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Peter Ullmann

The Idea Parlor was founded by Peter Ullmann (CEO and President) with the goal of helping individuals across all backgrounds identify the patentable inventions within their ideas from garage shop hopefulls to large companies. Currently Peter manages the patent program at the startup venture Infinite Z, Inc. as well as Manager of Intellectual Property at another venture, Spudnik, Inc. His previous position was at Adobe Systems, Inc., where over his eleven years tenure he architected the patent program, including the portfolio strategy, invention mining workshops, application filing/claim objectives and overall management/operations. Peter has also held technical and business positions at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, The Boeing Company, Texas Instruments, Inc., Raytheon, and Schlumberger Limited.

In addition to his patent and development work, Peter’s over 25-year career has included positions as Standards Manager, University Collaborations Manager, Product Manager, Asia Business Manager, and Engineering Manager. He has worked across a broad range of technical domains from avionic systems to electron beam probing systems to integrated circuits to software systems. An Electrical Engineering graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, Peter has published internationally, chaired several non profits including the Software Patent Institute, the Software Patent Coalition, as well as various community organizations.

In addition Peter has been active in the arts from performing with the Boston Opera, chairing an international film series, writing/producing a melodrama about an inventor pursuing a patent entitled “The Claims of Fame,” and writing a libretto about patenting entitled “The Passionate Patent,” performed several times by Opera San Jose.

Gwyn Firth Murray

Gwyn Firth Murray is founder and principal of the Matau Legal Group, which offers a broad range of commercial, licensing, and other legal services to both start-up and established companies in the high tech and biotech industries (see www.mataulegal.com). She also is co-founder of Open Bar, Inc., a not-for-profit organization focused on legal rights and responsibilities in the world of open source software (see www.open-bar.org ). 

Gwyn has spent over fifteen years working as inside and outside counsel to computer hardware, computer software and pharmaceutical companies, including Apple Computer, SGI, and Alza Corporation.  Gwyn was the first lawyer to join VA Linux Systems, Inc. (now “VA Software”) as internal counsel, and she served as Vice President, Legal Services for VA during its first year as a public company. After leaving VA, she went on to become Vice President and General Counsel of Kanisa Inc., a privately-held software company based in Cupertino, California, before undertaking her own law practice.

Gwyn is a graduate of Stanford University Law School, and also holds an M.A. in Latin American Studies from Stanford University. She obtained her B.A. magna cum laude and with distinction in economics from Yale College.  Gwyn is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.

Sally MacDonald

Sally MacDonald joined the board of Idea Parlor in 2008 to advise on organizational infrastructure and insure solid financial management. Sally has over 20 years of solid financial management, project management, financial analysis, transaction processing, and information technology experience in global high technology organization.

Currently Sally is Director of Finance Business Process and Systems at NetApp, a $3B global storage and data management company. Though well versed in the high technology field, she has additionally held management positions in business analytics, international project management, planning, budgeting, business systems, forecasting, international financial management and accounting addressing a broad range of industries, including transportation, energy, building products and food manufacturing.

Sally is an accounting graduate from the University of Washington and holds an MBA from Santa Clara University. She is a gardener, a cyclist and in the time that remains, a traveler.