What an exciting time to be practicing intellectual property law in Chicago!

The U.S. Supreme Court and several Circuit Appellate Courts continue to hear and decide cases involving substantive intellectual property law—cases which directly impact our practice.  IPLAC is playing a vital role in advocating for our membership by filing amicus briefs in each of these cases.  Already this year, our Litigation: Amicus Committee (Co-chairs Peg Duncan and Bob Resis) has filed amicus briefs with the Supreme Court in WesternGeco, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and Helsinn Healthcare, as well as with the Federal Circuit in NantKwest Inc. and In re: Intelligent Medical Objects.  Copies of these and other amicus briefs are available to download from our website at www.iplac.org.

Over the summer at the annual committee chair planning meeting, we charted out the 2018-2019 programming year.  We are excited to report that several committees have already held successful events, including: La Vie En Rosé Annual Rooftop Rosé Tasting hosted by the Younger Members Committee (Co-chairs Dunstan Barnes, Andrew Wood, and Justin DeAngelis); Trivia Night hosted by the Diversity and Inclusion Committee (Co-chairs Atanu Das and Everado Vergara); and The Blended Bubbly Brunch jointly hosted by the Women in IP Committee (Co-chairs Libby O’Neil and RiKaleigh Johnson) and ChiWIP.  Our committees actively demonstrate IPLAC’s strong commitment to meaningful, progressive programming.

Looking ahead, I hope you will join your fellow IPLAC members and fulfill your pledge to spend a few hours supporting IPLAC this year at one or more of our great events this Fall, including the annual Field Day at Harborside International Golf Course (Co-chairs Matthew Hertko and Paul Henkelmann), three networking events hosted by the Paralegal Committee (Co-chairs Cindi Schermerhorn, Abby Lenz, and Louise Tennis), and the Trade Secret & Unfair Competition Committee (Co-chairs Sherry Rollo and Mark Halligan).  Please visit IPLAC event calendar at www.iplac.org for more details.

November 9, 2018 was our annual IP Symposium and 124^th Annual Judges’ Dinner at the Standard Club.  The Symposium featured preeminent speakers including: Federal Circuit Judges Sharon Prost, Raymond Chen, and Richard Linn; District Court Judges Rubin Castillo, Edmond Chang, Thomas Durkin, Virginia Kendall, Matthew Kennelly, and John Tharp Jr., Magistrate Judge Sidney Schenkier, and representatives of the Midwest USPTO and Copyright Office.  At the Judges’ Dinner, Judge Linn presented the IPLAC Distinguished Judicial Service Award to Chief Judge Prost. Both events were wonderful and well attended. Much was enjoyed, and learned. Our Symposium Committee (Co-chairs Casey Mangan, Peter Prommer, Jared Hedman, Serena Pruitt, and Alisa Simmons) and Dinner Committee (Co-chairs Janet Pioli and Alisa Simmons) worked diligently to plan these special, one-of-a-kind events, and we thank them very much!

Warmest wishes,
Adam Kelly
134^th President