For over ten years, I have had the privilege of training with Chicago Aikikai (https://www.chicagoaikikai.org/), a community devoted to the practice of aikido, a non-competitive Japanese martial art centered on balance, focus, and the redirection of force.
Founded in 1963 as the Illinois Aikido Club, Chicago Aikikai was the first dojo in the Midwest dedicated to aikido. After many years at its current Chicago Avenue location, the club must move and is looking for a permanent home in the city.
Chicago Aikikai is a nonprofit organization with a welcoming community, excellent instruction, and a remarkable history in Chicago. A suitable space would help preserve that tradition for current and future students.
If you know of a potential location, or someone who may be able to help, please contact chiaikikai@gmail.com.

A meaningful visit to Geneva and the World Intellectual Property Organization – WIPO to facilitate the WIPO Dialogue on IP Protection in E-Commerce. The inaugural Dialogue brought together representatives of Member States, e-commerce platforms, and other partners to consider practical and collaborative approaches to combating online sales of counterfeit goods. Counterfeit trade in digital markets is a cross-border challenge that no government, platform, or rights holder can address effectively alone. Meaningful progress depends on sustained cooperation, workable enforcement mechanisms, and trust among the relevant stakeholders in future Dialogue sessions.

My thanks to Edward Kwakwa, Todd Reves, Giulia Ragonesi, and their team for the invitation, their warm hospitality, and the opportunity to contribute to this important conversation.

Delighted to meet with Director General Daren Tang. His appointment to a second term reflects Member States’ confidence in his leadership at a time when WIPO’s convening role is especially important. The organization’s work in bringing together governments, innovators, creators, businesses, and other stakeholders is essential to advancing innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship in an increasingly interconnected economy.

I was also pleased to visit the exhibition “JOURNEY of INSPIRATION: Empowering Community through Intellectual Property – Design and Creativity,” which opened in connection with the appointment of Her Royal Highness Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakanya of Thailand as WIPO’s first Ambassador for Fashion and Design. The exhibition offered a compelling illustration of how cultural heritage, design, and the strategic use of intellectual property can create opportunity for artisans and local communities. Details: https://lnkd.in/gS2mVRG7 and https://lnkd.in/ggQ2g-mW

The visit also allowed me to reconnect with friends and colleagues whose work strengthens the international intellectual property community, and to meet many new ones.

Lisa Jorgenson | Matteo Gragnani | Yasmina Al Abed | Dr. Ulrike Till | Michele Woods | Kathleen Peh | Eun-Joo Min | Hae-Jun Kim | Garrett Levin | Murthy Anil | Mohamed Emir Boulhadid | Martin Correa Finsterbusch | Victor Owade| Francis Gurry | Jennifer S. Lane | Monica A. Hernandez | Ameen Imam | Piotr Stryszowski | Jaroslaw Mrowiec | José Antonio Moreno Campos | Abdesslam Benzitouni | Afebuame Peters | Guadalupe Garcia Crespo | David Saussinan | Kamelia Dimitrova | Reggie Pamatian | Christine Pangilinan | Chen Hongbin | Cecilia Holmgren | Olivia Mazzucotelli | Chikako Konno | Yoshifumi Kusumoto | and more

[Celebrating Hugh Hansen on his 80th.]

Delighted to join Hugh for a belated mini-birthday celebration.

Hugh has been a teacher, scholar, advocate, and institution-builder. He did not merely teach IP law. He helped build the field.

When Hugh arrived at Fordham University School of Law, IP was niche. With vision, determination, and the support of forward-looking deans, he created a curriculum, brought together adjuncts and scholars, and helped make Fordham a global center for the study of IP.

But for many of us, Hugh’s greatest legacy is the global community he built.

As founder and director of the Emily C. and John E. Hansen IP Institute at Fordham Law School and its Annual IP Conference, he created one of the world’s essential gathering places for IP judges, scholars, practitioners, policymakers, agency leaders, and general counsel.

They came because Fordham was where one learned what was really happening. They came to be challenged and yet somehow leave the room feeling more alive, more informed, and more connected than before. Disagreements became memorable exchanges and most serious questions could be framed with wit. Panels felt, at their best, like spirited arguments around a kitchen table. He made Fordham a crossroads of the IP world, but also a place of friendship.

Managing IP called him an “IP provocateur” and “the ringmaster” behind one of the field’s must-attend events. He has shown us that a field is strengthened by honest disagreement conducted among people who respect one another enough to argue hard and return the next year.

Hugh’s genius was never merely convening important people. It was convening them in a way that made ideas matter more than hierarchy. He is a force of nature with a big heart. He is capable of making someone feel terrified, honored, and delighted within the same five minutes. He has the rare ability to unsettle a room and hold it together at the same time. He expects much from people because he believes they have something worth contributing. He opened doors, launched careers, and gave generations of IP lawyers and scholars the confidence that their ideas mattered.

At Fordham, the most senior judges, the most accomplished practitioners, and the newest scholars entered the same arena to learn, debate, have fun.

That motto captures Hugh perfectly. Serious, irreverent, demanding, generous, impatient with cant, allergic to pomposity, and deeply loyal to people and ideas. He made IP more global, more rigorous, more candid, and more human.

Happy 80th birthday, Hugh! Thank you for building not only a conference, but a community. Thank you for teaching us to learn, debate, and have fun, and for showing us that the best institutions are built not only with vision, but with courage, wit, loyalty, and love.

Catch the conference’s 25th commemorative video (from eight years ago) here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z4qYoL_-_w.

One of the great privileges of academic life is the opportunity to build bridges across institutions, jurisdictions, and professional communities. It was especially energizing to meet and reconnect with colleagues whose work spans India, the MENA region, Australia, the United Kingdom, Europe, and beyond. The issues we work on are increasingly global. Our conversations about them should be global too.

During a recent visit to London, Bournemouth, and Oxford, I had the pleasure of meeting with judges, barristers, solicitors, scholars, publishers, and other leaders across the IP and technology law ecosystem. I am grateful for generous conversations with colleagues.

Meaningful collaboration rarely happens by accident. It is built through sustained relationships, shared intellectual curiosity, and a willingness to connect people and institutions across borders.

Many thanks to everyone who made time for conversation, coffee, meals, and thoughtful exchange. I left with renewed appreciation for the value of international engagement and for the many ways law schools can serve as conveners in a rapidly changing world.

Penn State Dickinson Law | EMILY C AND JOHN E HANSEN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW INSTITUT| Annsley Merelle Ward | Matt Swinn | Kate Hay | Tom Mitcheson KC | Calum Smyth | Cate Nagy | Suzy Madar | Peter Ruess | Till Völger | Muhammad Farrukh Irfan Khan | Christopher Stothers | Sarah Wright | Brian Cordery | Andy Bowler | Dev Gangjee | Daren Tang | Adam Williams | Pauline Piernez | Ian Horak KC | Dr. Bartosz Sujecki | James Nurton | Penny Gilbert | Ari Laakkonen | Peter Daniell | Charlotte Kershaw | Jo Smith | Richard Meade | James Mellor | Colin Birss | Richard Arnold | Gerald Dworkin | Noel Byrne | and more

[Celebrating the Penn State Dickinson Law Class of 2026]

Commencement reminds us why legal education matters. It marks the culmination of hard work and the start of a life in the law.

Congratulations to our students, and to the families, friends, faculty, and staff who supported them along the way. We are proud of all that you have accomplished and excited for the impact you will make.

It was also a joy to share the moment and catch up with colleagues who make this community special. Our commencement speaker, Noreen Tama ’86, shared heartfelt and inspirational reflections on leadership, service, and professional purpose.

Warmest congratulations to the Class of 2026!

Kathy Bieschke | Danielle Conway | Gary S. Gildin | Dermot Groome | Shaakirrah R. Sanders | Valerie D. James, JD, Esq. | Bethany N. Schols | Bekah Saidman-Krauss | Laura Ax-Fultz | Kristin Thomas | Laura H. Williams | Karlisma Souders | Abi Hassen | Katherine Pearson | Andrea Jane Martin