Weston AnsonWeston Anson is Chairman of CONSOR(R), an intellectual asset consulting firm specializing in trademark, patent and copyright licensing, valuations, and expert testimony. The firm is headquartered in La Jolla, California, and has offices in New York ad London. He served for ten years as an officer and board member of the Licensing Industry Merchandisers' Association and is a lifetime member of the Board of Advisors. He currently serves as an active member of the International Licensing Executives Society board of delegates.
A seasoned consumer goods marketer, after receiving his MBA (honors) from Harvard University, he served a stint with the management consulting firm of Booz-Allen & Hamilton. Subsequently, he was the youngest Vice-President and corporate officer at Playboy Enterprises, Inc., where he launched many of their licensing programs. Mr. Anson was also Senior Vice President of Hang Ten International, which grew to nearly 100 licensees in 30 countries under his direction. For the last 25 years, Mr. Anson has also led the way in developing and establishing accepted methods to value brands, technologies and other IP. He is an expert in building and licensing brands, as well as developing and managing licensing programs for all IP.
Not only is a branding and licensing expert, Mr. Anson also an acknowledged pioneer in developing the methodologies that enable accurate valuation of IP on a worldwide basis. His multiple books on the subject have been published in the U.S. as well as in Europe and China. He was chairman of the Global Valuation Standards Committee for the LESI, which established IP Valuation standards in cross border IP transactions. These standards were adopted in 2011 at the Global Technology Forum, which included World IP bodies such as World Intellectual Property Organization, World Trade Organization and the Association of University Technology Managers.
Since founding CONSOR (and its predecessor company Trademark & Licensing Associates), Mr. Anson has developed numerous licensing strategies for major corporations and has performed valuations of hundreds of intellectual property components including: Caterpillar, Inc., Chevron, Estate of Dr. Seuss, Donna Karan, Amazon.com, DuPont, Ford Motor Company, General Motors Corporation, Hard Rock Café, Harrods, Hilton, IBM, L.L. Bean, Inc., Levi Strauss & Co., L'Oreal, Louisville Slugger, Lucasfilm, Ltd., Macy's, The Estate of Marlon Brando, Marvel, Mattel, McDonald's Corporation, MGM/UA, NCR, The Olympics, PepsiCo, Polaroid, Polo/Ralph Lauren, Procter & Gamble, QVC, Sara Lee, Sesame Street, Sloan Kettering, Sony Corporation, the Vatican Library and Xerox Corporation.
As an important part of his career today, Mr. Anson is a world renowned IP expert with testifying experience in the United Kingdom, Europe, and in state, federal, tax, bankruptcy and probate courts in the U.S.; as well as in arbitration and mediation. In trial testimony, multiple depositions, and numerous rule 26 reports, his expertise has been established and reaffirmed. Litigation clients include roughly half of the largest 100 U.S. law firms. Notable cases range from: the largest trademark jury award in history to adidas of $304.6 million; the successful litigation of Woody Allen vs. American Apparel: a $5 million settlement in a right of privacy and publicity case; the Upaid Systems matter: a $70 million settlement in a computer/telecom patent case; and the Chevron-Donzinger/Ecuador case: decision barred Ecuador from collecting a $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron. In addition Mr. Anson has been involved in other famous cases, such as the landmark Jesse Ventura case in which the eighth circuit court of appeals noted "Anson's qualifications are quite impressive, and certainly more so than those of some experts whose testimony this court has permitted."
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