George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School

Author: rkim11

IPLS Alumni Reception: Recap

The Intellectual Property held its Annual Alumni Reception on November 13 at the D.C. office of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP.

The reception started off to conversation, networking, food, and drinks which led into the reception’s highlight of the presentation of the IPLS Distinguished Alumni Award.

IPLS President, David Zuckerman, started off by introducing IPLS and the Alumni Award, eventually naming Mason Law Alumnus, Nate Kelley (’99) as the recipient of this year’s award. Judge Kelley is currently a Chief Judge of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Although he was not able to attend the reception, he relayed his appreciation and gratitude for the award as well as his warm wishes for current students.

IPLS would like to thank GMU Law’s Career, Academic, and Alumni Services and Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP for helping in organizing and hosting the reception and making the event a great success! IPLS would also like to thank the many students and alumni for coming out to the reception!

Copyright Panel

IPLS is hosting a Copyright Panel on

Monday, October 19

5:00-6:00 pm in Room 120. 

Our panelists include:

Nicolas Bernasconi (Mason alum)- Counsel at Discovery Communications

Rachel Fertig (Mason alum)- Ringer Honors Fellow at the U.S. Copyright Office

Natalie Madaj- Counsel at the National Music Publishers’ Association

Sandra Aistars- Director of Copyright Research & Policy and Senior Scholar at the Center for Protection of Intellectual Property

John Riley- Attorney-Advisor at the U.S. Copyright Office

.

All are welcome to sit in on a great opportunity to hear real life experiences of our panelists in the field in copyright law! Pizza will be provided.

Preparing for the Patent Bar

Preparing for the Patent Bar
Monday, October 5
5:00 pm in Room 120
 
The Intellectual Property Law Society welcomes John White, Academic Director of the Practising Law Institute (PLI)’s Patent Office Exam Course for a presentation on preparing for the Patent Bar.
 
Topics for discussion include:
  • The latest information on the Patent Bar
  • Who can take it
  • When you should take it
  • How it works, now that it’s on the computer and “on demand”
  • How the America Invents Act is impacting the Exam
  • Recommendations on when and how to study for this difficult Exam
Scholarships to PLI’s other IP programs will also be discussed.

Haynes and Boone Talk

Paul Dietze (a patent attorney) and Scott Benfield (a copyright and trademark attorney) will talk to students about their jobs at Haynes and Boone and share some of their stories. Haynes and Boone is an international law firm with a DC branch. This event will take place on Monday, September 28 from 5:00-6:00pm in RM 332. Come join us to learn more about both soft and hard IP experience in the firm context!

First General Meeting: Minutes

Hello Everyone!

Thank you for coming out to our first meeting today! We hope that you will keep coming back for all the great things we have planned this year. You can check out the events we have planned for this semester under the ‘Events’ tab on our web page.

In case you couldn’t make it, this is a brief overview of what went over in today’s meeting.

September 8, 2015: Meeting Minutes

–1L Outreach is important to us this year! If 1Ls do not have an IPLS mentor yet and would like one, please email David at dzuckerm@gmu.edu . Please include brief information about what your background is, as well as what kind of law you might be interested in.

-IPLS is working on an outline bank so please submit outlines and/or check back on TWEN to see if any have been uploaded for your class.

– Please sign up for IPLS on TWEN! It’s the best way to stay updated on new job opportunities, events, and other news that will keep you in the loop of what IPLS is doing.

-There are part-time opportunities to be a research assistant at the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property. If you are interested, please email David for more information again at: dzuckerm@gmu.edu

-We also have monthly happy hours to talk about opportunities, classes, or to just hang out and have fun. Our first one is tomorrow and we will meet in the atrium at 4:55 pm. Please feel free to leave early if you have other obligations such as class.

-There was a brief introduction to the Moot Court competitions, which IPLS members are involved in every year. The first is the Giles Rich Moot Court Competition which is only open to 2Ls and 3Ls and is focused on patent law. The second is the Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court Competition which is open to 1Ls, 2Ls, and 3Ls. This competition is focused on trademark law and is a great way to meet people and make important networking connections. For dates and more events, please keep checking our events tab on our web page and for emails from IPLS!

– Everyone present also introduced themselves and the meeting concluded with informal chit-chat among members.

 

Informational and First General Meeting

The Intellectual Property Law Society is hosting its informational meeting to kick off the semester on September 8, from 5:15 pm-6:00 pm in room 120. Please join us as we will be introducing our organization and going over the events we have planned for this year! If you don’t have an IPLS mentor, this is a great opportunity to sign up for one as well. Bring your friends, enjoy some refreshments, and come learn more about the society!