Principals

Michael W. Swan, Esq., CPA

Mike Swan is the President of Global Royalty Audits Inc ("GRA"). Prior to co-founding GRA in 2005, Mike began his career as a financial auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, before joining the New York and Massachusetts State Bar Associations and becoming an Associate at Faust, Rabbach and Oppenheim Law Firm where he focused on drafting and reviewing documents critical to licensing and financing arrangements among other duties. Subsequently, Mike returned to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP where he rose to the level of Director and became one of the original founding members of the team that created the Royalty Audit practice for the accounting firm in 1996.

In addition to his experience in a range of industries, Mike has presented papers and conducted seminars on various intellectual property issues including Negotiations of a Royalty Rate, Monitoring Royalties Under Chinese License Agreements, Conducting Royalty Audits and Licensing Management Best Practices. Some of the groups Mike has addressed include various Licensing Executive Society conferences (local and annual meetings) and American Conference Institute Courses. Mike has also appeared as a columnist in the Licensing Journal.

Relevant Intellectual Property Experience 

Mike has been involved in a wide range of royalty audit and intellectual property engagements, which include the following:

• Conducting numerous royalty audits globally in various industries including the aerospace, agriculture, applied materials, bio-technical/medical devices, consumer products (including toys and textiles), hardware, pharmaceutical, publishing/authors, software and telecommunications;
• Assisting clients in streamlining and improving their licensing departments;
• Measurement of damages in civil litigation including disputes over intellectual property; and,
• Performing contract dispute analysis involving license agreements and representing clients as an expert witness.