Seattle Intellectual Property American Inn of Court

The William L. Dwyer Inn of Court hosted the Robert J. Bryan Inn of Court and the Seattle IP Inn of Court for the Joint Inn Meeting on October 8, 2019. The meeting began with a welcome by Dean Annette Clark, Seattle University School of Law. Following Dean Clark’s welcome, there was a special recognition of Washington State Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Fairhurst, recipient of the 2019 Ninth Circuit’s Inn of Court Professionalism Award. Chief Justice Fairhurst spoke of her career in public service. Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson was the Keynote Speaker for the evening. Attorney General Ferguson, an internationally rated chess master, provided insights into the Attorney General’s Office through chess analogies. Thank you, Dean Clark, Chief Justice Fairhurst and Attorney General Ferguson for sharing your wisdom with us. Thank you, Dwyer Inn of Court, for hosting and for arranging for such stellar speakers to address us.

Our IP Inn of Court year began with a special treat! Federal Circuit Judge Todd Hughes spoke in question and answer format, moderated by Western District of Washington Judge Robert Lasnik. The venue was special, too – the Holland America Line Room at the Seattle World Trade Center, with a 180 degree view of the Puget Sound. Thank you, Group 1, for arranging for Judge Hughes and Judge Lasnik to speak! We also welcomed our new Inn members to the Seattle IP Inn of Court with an orientation. We look forward to an exciting year!

The Seattle IP Inn of Court celebrated its 10^th anniversary with a Black Tie Optional reception and dinner honoring one of the Inn’s founding members, the Hon. James P. Donohue, Retiring Magistrate Judge, United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. Magistrate Judge Donohue is well known for his many contributions to the Puget Sound community and his service on the Board of Directors for Special Olympics of Washington. Thank you for your many years of dedicated service, Magistrate Judge Donohue!

The Seattle IP Inn of Court thanked outgoing Inn President Jonathan McFarland for his leadership during the past year. Thank you, Jonathan!

Group 7 presented “IP Law and Fashion: A Fractured Collaboration.” Thank you, Group 7, for an engaging examination of the myriad and creative IP law arguments devised to protect fashion.

Group 6 created a competition as part of its presentation of Key Statistics Revealing Trends in IP: A tour of IP law in numbers. The presenters engaged the audience by discussing various IP law statistics and asking the audience multiple choice questions about the statistics. The prizes ranged from small, lower quality chocolate prizes to bigger, higher quality chocolate prizes. Thank you, Group 6, for making statistics entertaining!

Group 5 presented IP Jeopardy! Group 5 handed out prizes of Fran’s chocolate for the top placing tables. The game was lively and entertaining! Thank you, Group 5!

The Seattle IP Inn of Court hosted and welcomed the Washington State Patent Law Association (WSPLA) to the meeting. Group 4 assembled a panel to discuss the ethics implications and potential conflicts when lawyers’ representation of clients and scopes of duties intersect with IP.

Speakers:

• James Barker, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP
• Ben Byer, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
• Harold Federow, Port of Seattle
• Doug Stewart, Bracewell LLP

The program included discussion of the following topics:

1. Patent attorneys as inventors
2. Trademark attorneys as mark creators
3. Litigators’ acceptance of ownership as part of their fee
4. Panel discussion regarding general ethical concerns when attorneys contribute to clients’ IP
5. Q & A for the panel

Thank you for your ethics presentation, Group 4! Thank you for attending, WSPLA members!

Group 3 gave a panel presentation entitled “A Review of Key Patent Law Developments in 2018.” Thank you for your presentation, Group 3!

Group 2 reenacted portions of the U.S. Supreme Court oral argument in the WesternGeco LLC, v. Ion Geophysical Corporation, No. 16-1011, 585 U.S. ___ (2018) patent case. Oral argument occurred on April 16, 2018 and the Court issued its decision on June 22, 2018. Thank you to Group 2 for a lively and entertaining presentation!

The Robert J. Bryan Inn of Court hosted the William L. Dwyer Inn of Court and the Seattle IP Inn of Court for the annual joint meeting of the Puget Sound area Inns. The presentation was the one and only showing of “Interesting Times,” a tale of lawyer life at its grittiest, with a musical twist. Thank you to the Robert J. Bryan Inn of Court for hosting!