Intellectual Property Law Section 2009-2010 Annual Report

The Intellectual Property Law Section has had yet another outstanding year, and hereby submits this Annual Report to the D.C. Bar Sections Council to summarize its activities from July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2010 (“Bar Year”).

General
The IP Law Section is managed by a steering committee comprised of the following seven members (the year in parenthesis indicates term expiration): Cochair, Stephen Belisle (2010), Cochair, Barbara Berschler (2011), Maureen Browne (2010), Kathleen Cooney–Porter (2011), Leigh Ann Lindquist (2012), Robert F. Shaffer (2010), and Karyn Temple Claggett (2012). The section operates primarily through its seven standing sommittees: Patent, Trademark, Copyright, Trade Secret, Legislative, Community Outreach, and Young Lawyers. The steering committee, together with the standing committee chairs and vice-chairs, meet on a monthly basis. These meetings generally are open to section members as well as D.C. Bar staff members.

During the Bar year, the steering committee voted to appoint another vice–chair for each of the standing committees. Thus, at this time, each of the seven standing committees of the IP Law Section is led by a chair and two vice–chairs.

Membership
The IP Law Section had 2,544 active members as of September 21, 2009, and is the second largest of the twenty-one D.C. Bar Sections—second only to the Litigation Section, which includes many members of the IP Law Section. This, however, represents a loss of 356 active members from the previous bar year with 2,900 active members, and is presumably connected to the “economic downturn” in 2009.

Throughout the Bar year, the IP Law Section sought to increase its membership primarily by leveraging its Young Lawyers Committee. The committee organized a Summer Networking Event at D.C.’s Science Club in July 2009 that proved hugely successful. Professor Peter Jaszi (past recipient of the Section’s CHIP Award) spoke about copyrights to a sold-out crowd. Over 65 attendees packed the venue, including many new faces. The committee also heavily promoted the section’s Annual Spring Reception (discussed below), along with many other Section programs, to non-members. The Young Lawyers Committee plans to host another Summer Networking Event in 2010, and to host two such events per year in the future.

Community Outreach
The IP Law Section sponsored the 2010 Science Fair of the Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, which is a D.C. magnet school that attracts top local students with a particular interest in math, science and technology. The IP Law Section has proudly sponsored this annual event since 1996 by providing both financial and human resources. This year, the section donated $2,000 to the school, and provided over 30 volunteers to judge the science fair projects. The section plans to continue this partnership in the upcoming school year.

The IP Law Section also proudly cosponsored the 2010 Youth Law Fair. The fair, which marked its 11th anniversary this year, was a huge success. Many students attended as well as significant guests. This year, the section donated $1,000 to the fair.

Events and Programs
Commitee Programs
The IP Law Section presented several educational programs on a range of timely topics over the Bar Year. The programs organized by the section’s substantive law standing committees (i.e., Patent, Trademark, Copyright, Trade Secret, and Legislative) included the following:

The ABC’s of IP: A Primer on Patent, Copyright, and Trademark Law
Understanding the Landscape of Change in China
Making Trademark Owners Whole: An Insightful Overview of Measuring and Proving Trademark Damages
Rethinking “Readily Ascertainable:” How New Technologies Threaten to Erode the Scope of Trademark
The Copyright Office Speaks (15th Annual Luncheon featuring Register of Copyrights, Marybeth Peters, and held at The City Club at Franklin Square)
Design Law Today – The Interplay of Trade Dress, Copyright, and Design Patent Law
The Trademark Office Speaks (featuring Commissioner of Trademarks, Lynne Beresford, Chief Judge of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, Gerard Rogers, and Amy Cotton, Office of External Affairs, and held at Hotel Monaco)
Jacobsen v. Katzer: Overview and Impact on Open Source
The Patent Office Speaks (featuring Robert Stoll, Commissioner for Patents, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and held at The City Club at Franklin Square)

The above program entitled “Jacobsen v. Katzer: Overview and Impact on Open Source” will be the first program to be offered by the D.C. Bar Sections Office via Webinar. The IP Law Section thanks the sections staff for making this technology available for use in its programming.

In addition, the IP Law Section cosponsored relevant programs organized by other D.C. Bar Sections.

Continuing Legal Education Programs
The IP Law Section either sponsored or cosponsored various CLE programs this year, including the following:

How to Recognize Critical Software Intellectual Property Issues in Everyday Practice
How to Protect and Enforce Trademark Rights: A Primer
Copyright Law and Litigation
2009 IP Law Year in Review Series, Parts I and II
How to Litigate a Patent Infringement Case
Protecting Content on the Internet
Fraud in Trademark Cases: Impact of the Federal Circuit’s New Standard
Regulation of Clinical Trials: The New Life Sciences Frontier 2010
Using Section 337 Proceedings for Effective Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights at the Border
Fundamentals of Patents and Licenses for Pharmaceutical and Biotech Products: The New Life Sciences Frontier

Special Events
The IP Law Section hosted its 2010 Annual Spring Reception on April 20, 2010, at the historic Dolley Madison House (located adjacent to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit). With attendance reaching about 100 people, including judges, attorneys, professors, law students, and government officials, the reception was a great success. During the reception, the IP Law Section awarded its 2010 “Champion of Intellectual Property” (“CHIP”) Award to the Register of Copyrights, Marybeth Peters. Welcoming remarks were provided by Judge Richard Linn of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Past recipients of the CHIP Award include Professor Peter Jaszi (2009), Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Glushko–Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic at the American University Washington College of Law, and The Honorable Daniel R. Pearson (2008), former Chairman (and current Vice-Chairman) of the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Partnerships and Associations
The cochairs of the IP Law Section were invited to be honored guests at the New York Intellectual Property Law Association Annual Dinner, which was held at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City on March 26, 2010. Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts, neither was able to attend this year.

Members of the IP Law Section Steering Committee participated in various meetings of the IP Law Associations Committee of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) throughout the bar year. These efforts helped further develop partnerships between the IP Law Section and other members of the IP law community.
In May 2009, the IP Law Section joined the AIPLA’s Amicus Brief Notification Network. The goal of this network is to increase communication among its members regarding the preparation and filing of amicus briefs. The section continues to participate in this Notification Network.

Financial Status
The IP Law Section has maintained its annual dues level at $55 for the upcoming 2010-2011 Bar year (in consultation with the Sections Council). Last bar year, the section raised its dues by $10, from $45 to $55.

According to financial information from the D.C. Bar Sections Office, the IP Law Section’s beginning balance as of July 1, 2009, was $10,400 and its ending balance on June 30, 2010, is projected to be $49,705 (as of February 28, 2010 data). Of course, substantial losses from the Bar’s financial investments as well as continuous fluctuations thereof have substantially affected the IP Law Section’s bottom line.

Public Statements
The IP Law Section received and reviewed four proposed public statements during the past bar year: (1) D.C. Affairs Section Public Statement Supporting Litigation Section Public Statement About Appointment of D.C. Bar Members to the D.C. Federal Bench (7/19/09); (2) Litigation Section Public Statement (cosponsored by 10 other Sections) Opposing Budget Cuts of $1,000,000 for Civil Legal Services and Loan Forgiveness Funding (4/27/10); (3) Expedited Statement sponsored by the Estates, Trusts and Probate Section providing comments concerning the Neighborhood Preservation Amendment Act of 2009 (4/28/10); and (4) D.C. Affairs Section Proposed Public Statement Supporting Efforts to Avoid an Undercount of D.C. Residents in the 2010 Census. With respect to these proposed public statements, the majority of the IP Law Section Steering Committee voted neither to approve nor disapprove them and to allow them to proceed without involvement.