PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Giovanna Fessenden, an attorney at the intellectual property law firm Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds, has been newly elected to the Board of Directors of the Berkshire Innovation Center (BIC).

 

"I am thrilled to be appointed to the Board of Directors of the Berkshire Innovation Center," Fessenden said. "These are exciting times of technological growth, expansion, and innovation in the Berkshires. As an IP attorney, I am fortunate to work at the forefront of technological innovation. As a Berkshire resident, I look forward to working with the Berkshire Innovation Center to help further cultivate a technological renaissance in the Berkshires."

 

Giovanna is a computer scientist, intellectual property attorney, and blockchain specialist with 17 years of experience advising high tech companies and startups in software patents, software product development, software licensing, open source software licensing compliance, and intellectual property strategy. She helps Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds maintain a presence in western Massachusetts by servicing clients in that area and all over the world.

 

"We are delighted to have Giovanna join the Board. She is a tremendous asset to the community and her deep knowledge of cutting-edge technologies across a range of sectors make her an ideal addition to our team," said B. Stephen Boyd, Chair of the BIC's Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer, Boyd Technologies, Inc. "She brings a unique perspective and is committed to our goal of driving economic development here in the Berkshires.  It's a great fit."  

 

Since 2018, Giovanna has received the distinction of Best Lawyers in America for her patent law expertise. For the past five years, she has also been ranked a top-rated Intellectual Property Attorney by Super Lawyers, a rating of outstanding lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. Giovanna is the executive producer of TEDx Berkshires and has a TEDx talk on the Blockchain Revolution.

 

She has a family history of inventions over the last 100 years. Back in January 1938, Giovanna's great-grandfather George R. Fessenden Jr., a botanist, and conservationist, developed and patented a process of preserving animal and plant specimens in clear plastic, which was quickly adopted by the Department of Agriculture. She is also related to prolific inventor Reginald Fessenden, the first to transmit speech by radio (1900) and the first to transmit and receive two-way radio telegraphic communication across the Atlantic Ocean (1906).

 

Giovanna is a frequent speaker on the topics of open source, blockchain, non-fungible tokens (nfts), and esports technologies. She frequently speaks on these topics at many national and global events, including as a panelist on medical devices and open source technology at the MIT Enterprise Forum in Cambridge, MA in 2020, blockchain and gaming at the LES Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ in 2019, software patents at the MIP International Women's Leadership Forum in London in 2017, and blockchain payment systems at the Casino Esports Conference (CEC) in Las Vegas, NV in 2019.