Contact: Jim Laird
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Brett Kingstone has a simple message for America's manufacturers, entrepreneurs and lawmakers: protect the country's intellectual property and innovative technology.
The Florida businessman will share that message and war stories from his own battle against trade-secret piracy and counterfeiting during an appearance at Mississippi State University Nov. 16. The land-grant institution's Office of Research and Economic Development and Office of Facility Security are sponsoring his visit.
A compelling speaker and regular lecturer at FBI programs on industrial espionage, Kingstone started his first fiber optic company in his dorm room at Stanford University as a 19-year-old undergraduate. Super Vision (now Nexxus Lighting, NASDAQ: NEXS) was later established in Orlando, where the company developed fiber optic and LED lighting landmarks for Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Universal Studios and Walt Disney.
In September 2002, Kingstone and his company won $42 million, the largest jury verdict in the history of the State of Florida for an intellectual property crime, for a case against a group of counterfeiters based in Shanghai, China, that took three years to bring to civil trial and also was pursued by the FBI.
Kingstone's two-hour public presentation, titled "The Real War: Technology Theft," begins at 1 p.m. and is free, but attendees are asked to register at http://www.tfaforms.com/178146 to ensure adequate seating is available in Colvard Student Union's Fowlkes Auditorium. Complimentary event parking will be available at the university's Palmeiro Center, which is adjacent to Humphrey Coliseum and provides easy access from Highway 12 via Collegeview Street. A shuttle will run between the Palmeiro Center and Union before and after Kingstone's presentation.
For additional information, please contact MSU Facility Security Officer Neil Lewis at 662-325-8682.