Trademarks Commissioner Joins Scholars, Practitioners for April 25 IP Conference
Lynn Beresford, commissioner of trademarks at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), will be the keynote speaker for the Friday, April 25, program "Branding the Land: Trademarks, Geographic Indicators and the Advancement of Third World Development," at The John Marshall Law School, 315 S. Plymouth Ct., Chicago.
The 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. program will be an examination of intellectual property (IP) uses in the global digital environment. Panelists including practitioners, scholars and policy makers will explore the policies behind international trademark and geographic indications protection, practical applications, present challenges and future solutions.
Beresford will share her views as the luncheon speaker. She has been with USPTO since 1979. Today she leads the USPTO Trademark Examining Attorneys who make eligibility determinations and grant trademark registrations.
During her career, she has held a variety of positions. In 1995, she joined the Office of Legislation and International Affairs where her portfolio included trademarks, geographical indications and domain names. She chaired every meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization's Standing Committee on Trademarks, Industrial Designs and Geographical Indications from its inception in 1997 until late 2001.
The conference is broken into three specific topics.
The morning session, "Branding the Land from the Practitioner's Point of View," will be from 9:35 to 11 a.m. The panel will be moderated by Deborah Hirsch of The Thomas Cooley Law School in Michigan. Panelists are Beverly Berneman of Querrey & Harrow; Catherine Simmons-Gill of Catherine Simmons-Gill LLC; Robert Gurwin, senior counsel, Products and Technology Team, AOL, LLC; Linda A. Kuczma of Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.; Timothy Trainer, founder of Global Intellectual Property Strategy Center, PC; Uli Widmaier of Pattishall, McAuliffe, Newbury, Hilliard & Geraldson; and Justin Young of Dineff Trademark Law Limited.
The early afternoon session "Fame, Tradition and Development" from 1:30 to 3 p.m. will have John Marshall Professor Maureen Collins moderating a panel featuring Professors John Cross and Lars S. Smith of the University of Louisville, Louis D. Brandeis School of Law; Professor Deven Desai, Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego; Professor Michael Landau of Georgia State University College of Law; and Professor Peter K. Yu of Drake University Law School.
The final panel, "Geography and Beyond," will be presented from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m. Moderator Hirsch will lead panelists Professor Olufunmilayo B. Arewa of Northwestern University School of Law; Professor Irene Calboli of Marquette University Law School; Professor Doris Estelle Long of The John Marshall Law School; Professor Sean A. Pager of the University of Richmond School of Law; and Professor Katya Weckstrom of the University of Turku Faculty of Law, Finland.
There is no charge for this program but reservations are required. Lunch is included and a reception will be given at the end of the program. Registrations are being accepted on-line at www.jmls.edu/events/042508IP.asp before April 25.
This program is offered for 5.5 CLE credit hours and was organized by Professor Doris Long.
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Doing Business in Asian Marketplace Discussed at John Marshall
Dorothy In-Lan Wang Li (center), co-executive director of the Asian Alliance Program at John Marshall, welcomed guest speaker William A. Spence (left), senior counsel at Freeborn & Peters LLP, to the law school for the Kenneth Moy Lecture on Doing Business in the Asian Marketplace. The lecture is presented by the Center for International Business and Trade Law, and co-sponsored by John Marshall's International Law Society and Corporate Law Society and the Chicago Bar Association Committee on International and Foreign Law. Spence presented, "Is China in Your Future? What Law Students Need to Know About Doing Business in China." Also welcoming Spence was Ret. DuPage County Judge Kenneth Moy (J.D. '61) (right), whose generous donation funded the lecture series.
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Fair Housing Center and Clinic
The John Marshall Law School Fair Housing Legal Support Center and Clinic participated in many activities marking the 40th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act. April is Fair Housing Month and April 2008 also marks the 40th Anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, which was passed one week after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. The John Marshall Law School Fair Housing Legal Support Center and Clinic have been very active in celebrating this anniversary.
The month started out with Allison Bethel, former head of the Civil Rights Division of the Florida Attorney General's Office coming on board at the Clinic as the new Clinical Director. She joined Damian Ortiz and James Whiteside as full-time Clinical Professors. Professor F. Willis Caruso, who is retiring from that position, will begin teaching on a full-time basis at the law school.
On April 3, the month's activities commenced with students from the Clinic organizing and presenting the Third Annual Fair Housing Student Symposium at The John Marshall Law School. Students described the law and how it is applied and enforced in the context of actual cases being handled at the Clinic. One hour of CLE credit was given to those attorneys who attended. On Friday, April 4, the clinical students organized a silent auction and fund raiser to support fair housing activities at the Clinic. The event was very successful and enjoyable.
On April 8 _ 10, Professors Seng, Bethel, and Ortiz attended the National Fair Housing Policy Conference sponsored by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in Atlanta, Georgia. Professor Seng made a workshop presentation on recent litigation issues that have arisen in the courts on "Design and Construction Cases."
On April 11, Professor Caruso spoke on "Current Issues in Fair Housing" at the 29th Annual Fair Housing Conference for the Fair Housing Association of Connecticut in Cromwell, Connecticut. And on April 18, Professor Seng spoke at the Paul Robeson Conference at Columbia University School of Law in New York on "Why has Minority Homeownership Lagged Behind White Homeownership?"
Also, on April 11, Professor Ortiz and the clinical students were interviewed on CNN about progress against racial discrimination in housing in the past forty years. The interview was broadcast nationally. Professor Seng was interviewed for Chicago Public Radio from Atlanta and asked about the history of the Fair Housing Act and current fair housing enforcement efforts.
Center personnel are participating in two conferences in Michigan. On April 18, Professor Caruso will speak on "The Pursuit of Fair Housing _ A Community Wide Responsibility," at the Fair Housing Center of Southwest Michigan in Kalamazoo. On April 30, Professor Seng will speak on "Seniors at Risk: Housing Discrimination Limits Options for Senior Citizens," at the 21st annual fair housing program at the Fair Housing Center of West Michigan in Grand Rapids.
The Center will similarly participate in a number of programs in the Chicago metropolitan area. On April 19, Professor Ortiz, Predatory Lending Project Assistant Janet Betz, and students from the Fair Housing Clinic participated in the Camino A Su Casa Housing Fair at the Westside Technical Institute sponsored by Spanish Coalition for Housing and the City of Chicago Department of Housing. On April 23, Professor Caruso will conduct several mock trials for the Mainstreet Organization of Realtors in Glen Ellyn. This program will celebrate the National Association of Realtors 100th Anniversary as well as the 40th Anniversary of the Fair Housing Act. On May 1, Professor Seng will speak at the Housing Action 2008 Convention in Naperville on senior housing and the discrimination problems faced by seniors. The session will highlight the recent study on senior housing completed by the Center for the Retirement Research Foundation.
The climax of John Marshall's commemoration of the Fair Housing Act's 40th Anniversary will be on September 5 and 6 when the Center will present its annual Fair Housing Conference. The topic of that conference will be "The Integration Debate: Competing Futures for American Cities." Scholars from around the country will participate in the discussion and papers from the conference will be published in a book that will be used to spur debate and progressive policy initiatives on these issues throughout the country. Gregory D. Squires, Professor of Sociology, and Public Policy and Public Administration at George Washington University, and Chester Hartman, the Director of Research for the Washington, DC-based Poverty & Race Research Action Council, are assisting in organizing the conference and editing the book.
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Law Review Presents Colloquium
Third-year student Amber Elias (left), executive student publications editor for The John Marshall Law Review, and Associate Dean and Professor Kathryn Kennedy (right), faculty advisor to the law review, welcome (from second from left) third-year student Nancee Barth, editor-in-chief of the law review; John Marshall Professor Susan Brody; and Sergeant Kathleen Argentino, Domestic Violence Operations coordinator of the Chicago Police Department, as panelists of the colloquium, "I'd Grab at Anything. And I'd Forget. Domestic Violence Victim Testimony After Davis v. Washington," a discussion of the forthcoming publication by Barth.
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Herzog Competition Winners Announced
Professor Ardath Hamann (standing, left), director of the John Marshall Moot Court Honors Program, and third-year-student Zack Murray (standing, right), chief justice of the John Marshall Moot Court Honors Board, congratulate the winners of the 2008 Dean Fred F. Herzog Moot Court Competition. Semifinalists were (seated, from left) Philip S. Murante and Clint M. Crosier. Murante was also awarded Best Brief and Crosier Best Oralist. The first place winner was Michael D. Karson (standing, center).
Pictured separately is second place winner Andrea Young.
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Faculty Activity and Publications
Professor Rogelio Lasso
Activities
He recently gave a paper entitled "Best Practices for Preparing Well-rounded Lawyers" at the Southeast/Southwest People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference at North Carolina Central University School of Law, as part of a panel on the `Best Practices for Legal Education."
Professor Colin Miller
Activities
He was quoted by the Associated Press on Saturday, April 12, on lawyer ethics and state laws that allow lawyers to break client confidences. The story has appeared in papers across the United States, including USA Today, the DeKalb County Daily Chronicle, the Enquirer-Herald in South Carolina, The Oakland Press, the Seattle Times, KASA-TV in Albuquerque, FOXnews.com, the International Herald Tribune and in two publications in South Africa.
He did a radio interview on April 14 for FOX Radio in Seattle on the topic of attorney-client privilege.
Publications
His article, "Even Better than the Real Thing: How Courts Have Been Anything But Liberal in Finding Genuine Questions Raised as to the Authenticity of Originals Under Rule 1003," was accepted for publication in the Maryland Law Review.
Professor Steven Schwinn
Publications
His article "Faces of Open Courts and the Civil Right to Counsel," published by the University of Baltimore Law Review, in its Fall 2007 edition, has been listed in the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) "Top Ten" downloads on state constitutional law issues.
His article, "Welfare Reform in a Global Economy," will appear in the Journal of Gender, Race & Justice, 2008 edition, published by the University of Iowa College of Law.
Professor Mark E. Wojcik
Activities
He made a presentation on the proposed Illinois Civil Union Act to the Chicago Bar Association's Domestic Relations Law Committee on April 9, 2008. The committee voted unanimously to support the concept of Civil Unions for Illinois. Professor Wojcik had also made a presentation to the Board of Managers of the Chicago Bar Association, which voted to support state legislation presently pending in the Illinois General Assembly that would create civil unions for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples in Illinois.
Professor Corey Yung
Activities
He was interviewed by the Chicago Tribune and his comments were published in the on-line and print editions April 14 regarding the case Louisiana v. Kennedy that was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on April 16. He was interviewed April 11 by U.S.News & World Report on the topic.
Publications
His article, "Unusual Alliance Over Death Penalty Case," a review of the case Louisiana v. Kennedy that was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court on April 16, was published in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin on Friday, April 11.
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Student Activities
April 21
Every spring semester the Women's Law Caucus asks for items for graduates to use for their prom evening. This is called the "Glass Slipper Project". Donations of dresses, jewelry, shoes, make-up or handbags are being collected in the student lounge.
The Native American and Indigenous Law Students Association will be selling candy in the student lounge all week.
The Women's Law Caucus will meet at 1:00 in room 216.
April 22
The annual Women's Law Caucus brunch will be held at noon in room 3 east.
April 25
The annual spring reunion of the Black Law Students Association will be held from 5 to 9 pm in the student lounge.
The Board of Visitors will be at our school at 11:20 in room 216. This is a distinguished group of business people and scholars that are associated with our school. They would like to meet and talk to you concerning your needs and thoughts for our school. Please make every effort to spend a few minutes of your time with them. Refreshments will be served.
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