Summary
- Newsletter regarding the latest events articles and reports within the IPL section
- Awards and member recognition
- Publicized events
The ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law and the ABA Forum on Entertainment & Sports Law present Bright Lights, Big Opportunities: Best Bets in IP, Sports, and Entertainment Law— an unparalleled conference experience at Resorts World Las Vegas this fall. The conference will provide legal insights for emerging technologies and new business with dedicated CLE tracks in sports, intellectual property (IP), and entertainment law.
What to Expect:
Why Attend?
Don’t miss this unique conference experience. Register today!
We gratefully acknowledge our Sponsors:
Sponsorship opportunities are still available. For sponsorship details, please contact [email protected] by October 1.
April 30-May 2, 2025
Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel
Arlington, VA
Get ready for an enriching experience at IPLSpring! Dive into the latest updates in intellectual property law with two informative days of CLE programming.
But that’s not all! Alongside an impressive lineup of educational sessions, you’ll enjoy engaging luncheons with insightful guest speakers and a line-up of social networking events designed to connect you with industry leaders and peers.
Don’t miss out! Mark your calendars for April 30-May 2, 2025, and stay tuned to the Section website for all the exciting details as they unfold.
Sponsorship Opportunities available!
Sponsors are invited to participate in the IPLSPRING conference. This is a unique opportunity to enhance your brand’s visibility and connect with leaders in the IP law field. By signing up, your brand will be featured in IPLSPRING marketing and publicity efforts, ensuring you reach a broad and engaged audience. Engage with top professionals, showcase your innovations, and create lasting partnerships. Secure your sponsorship today and be part of an event that promises to be impactful and memorable. For more information, contact Christopher Meacham, at [email protected].
The ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law is happy to once again co-sponsor the IP CLE Conference, January 8-11, 2025 at the Grand Hyatt, Vail, Colorado. Hear from distinguished intellectual property experts including regulators, judges, and in-house counsel in the morning and late afternoon, and enjoy Vail and the world-class slopes during the day.
Expert presenters will engage in lively discussions about the hottest topics in IP law. In addition, two hours of programming for ethics credit will be offered. Topics will cover the range of IP law, including copyrights, trademarks, patents, AI, in-house perspectives, antitrust and IP, and others.
Participants can earn MCLE credit, make connections, and broaden their knowledge. Visit the IP CLE website for program and registration information, and to register.
Section Chair-Elect Rob Lytle is seeking recommendations for appointments to committee and division leadership positions, and liaison positions for the 2025-26 Association year. Section members are invited to nominate themselves or a colleague within the Section to join the Section’s leadership ranks. The work of the Section—and, thus, much of the value of Section membership—comes from volunteering to serve as a member or a leader of one of the Section’s committees or boards, or as a liaison to another entity within the ABA or other external organization.
The Section brings together in a single entity an influential collection of intellectual property lawyers in all areas of IP practice. Participation in a leadership position will enable you to contribute to the evolution of IP law, to develop lasting relationships with others in the field that can lead to professional engagements, and to gain practice knowledge and insights that are unavailable elsewhere.
To volunteer or make a recommendation for a leadership position, complete the online recommendation form.
On October 11, the ABA Copyrights & Emerging Technology Committee held a timely discussion on Digital Replicas and AI Policy. The committee was honored to gain insights from Andrew Coffman, Chair of the ABA Deep Fakes Task Force; Chris Katopis, ABA Intellectual Property Legislative Consultant; and Kira Alvarez, ABA Council Member, in a conversation led by Priya Nair, Vice Chair of the ABA Copyright and Emerging Technologies Committee. The discussion featured an overview of digital replicas, legislative proposals, and an examination of current government efforts to approach unauthorized digital replicas. In case you missed it, here are some high-level takeaways:
You can access the full recording here.
Looking ahead, the ABA Copyrights & Emerging Technology Committee would like to invite you to the upcoming ABA Copyrights & Emerging Technology Committee session to discuss the U.S. Copyright Office's Ninth Triennial Rulemaking. The session is on November 8 at 4pm EST/1pm PST. Please note that the ABA Copyrights & Emerging Technology Committee meetings occur on the second Friday of each month at 4pm EST/1pm PST.
Zoom link
Meeting ID: 954 9925 8933
Passcode: 473282
Join us for an exciting and interesting discussion!
On October 6, the Section sent a letter to the USPTO to provide comments on the “2024 Guidance Update on Patent Subject Matter Eligibility, Including on Artificial Intelligence” (“Guidance Update”) issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In the letter the Section noted that it appreciated the inclusion of additional examples intended to assist USPTO examiners in applying the Subject Matter Eligibility (SME) guidance to AI inventions during patent examination. The Section believes that increased examination predictability can best be achieved by providing additional, specific examples to the USPTO examiners. Additionally, the Section noted that it was important that the examples be consistent with Supreme Court and Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit precedent, such as the Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Contour IP Holding LLC v. GoPro, Inc, 113 F.4th 1373 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 9, 2024). In GoPro, the Federal Circuit reversed the district court’s holding that a claim of U.S. Patent 8,890,954 is not patent eligible. The claim in GoPro is directed to a camera and was construed to require a “processor ... configured to record low-and high-quality data streams in parallel, followed by the low-quality data stream's wireless transfer to a remote device.” GoPro at 1379 (emphasis added).
In reversing the district court, the Federal Circuit reasoned that, because the claim requires generating the data streams “in parallel,” rather than, for example, “in sequence,” the claim requires a “specific, technological means ... that in turn provide a technological improvement.” The court noted that “[i]mportantly, .... the claims do not cover other ways that a camera processor might generate multiple video streams.” GoPro at 1379.
In light of this precedential opinion that issued after the USPTO issued its Guidance Update, the Section believes it would be helpful to the USPTO examiners for the USPTO to consider whether the Guidance Update would benefit from further updating in view of GoPro, particularly the analysis of claim 2 of Example 47 and claim 1 of Example 48.
The Section noted that the USPTO should reevaluate the SME of claim 2 and claim 1 of Examples 47 and 48, respectively, in light of GoPro. Visit the advocacy page to read the complete letter.
All Section members are encouraged to review the committees and select and join those on which they wish to serve, and which are of interest to them. If you are already a member of one of the existing committees, you are carried over as a member in the new association year.
Take advantage of an opportunity to participate in developing Section policy and sign up as a voting member of your committee. Voting members will be asked to study the policy issues of the committee and vote on the reports in a timely and responsive manner. Any lawyer member of a committee is welcome to sign up to be a voting member of the committee.
Committee members who choose not to enroll as a voting member can still participate in all other committee activities and receive any committee updates and information.
Details of Committee Voting Membership:
Please remember to notify the ABA if your email address changes by logging in to your myABA page or calling the ABA Member Service Center at (800) 285-2221.
Access leadership opportunities and amplify your voice by joining and becoming involved in one of the ABA-IPL Section Action Groups. Engage with your peers in one or more Action Groups for immediate networking and leadership opportunities.
Section Action Groups include:
The Judicial Intern Opportunity Program (JIOP) is a summer internship program open to all first- and second-year underrepresented law students. Selected students intern for six weeks or more during the summer with a participating state or federal judge. The program makes available a $2,000 award to each selected student. Students can also elect law school credit.
We begin accepting Summer 2025 applications for all students on November 4, 2024. The deadline for applying is January 10, 2025. Last year, we offered internships to 171 law students representing 68 different law schools in locations throughout the country. Our goal is to place 160 students during Summer 2025.
Please pass program information on to your interested students, including a program description and frequently asked questions. To learn more about the program, please see the website at ambar.org/jiop. Links to the application will be available on November 4. Applications are only accepted electronically through the JIOP website. Contact JIOP Program Director Gail Howard with questions.
Your donation to the Judicial Internship Opportunity Program (JIOP) helps ensure that funding is available for students who are members of racial and ethnic groups, and others that are traditionally underrepresented in the profession, including students with disabilities, students who are economically disadvantaged, students who identify as LGBT, women, and veterans.
Last year, more than 770 students applied to the program. JIOP placed 186 students with 139 judges. Students placed represented 79 different law schools. The JIOP IP program continues to grow with 28 judges requesting students with background or interest in intellectual property law. 130 of the 770 applicants showed interest with 58 of those students attaching additional background and statements supporting their experience. We placed a total of 32 IP students.
All ABA-IPL Section members are encouraged to show their support and donate to the Judicial Internship Opportunity Program.
ABA-IPL Section members are encouraged to donate to the Foundation for Advancement of Diversity in IP Law (“the Foundation”, or “FADIPL”) to help support its mission.
The Foundation’s mission is to offer career-preparation, career-readiness, and career-advancement support to individuals who identify as members of racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in intellectual property law profession in the United States.
The Foundation’s Programs work toward:
Individuals interested in donating can visit the FADIPL support page.
We welcome your feedback on topics you would like to see covered in E-News. Please email Mike Winkler at [email protected] with your suggestions.
When your firm or organization chooses to join the American Bar Association, we provide resources for making membership in the ABA easier.
Over 2,000 firms and organizations have already joined the program to enjoy many benefits:
For further information and to enroll your firm or company in the full-firm membership program, check out the special enrollment form.
Put your ABA Membership to work by displaying the new ABA Member Logo to signify your commitment to excellence in the practice of law.
As an ABA Member in good standing, you are encouraged to use this distinguished mark in professional activities to set yourself apart from non-member practitioners in the marketplace.
The ABA Member Logo may appear on:
Start Using the New ABA Member Logo Today!
You may be missing out on important e-mailings from both the ABA and the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law. Please be sure your email address is on file and up-to-date!
By phone: ABA Member Services at 1.800.285.2221 between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., CST
By USPS: ABA Membership Services, 321 North Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60654-7598
By e-mail: [email protected]. or go to ABA "contact us" link.
Online: (1) Go to the ABA homepage, (2) Login, (3) Locate MyABA link (top left of the page), (4) EDIT within the profile module, and (5) update email address .