle Metrocenter branch), ACLU-WA, and the Digital Learning Commons. He received his bachelor's in Economics from Penn State University and his J.D. from University of Michigan School of Law.

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Panel - Living and Working in the Precompetitive Space