soody@mypresque.com
Direct: 650.275.3913
LinkedIn
With over 25 years of operational experience in technology, business, management, and law in start-up and fortune 100 companies, Soody’s strategic insight coupled with her practical approach is a key asset, whether acting as counsel and advisor or leading her own ventures. Soody started with the vision for Presque in 2012 after learning that a family member was not able to breastfeed her newborn due to insufficient milk. She continued developing that vision and in 2016 recruited a team who shares the same vision with the mission to take the solution to market.
After holding technical and management positions at Schering Plough and HP where she developed and took several products to market; and practicing law at Hewlett-Packard Inc., a successfully acquired medical device start up, and two national law firms, HellerEhrman and Townsend and Townsend; she formed the boutique intellectual property law firm, STLGip, where she counsels domestic and international clients in IP and technology transactions in a wide range of technologies. In 2016 she formed, Presque, a company developing solutions for mothers and infants.
Soody serves in board, advisory, and leadership capacities with several organizations including STEM to Market, a national accelerator started by the Association for Women in Science (AWIS); California Lawyers Association Executive Committee of the Intellectual Property Section, Licensing Executives Society USA/Canada Women in Licensing Committee, and the Palo Alto Area Bar Association.
Soody is a Commissioner with the city of Menlo Park in California; a member of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG); and a delegate to CALNET, a statewide network of California’s Asian Pacific American public elected or appointed officials). Soody is an active hands-on volunteer with several civic organizations including Defy Ventures, an entrepreneurship, employment, and character development training program for currently and formerly incarcerated men, women, and youth. Soody is listed in the IAM Strategy 300: The World’s Leading IP Strategists 2019. She was honored as one of the 100 Women of Influence 2020 by the Silicon Valley Business Journal. In 2022, Soody was appointed to the Northern California District Export Council (NorCal DEC) by the Secretary of Commerce.
Soody has instructed courses in IP, licensing, and entrepreneurship at the University of California and Stanford University. Soody consults in non-legal capacity on select projects with both domestic and international sectors including company assessment and market positioning. She is engaged by European universities to consult and establish technology transfer programs and policies. She is a named inventor on numerous patents and patent applications covering polymer chemistry, medical devices, printing mechanisms, fluid delivery systems, bio-sensors, and consumer products.
Soody holds a J.D., M.S. in industrial chemistry, and B.S. in chemistry, and is licensed to practice before the State of California and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. She is co-author of “Women Securing the Future with TIPPSS for IoT: Trust, Identity, Privacy, Protection, Safety, Security for the Internet of Things.” Springer. Soody is listed in the IAM Strategy 300: The World’s Leading IP Strategists 2019.
To stay energized, she co-founded HighNoteCoffee Co., a third wave coffee roasting company in Silicon Valley.
- Stanford University: Lecturer, Mentor
- University of California (UCSC): Lecturer
- Pozan University, Poland: Lecturer, Technology Transfer Adviser
- Technopreneurship Center, Nanyang University, Singapore: Mentor
- LES Graduate School Business Plan Competition: Mentor
- University of California (UCSF): Mentor
- Silicon Valley in-bound international universities/delegates (e.g., Dongbei University): lecturer
- Association of Women in Science (AWIS): Advisory Board Member, STEM to MARKET National Accelerator
- TechFuture Group (SBDC): Adviser
- TechLab Innovation Center: Adviser and Strategic Partner
- C4Cube Accelerator: Adviser and Expert In Residence
- West Company, Economic development organization serving entrepreneurs and microbusiness owners: Adviser
- SFMade, California: Adviser Global Innovation Summit, Business Committee: Member
- California Lawyers Association, Executive Committee of the Intellectual Property Section
- Association of Women in Science (AWIS): Advisory Board Member, STEM to MARKET National Accelerator
- Licensing Executives Society, USA & Canada: Chair, Women in Licensing
- Licensing Executives Society, USA & Canada: IP100 Executive Forum, Member; Annual Meeting Planning Committee, Member; Emerging Enterprises Committee, Member
- Licensing Executives Society, Silicon Valley Chapter: Board of Advisers, Member; Past Chapter Chair
- Palo Alto Area Bar Association: Board of Directors, Member; Co-Chair Patent Section
- Silicon Valley Common Ground, bridging industries and legislation: Co-Founder and Co-Chair
- Association for the Sports and Athlete Professionals: Adviser
- Defy Ventures: Business Plan Judge, Mentor, Coach
- Full Circle Fund: Member
- Shoebox Ventures: A non-profit helping other non-profits: General Counsel; Member, Board of Directors
- U.S.-Polish Trade Council: Lecturer, Adviser
- Vinnova (Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems): Adviser
- California Israel Chamber of Commerce (CI-CC): MedTech Committee, Member
- Techwadi, Building bridges between Silicon Valley and the MENA region: Mentor
- Victorian Government of Australia: Adviser
- City of Menlo Park, CA: Commissioner, Finance and Audit Committee
- Delegate to CALNET
- Silicon Valley U.S. Export Assistance Center, U.S. Commercial Service, U.S. Department of Commerce: Partner
- Frequent speaker at USPTO Silicon Valley