ABA Annual Meeting goes virtual
This year, the ABA Annual Meeting is going virtual, and will be held July 29 - August 4, 2020. The Section leadership will hold meetings during the Annual Meeting in a series of Zoom meetings. The Section Council and Officers will meet as will the operations boards including the CLE Board, Membership Board, Content Advisory Board, Magazine Editorial Board, Books Editorial Board and the Revenue Committee. Action groups will also be meeting.
The Section's first virtual networking event will also be held on Thursday, July 30th from 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm CST. Mark your calendars and watch for more information to come by e-mail.
At the ABA Annual Meeting the Section holds its annual Business Meeting with Elections. This year’s meeting will be held via Zoom as well, and will be on Friday, July 31, from 3:30-4:30 pm (Central time).
At the Business Meeting with Elections new officer and council members will be elected. Nominees are as listed below:
Nominees for 2020-2021 ABA year
Donna P. Suchy, Chair of the Section’s Nominating Committee, reports that the following candidates have been nominated for the 2020-2021 Association year:
Chair-Elect: Kim Jessum, Philadelphia, PA. Ms. Jessum is current Vice Chair of the Section. She served as the Section Financial Officer for four years. She served as Continuing Legal Education Officer and Chair of the Continuing Legal Education Board for three years. She served as the Chair of the Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference and Chair of the Teleconference Committee for two years each. She was Chair of Section’s the former Committee on Copyrights and the Internet. She also served for three years as Chair of the former Young Lawyers Committee and was a founder of the Young Lawyer Fellows program. Outside of the Section, she is currently a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Technology and Information Systems, ABA Annual Meeting Program Planning Committee, and Litigation Section Judicial Intern Opportunity Program National Co-chair and was previously a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Specialization, ABA Standing Committee on Technology and Information Systems, and ABA Standing Committee on Continuing Legal Education and liaison to the Standing Committee on Membership.
Vice Chair: Thad Chaloemtiarana, Chicago, IL. Mr. Chaloemtiarana currently serves on the Section Council. He served Membership Officer of the Section for two years, and as Vice Chair of the Membership Board for three years. He also served as Vice Chair of the Diversity Action Group for three years. He was Chair of the Trademarks and Unfair Competition Division for two years and Vice Chair of that Division for two years. He has been a member of the CLE Board, the Membership Board and the Revenue Committee. He currently serves as Co-Chair of the Young Lawyer Fellow Advisory Committee. He has chaired several committees in the Trademarks Division. He is the current Liaison to the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.
Secretary: Adriana Suringa Luedke, Minneapolis, MN. Ms. Luedke has served as Secretary for two years. Prior to this, she served on the Section Council for four years. She previously served as Section Secretary for three years. She has been the Chair of the Patents Division, and the Section Liaison to the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession. She has served as Chair of the former Division on Meetings and Resolutions. She has also been Chair of the Committee on Patent System Policy Planning, the Committee on Government Relations to Patents and the Young Lawyers Committee, and has served as Program Vice Chair for the Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference and Program Co-Chair of Section activities at the ABA Midyear Meeting.
Financial Officer: Rob Lytle, Redmond, WA. Mr. Lytle is currently the Financial Officer-Elect. According to the Section bylaws, he will automatically assume the position of Financial Officer for a two-year term in 2020-2021 and in 2021-2022, so technically this is not a nominated position or one that is up for election in 2020-2021. Mr. Lytle formerly served as a vice-chair of the Patents Division. He has served on the Books Editorial Board for three years. He was co-chair of the Trade Secrets and Interferences with Contracts Committee for two years.
Revenue Officer: Susan McGahan, Bedminster, NJ. Ms. McGahan is the current Revenue Officer. She previously served as Vice Chair of the Revenue Committee of the Section and as a member of the committee for five years. She served as Section Secretary for two years. She served as Membership Officer for four years and Chair of the Membership Board. She has also served as Chair of the former Division on Meetings and Resolutions and for three years as Financial Officer of the Section. She served a total of five years on the Section Council. Ms. McGahan has also chaired the former Division on Professional and Section Relations, and the former Division on Publications. Prior to that, she served as Chair of the Young Lawyers Committee and the Membership Committee. She served a three-year term as Trustee to the American Intellectual Property Law Education Foundation Board of Trustees.
Publications Officer: Steven E. Gillen, Cincinnati, OH. Mr. Gillen has served as the Publications Officer for two years. He has served as Chair of the Books Editorial Board for four years and as Vice Chair of that board prior to that. He is a current member of the Content Advisory Board. He served as Chair of the Copyrights and New Technologies Committee for two years and served as Chair and Vice Chair of the Copyright Litigation Committee.
Continuing Legal Education Officer: David Postolski, Summit, NJ. Mr. Postolski is the current Continuing Legal Education Officer. He served as a current member of the Section Council prior to that. He serves as a Vice Chair of the CLE Board, where he has been an active member for many years. He has served as Division Chair of the Professional Issues Division for two years, and Vice Chair of that Division for two years. He served as Chair of the Young Lawyers Action Group and Special Advisor to the International Associates Action Group. He has served on the Revenue Committee, the Membership Committee and the Nominating Committee. He was the Young Lawyers Division Liaison to the Section for two years, and Liaison to the National LGBT Bar Association for two years.
Membership Officer: Kevin Greenleaf, Lovettsville, VA. Mr. Greenleaf is the current Membership Officer. He has served five years on the Amicus Brief Committee. He served as Chair of the USPTO Post Grant and Inter Partes Practice Committee and as Vice Chair of that committee. He served as Chair of the Patent System Policy Planning Committee and as Vice Chair of that committee. He served on the Magazine Editorial Board for four years. He was Vice Chair of the IP Transactions and Licensing Committee for one year.
Section Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates:
(for a three-year term expiring in 2023)
Joseph M. Potenza, Washington, DC. Mr. Potenza is currently a Section Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates, with a term expiring in 2020. He has served as a Delegate since 2015. He served as Section Chair, Chair-Elect and Vice Chair prior to that. He is a past Publications Officer and former Chair of the Content Advisory Board. He served on the Section Council for four years, and as Section Secretary for three years. Mr. Potenza is a former member of the ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary and was a long-standing member of the ABA Standing Committee on Publishing Oversight and a Special Advisor. Previously, Mr. Potenza was Program Chair of the Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference and Co-Chair of the former Summer IPL Conference. He also served as Chair of the Litigation, Alternative Dispute Resolution and Related Issues Division, and the committees on Patent System Policy Planning, Public Information, Trial and Appellate Rules and Procedure, and Young Lawyers. Mr. Potenza is also a former Chair of the ABA Section of Science & Technology Law.
Council Members: (for a four-year term, ending in 2024)
James Bikoff, Washington, DC. Mr. Bikoff is current Chair of the Trademarks and Unfair Practices Division. Prior to this position, he served as Vice Chair of the Division for two years. He is currently serving a three-year term as the Section’s representative on the Intellectual Property Constituency of ICANN. In previous years he has chaired the Trademark Litigation Committee, and the Trademark Legislation Committee. He was a member of the Anti-Piracy Task Force.
Keisha Hylton-Rodic, Washington, DC. Ms. Hylton-Rodic is current Vice Chair of the USPTO Ex Parte Patent Practice and Policy Committee. She has served as Liaison to the ABA Section of Health Law for a number of years, as well as Liaison to the ABA Health Law Coordinating Group. She Chaired the USPTO Post-Grant and Interpartes Patent Practice Committee for two years and the Patents in the Chemical and Life Sciences Committee for two years. She served a three-year term as a Trustee on the Board of the American Intellectual Property Law Education Foundation. She has served as a member of the Diversity Action Group, the CLE Board and the Membership Board.
Rivka Monheit, Atlanta, GA. Ms. Monheit is Chair of the International Patent Laws Committee. She previously Chaired the Patent Legislation Committee for two years and served as Vice Chair of that Committee for two years. She is a member of the Standing International IP Task Force, and the Section 101 Task Force.
Richard Stark, New York, NY. Mr. Stark has served as Vice Chair of the Specialized IP Law Division for two years. He was Chair of the Antitrust Interface with IP Rights Committee for two years and served as Vice Chair of that committee prior to that. He is a member of the Section Revenue committee as well.
Council Member: (for a two-year term, expiring in 2022, to fill the vacancy of Thad Chaloemtiarana)
Dale Cendali, New York, NY. Ms. Cendali served a previous four-year term on the Section Council from 2012 to 2016. Prior to that she served as Chair of the Division on Related Legal Issues. She served as a Vice Chair of the Copyrights Division for two years. She was Chair of the Copyright Litigation Committee for two years prior to that.
Young Lawyer Council Member: (for a one-year term expiring in 2021)
Pervin Taleyarkhan, St. Joseph, MI. Ms. Taleyarkhan is Vice Chair of the Business and Trade Division of the Section. She has served as Vice Chair and Chair of the In-House IP Committee. She is a member of the Magazine Editorial Board, the Content Advisory Board, and the Membership Board. She is Liaison to the Association of Corporate Counsel. She is a Young Lawyer Fellow of the Section.
Section Chair: According to Section bylaws, June M. Besek, New York, NY, current Chair-Elect, automatically assumes the office of Chair for the 2020-2021 Association year. Ms. Besek currently serves as Section Chair-Elect and served as Vice Chair previous to that. She served on the Section Council from 2005-2009 and from 2011-2015. She is the current Liaison to the ALI Restatement of Law/Copyright Project. She serves as a Liaison to the World Intellectual Property Organization Standing Committee on Copyrights and Related Rights. She is a current member of the Content Advisory Board. She served previously as Division Chair of the Copyrights Division. She was chair of the Committee on Broadcasting, Sound Recordings and Performing Artists, Chair of the Committee on Minorities in the Profession, Chair of the Government Relations to Copyrights Committee, Chair of the Copyright Office Affairs Committee, Chair of the International Copyright Treaties and Laws Committee, and Chair of the Long-Range Planning Committee. She also served as Chair of the Copyright Law Reform Task Force
The Section’s Nominating Committee, appointed by Section Chair George Jordan, is composed of:
Donna P. Suchy
Cedar Rapids, IA
Scott F. Partridge
Houston, TX
Malaika Tyson
Chicago, IL
Anna Raimer
Houston, TX
Jan Jensen
Los Angeles, CA
Additional nominations for this new position or for any position were to be made by petition signed by not less than 100 members of the Section, listed by their ABA ID number. The 100 names must be representative of at least three states and must indicate that the individual has agreed to the nomination. The petition must be sent to the Chair and the Secretary of the Section and must be received by these individuals not less than four months before the elections held at the Annual Meeting. The Business Session with Elections will be held on Friday, July 31, 2020. Section members may join the Business Meeting with Elections on Zoom at: https://americanbar.zoom.us/j/92129985705?pwd=dW1Jd1NpOGgveFJ4ODNFcUtqTlV6UT09.
