The Chair’s Comments
Article Date: Thursday, November 03, 2011
Written By: David Sar
The Intellectual Property Law Section is off to an exciting start for this "bar year." I thought you might be interested in learning some basic information about the section and how you can get involved.
The section has sizeable membership, with 676 members as of June 30, 2011. The section anticipates holding four quarterly council meetings, the first of which was on Sept. 22, 2011.
The IP Section officers for this year are: Chair David Sar, Vice-Chair Eric Mills, Treasurer Timothy Meigs, and Secretary Jose Cortina.
The IP Section has many committees and committee co-chairs along with its council members. We anticipate that these committees will be active throughout the year, holding events such as round-table discussions, bag lunch meetings, and speaker/panel presentations. The committees and chairs for this year are currently:
• Advisory Council of Past Chairs, Cindy Rothschild
• Biotech & Chemical Patents,
Rob Schwartzman & Allyn Rhodes,
• CLE, Laura Kelley & Jay Klinck,
• Diversity, David Bradin,
• EE (Electrical Engineering)/Computer Software,
Timothy Wall & Brian Drozd,
• Ethics, David Sar,
• Home Page/Public Information, Bruce Owens,
• International IP, Tiffani Otey & John Zimmer,
• International Liaison to European Patent Office,
Jack Hicks,
• Membership, Marjorie Benbow & Timothy Meigs,
• Paralegal Division Liaison, Toyce Southern,
• Licensing, Patricia Bornes & Jose Cortina,
• NC LEAP Liaison, Deborah Gerhardt,
• Newsletter (IP Links), Alton Absher & Justin Nifong,
• Nominations, Cindy Rothschild,
• Outreach, Bob Crouse & Jon Pierce,
• Patent Law, Dave Walters & Lance Lawson,
• Pro Bono, Bert Andia,
• Trademark / Copyright / Trade Secrets, Neal Wolgin and Angela Doughty, and
• Trademark Specialization, Matthew Ladenheim.
Many of these committees have already been busy planning things for the year. I encourage everyone reading this comment to contact a committee chair and get involved with what interests you. At a minimum, please come to an event or two.
Here are a few recent events and coming attractions.
By the time you read this, the Section will have co-sponsored on Oct. 12, 2011 with the Triangle Intellectual Property Law Association a CLE called "Trademark Update: Madrid Protocol." It featured Former Trademark Commissioner Lynne Beresford speaking about trademark issues associated with the Madrid Protocol involving the US and many other countries.
On Nov. 17, 2011, the section will hold its tri-city council meeting by video-conference to be followed by its tri-city networking lunches. The "tri-cities" will be Greensboro, Charlotte and Raleigh.
On Jan. 19, 2012, the section anticipates co-sponsoring with the Sports & Entertainment Law Section a joint CLE.
Save the date for our annual meeting and CLE, March 23, 2012.
Within the past year, the section created committees for Diversity, International Law and Trademark Specialization due to membership requests.
The Trademark Specialization Committee has been investigating and pursuing with the N.C. State Bar Board of Legal Specialization the possibility of a new specialty designation for trademark law. The proposed specialty would be the practice of trademark law, namely the practice of law devoted to the searching, clearing, prosecution, enforcement and protection of trademarks. When support for a new trademark specialization was solicited, the response was overwhelmingly strong, fast and positive. Within three weeks of circulating the survey, 134 signed responses were received supporting the new specialty, with 61 respondents indicating an interest in becoming certified as a trademark specialist, and 34 respondents indicating an interest in serving on the initial drafting committee. The State Bar's Board of Legal Specialization is in the process of forming a committee to investigate further the specialization and to draft the standards of specialization as well as examination materials.
Other interesting events are on the horizon. Please join us by saddling up for the ride. •
David Sar is a partner specializing in intellectual property with Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP.
Views and opinions expressed in articles published herein are the authors' only and are not to be attributed to this newsletter, the section, or the NCBA unless expressly stated. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all citations and quotations.