Executive Management

Jim Skippen , President & CEO

Since June 2006, Jim Skippen has been responsible for all operations of WiLAN, including the development and implementation of the company’s strategic and operating plans. Under Jim’s leadership, WiLAN has assembled a world-class technology licensing team, grown its portfolio from approximately 20 patents to over 15,000 patents, established a stronger balance sheet and increased its market capitalization from $25 million to over $1 Billion. In his career, he has been responsible for license agreements in excess of $1.5 billion. To date, WiLAN has signed over 400 license agreements with many of the world's largest companies, including technology leaders BlackBerry, Broadcom, Fujitsu, Intel, LG, Motorola Mobility, Nokia, Panasonic and Samsung.

A seasoned licensing executive and lawyer, Jim has managed several large and complex patent licensing negotiations and litigations. Before joining WiLAN, he worked for two of Canada’s largest law firms and held a number of senior management positions, including Senior Vice-President, Patent Licensing and General Counsel at MOSAID Technologies.

Jim is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada. He is a former Vice-Chairman and board member of the Canadian Diabetes Association. Jim is a frequent speaker at conferences and has delivered numerous papers and articles on topics such as management of intellectual property, patent licensing and technology law.

Michael B. Vladescu , COO

Michael Vladescu is responsible for overseeing patent acquisitions, licensing, litigation and portfolio management.

Michael brings more than 15 years of management experience related to all aspects of patent licensing, portfolio development and patent prosecution.

Prior to joining WiLAN, Michael was Vice-President, Licensing and Intellectual Property at MOSAID Technologies where he led the effort to license the company’s patent portfolio to many of the world’s best known electronics companies and drove success in their patent licensing programs. Michael also previously held the role of Patent Portfolio Account Manager with Semiconductor Insights, a leader in technical and patent analyses of integrated circuits and electronic systems.

Michael has a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Waterloo and also holds an Executive MBA from Queen’s University.

Andrew Parolin , Senior Vice-President

Andrew Parolin is responsible for the licensing of WiLAN’s portfolio of wireless, wireline, digital television and other technologies.

His previous role with WiLAN was Vice-President, Wireless Technologies, which he assumed in November 2007. During his tenure, the business unit negotiated license agreements with over 95 companies including global technology leaders ASUSTek, BlackBerry, Sharp and Samsung.

Before joining WiLAN, Andrew worked at SiGe Semiconductor, a fabless semiconductor company specializing in next-generation integrated circuit designs, where he served as Director of Wireless Data Products.

Andrew has a MBA from the University of Ottawa, a Master of Applied Science from Queen’s University, and a Bachelor of Engineering from the Technical University of Nova Scotia. Andrew is a member of the Licensing Executives Society.

Marc Frechette , Senior Vice-President and Senior Counsel

Marc Frechette is responsible for patent licensing and business development for various technologies as well as providing legal counsel.

Prior to joining WiLAN, Marc served as Senior Vice-President at Acacia Research Corporation where he led licensing activities in many technology areas and managed patent portfolio assets. Prior to working with Acacia, Marc worked as a patent attorney with Crockett & Crockett and as an in-house attorney with Discovision Associates, a patent licensing division of Pioneer Electronics. Before becoming an attorney, he was an engineer with Boeing, Ducommun and Conexant.

Marc holds a BS in Manufacturing Engineering from Boston University, a JD from Whittier Law School and a MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Ken Stanwood , CTO

Ken Stanwood is responsible for government affairs, university technology transfer, litigation support, and technical advisory of acquisitions and investments. Ken brings more than 30 years of experience in broadband wireless technology development including protocol and algorithm development, intellectual property, and standardization. For the past 16 years, Ken has been involved in developing the foundational technology for 4G broadband wireless networks.

Ken was a co-founder of the WiMAX Forum, vice-chair of 802.16 and the first technical working group chair of the WiMAX Forum. He holds more than 100 U.S. patents in broadband wireless communications.

Prior to WiLAN, Ken served as Executive Vice President, Technology and Standards for NextWave Wireless. His responsibilities included systems engineering for forward looking mobile broadband wireless technology; corporate intellectual property strategy; and corporate standards strategy. NextWave Wireless acquired Cygnus Communications, which Ken had co-founded to create WiMAX semiconductor products.

Ken holds a BS in Mathematical Sciences from Oregon State University and a MS in Computer Science from Stanford University.

William Middleton , Senior Vice-President and Senior Counsel

William (Bill) Middleton is responsible for managing WiLAN’s major litigation activities and also helps lead licensing initiatives within certain business units.

Bill has over 25 years of business and legal experience. Prior to originally joining WiLAN in 2006, Bill held senior positions including General Counsel at Aviva Insurance, General Counsel at MOSAID Technologies and Vice-President, General Counsel at Nygard International Partnership. He was also in private practice with Borden Ladner Gervais and Miller Thomson. Bill left WiLAN for 2 years in 2011 to take a position as CEO of a small-cap Canadian public technology company and re-joined WiLAN in December 2013.

Bill holds a BA and LLB from Western University and is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Licensing Executives Society, and the American Intellectual Property Law Association.

Stephen Thompson , Vice-President, Finance

Stephen Thompson joined WiLAN in September of 2016. For over 25 years, he has held senior financial management and leadership roles in the technology, mining, and utility industries. Prior roles in public companies have included the role of Chief Financial Officer at Northern Graphite Corporation (TSX), Vice President, Finance at Espial Group Inc. (TSX), and Vice President Controller and Corporate Audit at Accelio Corporation (formerly JetForm Corporation) (NASDAQ, TSX). Stephen was the Vice President, Finance of Hydro Ottawa Limited and started his career with Ernst & Young. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (honours) degree from Queen’s University (1991) and is a Chartered Professional Accountant, Chartered Accountant (Ontario) as well as a Certified Public Accountant (Illinois, USA).

With our Interactive Analyst Center (IAC), historical financial data, both quarterly and annual, is available in an easy to access spreadsheet format. View and export our financial statements, non-GAAP reconciliations as well as share information.

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