Protecting Your Business: An Intellectual Property Masterclass for Entrepreneurs
2026 Small Business Series
Monday, September 21
6:00pm - 7:30pm
Central Library
Central AuditoriumLearn how to safeguard your groundbreaking ideas with patents, protect confidential data with trade secrets, establish a strong brand with trademarks, and secure your creative works with copyrights.
Matthew Metzger is an associate in Quarles’ Indianapolis office who helps clients build, manage, and protect patent portfolios across mechanical and electrical technologies, including AI and machine learning. He advises startups, mid-size companies, universities, and Fortune 100 companies on intellectual property strategies aligned with their business goals. Matt’s practice includes drafting and prosecuting patent applications, managing U.S. and foreign patent portfolios, and conducting patentability, patent landscape, and freedom-to-operate analyses. He also counsels clients on patent due diligence and licensing and helps business owners understand how intellectual property can create a competitive advantage.
Garrett Hutchinson is a Senior Associate at FBT Gibbons whose practice focuses on helping his clients protect, enforce, license, and maximize the value of their trademarks, copyrights, and publicity rights. Garrett also uses his extensive experience in IP enforcement and dispute resolution to counsel and assist clients with intellectual property disputes, with experience on both the defense and plaintiff side of such issues. Drawing on previous in-house counsel experience in the celebrity licensing industry, Garrett now advises clients across a wide range of industries, from startups and technology companies to global consumer brands.
Central Library
As the hub of the Indianapolis Public Library system, Central Library showcases renowned architecture and services. The original 1917 building, designed by Paul Cret and constructed of Indiana limestone in the Greek Doric style, was considered one of the most outstanding secular buildings in the U.S. Its six-story glass and steel-framed addition, designed by Evans Woollen, opened in 2007.