Intellectual Property Summit Report

I attended a mid-winter seminar for intellectual property (IP) attorneys in Utah. The event was held at the Salt Lake City Marriott. I arrived a little early for the 8 am breakfast featuring a speaker on women in the legal profession. Before going to breakfast I staked out my claim to a key piece of property - - a back row seat on the aisle. I left a binder of seminar materials on the table in front of the seat, and I placed an envelope bearing my name on top of the notebook. I came back from breakfast and from doing some work in the hotel lobby. I was temporarily taken aback when I observed there was a competing claim to my seat! My notebook was still there, the envelope was now missing, and a heavy red sweater with a distinctive design was draped over the back of the chair. I had clearly been there first, but that sweater was an impressive marker. Was I up to the challenge? I was! I stood my ground, waiting for the interloper to appear. Some colleagues joined me, however, and I abandoned my claim to the back row seat to join them on another row. The issue was now moot. Throughout the day numerous presentations were given by some very sharp people. There was a panel that discussed "war stories." Not all of them were good storytellers, but two were. My favorite was from an attorney was was arguing a patent case before the Federal Circuit Court in Washington, D.C. A judge challenged him, asking how his client's patent could possibly be infringed by the defendant's product. The attorney explained the patent, and described the nature of the infringement. The judge replied: "Those are just lawyer arguments!" Now how does a lawyer respond to that? Perhaps the most impressive presenter of the day was a woman from a distant city, a young partner who spoke with great eloquence and credibility. During part of the presentation, in which she expressed a clever and aggressive approach to a thorny scenario, one of my colleagues enthusiastically exlaimed that she "rocks!" In a subsequent presentation a panel of four federal judges shared their views on patent cases, and took questions. From the back a woman rose to ask a question - - our earlier presenter was still in attendance. It occurred to me that she appeared to be seated in the back row, toward the aisle. At the conclusion of the meetings, I observed her walking down the hall, a now-familiar red sweater draped over her arm. NOTE: This entry relates to experiences from February 24, but was entered on March 15, 2006.