NANTUCKET PARTNERS

Michael Kennedy, Principal of Nantucket Partners, practiced successfully as an intellectual property, litigation and a corporate attorney and senior executive in public and private companies for nearly four decades.
As counsel and General Counsel of AAMCO Industries, WENDY’S International, and TYCO Toys, and as private counsel to other IP-rich business and creative clients, Michael negotiated licensing and franchising arrangements, prosecuted and defended infringement claims, litigated and negotiated settlements of disputes covering patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and other intellectual property.
He provided counsel to and managed legal services for NYSE companies (WENDY's and TYCO) and their boards, and has represented graphic arts firms, artists, illustrators, inventors, and other IP-rich businesses, including startups.
Representative engagements include,
. counseling graphic artists and firms in Philadelphia and New Jersey
in disputes, acquisition transactions and licenses
. advising financial institutions and data processing firms in respect of
copyrights and software development projects
. helping a startup online publisher organize and raise capital
. defending a trade publication in a software copyright dispute
. prosecution and defense of infringement claims for copyright,
trademark and patent properties
. concluding numerous product licenses on behalf of inventors with leading
companies in different product and industry segments
. resolving disputes relating to licensing agreements.
Michael was a member of the elite team that structured the sale of TYCO Toys to Mattel, Inc. in 1997. He has appeared as an expert witness in California, New York, South Carolina and Illinois in royalty and other disputes relating to intellectual property in depositions, trials and arbitration proceedings; his appearance on behalf of successful plaintiffs in a jury trial in Illinois federal court was reviewed and the damages award approved by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in 2002 in Playwood, Inc. vs. Learning Curve, Inc.
In 1979 he completed the ACCA Institute for Corporate Counsel at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. He has written and lectured on intellectual property and dispute resolution, including the California Bar Association’s IP magazine New Matter, Temple University’s Beasley Law School, bar association (ABA and PLI) and law firm network (Meritas) education meetings, as well as corporate client and trade association conferences. From 1997 until 2002 Michael was Of Counsel at the Philadelphia law firm Stradley Ronon as part of their corporate and ADR (dispute resolution) practice groups.
A graduate of Villanova University Law School (1969, Juris Doctor) and St. Joseph University (1966, B.S. Physics), Michael was also a member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) from 1963-1965.

Licensing in the franchise and toy industries.