Washington, DC | Roundtables & Meetings

Delighted to be back in Washington, DC. Visited the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to meet Hon. Pauline Newman and Hon. Tiffany Cunningham before attending the IPO Education Foundation Awards Celebration. The IP community celebrated Terrica Carrington (Inspiration Award), Gary Michelson (IP Champion Award), Sanjay Mehrotra (Executive of the Year Award), and Luke Haverhals and Aaron Amstutz (Inventors of the Year Award).

Joined roundtable participants on Thursday to discuss “The Battle Over Patents: History And The Politics Of Innovation,” edited by Stephen Haber and Naomi Lamoreaux. On Friday, I participated in the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School-Sunwater Institute’s roundtable on “The Future of Property: Autonomy, Prosperity, and Conflict Mitigation.” We discussed issues of contemporary importance, such as:

• Can the concept of property resolve conflicts over commercial drones’ use of airspace over private land?

• Can the concept of property resolve conflicts over the use of objects in space? What conflicts does the concept resolve effectively? Is it ineffective at resolving any other issues?

• Should there be differences in protections for medical procedures using conventional surgical equipment compared with procedures performed by (and or with) a surgical robot?

• When lobbyists and public-relations specialists argue about injunctions and IP policy, what arguments do they make? Do they make the same arguments as academics, and if not, how do their arguments differ?

• How do stakeholders affect meaningful change through Congress and the courts?