The Inn kicked off the 2023-2024 year in reverse — by celebrating the same way we closed out the 2022-2023 year with a boat cruise social on Lake Union and Lake Washington. We were fortunate to have beautiful weather and a gorgeous sunset as our backdrop as teams discussed plans for this year’s programming and met new members.
Please click the link below to access the 2023 – 2024 Welcome Letter from Inn President Lori Tonnes-Priddy. The letter includes the tentative schedule of Inn Meetings for this year.
The Inn celebrated another successful Inn year—that provided several unique opportunities for our members, including a mock claim construction argument for young attorneys, an excellent presentation on copyright fair use, and a fireside chat with Chief ITC ALJ Clark S. Cheney and The Honorable James L. Robart—with a boat-cruise social on Lake Union and Lake Washington! The Inn also received Platinum Status in the American Inn of Courts Achieving Excellence program. This is the highest status in the Achieving Excellence program and recognizes that the Inn has made excellent contributions to the five core competencies of the American Inns of Court: administration, communications, programming, mentoring, and outreach.
The Inn’s February meeting dove into the world of the United States International Trade Commission with a panel discussion. The panel focused on considerations, strategy, and other issues related to intellectual property litigation before the ITC, as well as in federal district court. Jim Coughlan, a partner at Perkins Coie presented a primary on litigation before the ITC, and joined the panel along with Chief Administrative Law Judge Clark S. Cheney and the Honorable James L. Robart of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Jonathan McFarland, Director of Litigation, Enforcement, and Product Clearance at Nintendo of America Inc. moderated the panel. The Inn greatly appreciates the valuable insight offered by Judge Robart and Chief ALJ Cheney on the similarities and differences of litigating before the ITC and in district court.
The Seattle IP Inn kicked off the new year with an important presentation on diversity, inclusion, and equity issues in the legal profession. Mark Walters, a partner at Lowe Graham Jones gave a presentation on efforts to eradicate racism and prejudice in our legal system, including Batson challenges, General Rule 37 in Washington, and Henderson v. Thompson (WA Supreme Court Case No. 97672-4, Oct. 20, 2022). Kate Geyer, an associate at Kilpatrick Townsend, also gave a presentation on gender, equality, diversity, and intellectual property (shown below). The night wrapped up with a panel discussion with U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Michelle Peterson of the Western District of Washington and Ms. Teri Nguyen, Visiting Professor at Seattle University School of Law. The panel was moderated by Suellen Siqueira-Fisher, Legal Counsel at RealNetworks, who facilitated a captivating discussion on diversity, inclusion, and equity in the practice of intellectual property law, including past and proposed efforts to reduce prejudice in our profession.
On November 17, 2022, Group 2 made a phenomenal presentation on the fair use doctrine in copyright law, and specifically in the context of Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith and whether a work of art is “transformative” when it conveys a different meaning or message from its source material. Group 2’s presentation also included a lively debate between members of the Inn on whether other works for art at issue in past cases were “transformative” and therefore protected by the fair use doctrine.
While we await the Supreme Court’s decision, what do you think about the work at issue and whether it is transformative?
On October 18, 2022, the Michel IP Inn of Court and Seattle IP Inn of Court hosted a joint Inn meeting. The meeting focused on best practices for claim construction oral advocacy, and gave junior members a unique opportunity: a simulated appellate oral argument before the Hon. Richard Linn, Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the Hon. James Robart, District Judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.
The meeting used an advanced Zoom setup, provided graciously by TSG Reporting, allowing participants to connect from Seattle, Los Angeles, and Washington DC. Jerry Riedinger (co-founder of the Seattle IP Inn of Court) opened with an excellent presentation on claim construction argument best practices and pointers. Judge Linn and Judge Robart then presided over a moot appellate argument in the fictitious matter of Texas Patentee v. Big Tech Mobile Device Co. Two junior attorneys from each Inn argued challenging claim construction issues (patterned after difficult real world issues), with the Michel IP Inn representing Texas Patentee and the Seattle IP Inn of Court representing Big Tech Mobile Device Co. The meeting was highly successful, with more than 75 members attending. The Inns wish to thank all involved for their time and effort, including the Hon. Michael R. Wilner, Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the Central District of California, who could not participate due to a last minute conflict.
On September 15, 2022, the Seattle IP Inn of Court held its first regular monthly meeting of the 2022-2023 Inn Year. The meeting was the Inn’s first in-person regular meeting since approximately January of 2020. Members got the chance to make new connections and rekindle old ones, while taking in an end of summer sunset; and pupilage teams also got the chance to meet and conduct in-person planning for their presentations this year. All in all, the meeting was a success and a great start to this Inn Year!
Please click the link below for the 2022 – 2023 Welcome Letter from President Kevin Zeck, which includes the tentative schedule of meetings for this year.
Welcome Letter – https://seattleipinn.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2022-08-26-Welcome-Letter-Inn-Year-2022-2023.pdf
The Seattle Intellectual Property American Inn of Court has been awarded the Achieving Excellence Platinum designation for the 2021-2022 Inn year. We also celebrated another wonderful year of meetings by finally hosting an in-person year-end social aboard a boat cruise around the Puget Sound!
