Entries by Daryl Lim

Board member and alumnus Jomarie Fredericks named to USPTO advisory council

Delighted to learn that our IP Center board member and alumnus Jomarie Fredericks has been named by the US Patent and Trademark Office to its trademark advisory council. US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross approved her nomination.

The American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 created the Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC) to advise the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO on matters relating to the policies, goals, performance, budget, and user fees of the trademark operation.

Jomarie is the Deputy General Counsel and Chief Intellectual Property and Brand Counsel at Rotary International and the Rotary Foundation. She is also the 2020 Vice President of the International Trademark Association (INTA) Board of Directors.

Congratulations, Jomarie!

Details here: https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/news-updates/uspto-announces-new-public-advisory-committee-members-0

December 8, 2020 by

Chinese Blog Reports on 64th Annual IP Law Conference

Runhua Wang recently posted the second installment of her series reporting on the proceedings of our 64th Annual IP Law Conference @UICJohnMarshall. Non-Chinese readers can use the autotranslate feature on their browsers.
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/egYnw3alWddZyY_HgtHXEQ

December 5, 2020 by

Advisory board member Peter Yu named Regents Professor

Delighted to learn that Texas A&M University recently named Peter Yu as a Regents Professor. On my invitation, Peter joined our advisory board this year. Together with Hugh Hansen, Peter and I jointly organized a roundtable on legal realism in February.
This Regents Professor designation is the most prestigious award from the Texas A&M System to highlight exemplary faculty. Peter is the first professor from the School of Law to receive this systemwide honor.
As Dean Robert Ahdieh noted “Hard to imagine a better statement of Professor Yu’s contributions and character than the introduction to a letter supporting his nomination to a distinguished society: Describing his productivity, the author wrote that ‘if academics were a race, Professor Yu would be lapping us all without breaking a sweat.’ Equally, though, the letter praises him as a ‘paragon of kindness and colleagueship. He is never too busy or too important to ignore a colleague across the country.'”
https://bit.ly/33GGlwN

December 4, 2020 by

Lisa Jorgenson (JD ’88) named WIPO Deputy Director-General

Delighted to learn the World IP Organization (WIPO) has just named Lisa Jorgenson (JD ’88) as its Deputy Director-General overseeing patents and technology. Lisa was Executive Director of the American IP Law Association from 2014.
Introducing Lisa and other senior leaders, WIPO Director-General Daren Tang noted that “[c]ollectively, and together with me, we set the tone at the top. As a team, we are responsible not just for strategy and leadership but also translating strategy into concrete plans, initiatives and actions.”
https://bit.ly/36DE8UI

December 4, 2020 by

IPWatchdog Features Reflections from 64th Annual IP Conference

Today IPWatchdog featured reflections by speakers and attendees at our recently concluded 64th Annual IP Conference. Titled “Intellectual Property Policy: Four Observations, Five Questions, and a Warning,” the post also features a summary of former Chief Judge Michel’s keynote address. We appreciate IPWatchdog for memorializing and sharing key takeaways from our conference.

Read it here:

Intellectual Property Policy: Four Observations, Five Questions, and a Warning

December 3, 2020 by

US Bar – JPO Liaison Meeting

Glad to join officials from the Japan Patent Office (JPO) and members of the US patent bar for the US Bar JPO’s annual Liaison Council Meeting.

Representatives in the US came from state bars in the Carolinas, New York, Virginia, Wyoming, and the American Bar Association. Susumu Iwasaki, Deputy Commissioner of the JPO, and Kevin Kunzendorf, Chair of the US Bar/JPO Liaison Council co-chaired the meeting.

US-Japan ties among the patent community continue to be strong. Our discussion was wide-ranging, covering topics including AI and 3D printing technology, patent subject matter eligibility, and the impact of Covid-19.

November 24, 2020 by

36th US Bar – EPO Liaison Meeting

Joined European Patent Office (EPO) officials and U.S. patent attorneys for the 36th US Bar EPO Liasion Council Meeting. Both sides discussed a wide range of topics, including Covid-19’s impact and measures at the EPO, the Unitary Patent/Unified Patent Court, plant and animal patentability at the EPO, as well as artificial intelligence (AI) at the EPO and USPTO.

I was honored to address the Council on AI and spoke about areas of convergence, divergence, and the importance of plurilateral and multilateral efforts to harmonize safe harbors, redlines, and regulatory sandboxes. Covid-19 has bolstered both the need for countries to work together as well as the means to do so early and often. Let’s make the most of it.

EPO’s press release here: https://www.epo.org/news-events/news/2020/20201120.html

November 24, 2020 by