Changing of the Guard

From the Chair
E. Anthony Figg
Section Chair, 2005-2006

I am honored to serve as the Chair of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law during the 2005-2006 ABA year. Having been an active participant in the Section for more than 20 years, I am committed to making this outstanding organization even better.

The Section is well positioned for an exciting and productive year. For this we owe a large debt of gratitude to my predecessor, Bill LaFuze. Bill had many challenges during his year as Chair, not the least of which was the fast-moving and controversial patent law reform activities. The energy and skill that he applied to these challenges will be a hard act for me to follow.

I am fortunate to be surrounded by an outstanding leadership team. We have an engaged and energetic Council and group of Officers. I am especially fortunate to have Susan Barbieri Montgomery, Chair-Elect, and Pamela Banner Krupka, Vice-Chair, as key members of the leadership team. The Section was long overdue in having a woman on the ladder to become Chair, and I am privileged to serve with these two outstanding lawyers.

There will be many challenges over the course of the upcoming year, including many that cannot be predicted now. Some of the current goals are briefly discussed here:

Section Organization

In the fall of 2003, the Section leadership held a two-day strategic planning conference in Chicago. Many creative ideas came out of that meeting. Then-Chair Bob Sacoff asked me to head a task force to develop a plan for implementing these ideas. The Long-Range Planning Task Force worked for many months to come up with a plan for implementing changes identified during the Strategic Planning Conference. This plan was approved by the Section Council last year. Many of its features have already been implemented and many others will come into effect this year. Some of the highlights are:

Replace the Section’s Midwinter Meeting with a Fall Leadership Meeting to be held in November. The goal is to bring Committee and Division Chairs together with Officers and Council early in the ABA year. It is hoped that this new approach will allow committees and divisions to set their agendas and to begin substantive committee work earlier than they have in the past.

Midwinter Committee Reports and draft resolutions will be considered at a Council meeting to be held in conjunction with the ABA Midyear Meeting. The Section has not had a formal presence at the Midyear Meeting in the past. By doing so, we hope to improve the synergies with other ABA sections and enhance the visibility of our Section in the Association. In 2007, the Section will consolidate its annual Summer IPL Conference with the ABA Annual Meeting.

thereby reducing the overall number of committees and divisions. Some new committees have been formed. For example, each of Divisions I (Patents), II (Trademarks), and III (Copyrights) now has a litigation committee to address issues unique to the subject matter. To join a committee, go to www.abanet.org/intelprop/
committees.html.

As part our improvement to meetings and CLE programs, we intend to provide greater opportunities for committees to meet and to organize programs for the general membership.

Specific action plans for enhancing diversity in the Section, its committees and its leadership have been approved by Council. Each of the Section’s Officers and Council members, along with a special committee on diversity, have been charged with responsibility for seeing that this action plan is implemented.

Legislative Initiatives

The Section has been very busy over the past year in providing meaningful input to the important patent law reform efforts in Congress. Section leaders, together with our legislative consultant, Hayden Gregory, have participated in several meetings and hearings with Congressional committees and staffers. The Section has also been actively involved with a trade-group coalition in an effort to develop consensus positions on patent law reform issues. The Section’s Patent Law Reform Task Force, chaired by Don Martens, has spearheaded Section positions and resolutions, all of which can be found in a “Section White Paper: Agenda for 21st Century Patent Reform,” at www.abanet.org/intelprop/home/
PatentReformWP.pdf.

In addition to patent law reform, the Section is in the process of formulating its position on H.R. 683, relating to trademark dilution legislation. It is expected that this bill will be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and a task force, headed by Jeff Samuels, is considering proposed changes to the bill.

Committee Membership

The most important and effective way for members to become active in the Section is to join and become active participants in Section committees. Committee participation allows you to stay abreast of important issues of the day and it also provides a means by which you can influence Section and ABA policies. We are reconstituting all committees again this year, so even if you were a member of a committee last year, you must sign up again this year. Please note that a committee that you joined last year may no longer exist, and that a number of new committees have been formed.

Joining a committee is easy. Go to the section website, at www.abanet.org/
intelprop/committees.html for a complete listing of committees. Follow the simple instructions to sign up for the committee of your choice. Please note that we have eliminated “Information Only” members. If you sign up for a committee, you will be expected to participate in committee activities and to vote on committee reports and resolutions. You will find it to be an interesting and rewarding experience.

I thank each of you for the opportunity to serve as your Chair. I look forward to working with you and to a productive and exciting year.