WASHINGTON, May 25, 2021 — A former chief judge of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board, a former register of copyrights at the U.S. Copyright Office and a former assistant commissioner for trademarks at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office have been selected to receive Mark T. Banner Awards, presented annually by the American Bar Association Section of Intellectual Property Law.
The award, which recognizes exemplary individuals and groups who have contributed to intellectual property law and/or practice, will be presented on June 10 during the 2021 Mark T. Banner Award Virtual Program from 4-5 p.m. EDT.
This year’s honorees are:
Philip G. Hampton II, senior partner and chief diversity & inclusion officer in the Washington, D.C., office of Polsinelli PC, and former assistant commissioner for trademarks at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.
James D. Smith, chief IP counsel at Ecolab Inc., in St. Paul, Minnesota, and former first chief judge of the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
Karyn A. Temple, senior executive vice president and global general counsel of the Motion Picture Association, and former register of copyrights at the U.S. Copyright Office.
All Mark T. Banner honorees have expressed passion and enthusiasm for, and advanced the practice, profession and/or substance of, intellectual property law through extraordinary contributions to teaching, scholarship, innovation, legislation, advocacy, bar, or other association activities, or to the judiciary.
Keynote speaker for the event will be Bismarck Myrick, director of the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity at the USPTO since 2008. Myrick, a former U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Liberia and Lesotho, previously worked as an appellate review attorney in the Office of Federal Operations at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and was a trial attorney for the Baltimore City Department of Social Services.
The program will include a special presentation of the Foundation for Advancement of Diversity in IP Law, to discuss the foundation’s good works and feature two Sidney B. Williams scholarship recipients.
This event is open to members of the press. For media registration, contact Robert Robinson at [email protected].
The ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law (ABA-IPL) provides the highest quality information, analyses and practice tools for intellectual property lawyers. ABA-IPL serves as the thoughtful source of information and commentary for policymakers as they consider legislation affecting the law and regulations in intellectual property matters. The section is respected and known as the premier resource for knowledge in this important and complex area of law.
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