DePaul University College of Law

Student News

Student, Stacy Streur, Gets Published

After originally writing a piece for her Patent Law Seminar class, Ms. Stacy Streur will be recognized and published in the Northwestern Technology and Intellectual Property Journal.

Her article entitled, Three Years After eBay (2009) What do Patent Holders Need to Prove to Get an Injunction? What is the Significance of Competition Between the Parties?, will appear in the Fall 2009 Issue.

Posted on September 25, 2009

Recent Graduates Get Published

A recent DePaul graduate, Michelle Ethier, has had a law review article accepted for publication. Her article, "Permissible Product Hopping: Why A Per Se Legal Rule Barring Antitrust Liability Is Necessary To Protect Future Innovation In The Pharmaceutical Industry", will be published in the Akron Intellectual Property Journal (Fall 2009). This article was written for her senior writing seminar Antitrust and Intellectual Property taught by Professor Devlin when he was visiting here last fall.

In addition, graduate Ling Ji's (IP LLM ’09) article, "The Two Zodiacs: Possible Methods for Returning Lost Relics to China", was published in 14:2 Art, Antiquity and Law 167 (2009).

Also, Melanie Greer's (’09) article, "Deaccessioning: A Necessary Evil?," has won second place in the annual student writing competition of the Lawyers' Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation and will be published in the 2010 Yearbook of Cultural Property Law.

Posted on September 1, 2009

Moot Court Winners

We are delighted to announce that the team of Brian Gause and Xavier Diokno won the best team oralist award at the Giles Sutherland Rich National (Patent) Moot Court Midwest Regional Competition. Brian and Xavier also made it to the semi-final round before being eliminated. Twenty-six teams competed.

TIP Clinic - Fall 2009

If you are interested in registering for this clinic for the Fall, 2009 Semester you must read the following description and complete and return the application and other required materials to Professor Bressler by 4:00 p.m. on April 13, 2009.

For the description and application, please click here.

Scholarship to Attend Patent Conference

Law Seminars International is presenting an important and interesting Patent Claim Construction Seminar on Friday, Feb. 13rd at The Gleacher Center. They are offering to extend a scholarship for two or three students to attend.

The program is co-chaired by Meredith Addy of Brinks Hofer Gilson & Leone and Edward Manzo of Cook Alex.

For more information, please click here.

If you are interested in the scholarship please email Vadim Shifrin as soon as possible. We hope you are able to take advantage of these scholarships to attend this very high level program.

TIP Clinic

For all 3rd year full time, 4th year part time and LL.M. students:

If you are interested in registering for the Technology/Intellectual Property Clinic (TIP Clinic®), please click here for Program Description and Application. Professor Bressler will accept applications and the accompanying documentation (resume and transcript) until 4:00 p.m. November 13, 2008.

Posted on November 10, 2008

Patent Law Moot Court

In the Spring 2009 semester, a course will be offered in Patent Law Moot Court. The course will be three graded credits and will be taught in the Spring by Professor Bressler. Students accepted into this course will participate in the Giles Sutherland Rich Memorial Moot Court Competition.

To be considered for this course, a student must have completed both LARC III and the Patent Law Course and obtain the approval of Professor Bressler. Interested students should review the following syllabus and provide a resume, transcript and writing sample to Professor Bressler no later than November 8, 2008. The scheduled time of the course will be tailored to fit the schedules of the chosen students and the professor.

To view the Syllabus, click here.

Updated on October 21, 2008

Scandaglia & Ryan Intellectual Property Legal Writing Award

The DePaul University College of Law Center for Intellectual Property Law and Information Technology (CIPLIT) will present the Scandaglia & Ryan Intellectual Property Legal Writing Award to the leading student participating in DePaul’s First-Year Intellectual Property Legal Writing Program. The award is presented to the student who receives the highest grade in the first-year program.

Ms. Emily Monteith will receive the 2008 Scandaglia & Ryan Intellectual Property Legal Writing Award at the CIPLIT celebration on Thursday, November 13, 2008.

Scandaglia & Ryan founded and has been funding the Scandaglia & Ryan IP Legal Writing Award since its inception in 2002. Past recipients include Justin L. Piper, Jonathan Schildt, Nicholas J. Angelocci, Jamey A. Orchik, Lee James, Jeremy Bridge and Hillary A. Mann

View the press release by clicking here.

Microsoft Women and Minority Law Student IP Summit

The fourth annual Microsoft Women and Minority Law Student IP Summit to be held at the Westin Chicago River North on October 6, 2008, 4:00 - 8:30 p.m.

The IP Diversity Summit is an opportunity for women, minority and GLBT law students to learn about different career paths in intellectual property law, while networking with attorneys from major companies across various industries and law firms.

Participating companies and law firms confirmed to date include Microsoft, Wal-Mart, Accenture, Motorola, Citrix, Square Enix, Winston & Strawn, Covington & Burling, K&L Gates, Davis Wright Tremaine, Adorno & Yoss, Klarquist Sparkman, and Marshall Gerstein & Borun.

Space is limited and the registration deadline has been extended to this Friday, October 3rd. The IP Diversity Summit is open to all law students, and we strongly encourage participation by women, minority and GLBT students in particular. Of course, there is no registration cost to law students to participate. Please note that while the Summit agenda starts at 12:00, law student registration begins at 3:30 for the career panel and networking reception.

Students should register online at Microsoft IP Summit. The registration code for law students is: IPSUMMIT. Registration inquiries can be directed to the event service contacts on the site.

Updated on September 26, 2008

TIP Clinic Registration

Professor Bressler is now accepting applications for the Intellectual Property Clinic for the Fall, 2008 semester. Applications will be accepted until 4:00 p.m. on April 11, 2008.

If you are interested in applying, please read the following program description and complete the application here.

**Notice regarding the Technology/Intellectual Property Clinic**

Students should be advised that the prerequisite courses for the Technology/Intellectual Property Clinic for Fall, 2008 have been changed. There are no specific prerequisite IP courses for this clinic. Please list all of the courses that you have taken including the IP courses on your application and Professor Bressler will determine whether you have sufficient substantive IP law coursework for this clinic.

Giles Sutherland Rich Moot Court Competition

Giles Sutherland Moot Court DePaul University students, Josh Larsen and Tom Rammer, won the Midwest Regional Giles Sutherland Rich Patent Moot Court Competition. The Midwest Regional is the largest of the four regional competitions with 24 teams participating. Josh and Tom not only won the regional competition, but they also got the awards for the best appellant brief and best appellee brief. Unlike most competitions, teams must write two briefs, one for each side to the dispute. According to the organizers of the competition, this is the first time in the Midwest Regional that one team won the award for having written the best brief for both appellant and appellee.

As a result of winning the regional, Josh and Tom will advance to the National Giles Sutherland Rich Moot Court Competition to be held in Washington D.C. April 16-18. Congratulations and good luck!

UPDATE: Josh Larsen and Tom Rammer, reached the semifinals of the national competition held at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in DC. During the semifinals they barely lost to the ultimate winners of the competition, the University of Texas. Josh and Tom wrote outstanding briefs and argued brilliantly. They have set a very high standard for future DePaul teams. Congraulations!

Updated on April 25, 2008

The Federal Circuit Bar Association is seeking new membership from students interested in the matters heard by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. That court hears cases involving the following matters:

Patent and Trademark Office
Patent Litigation
Veterans Appeals
International Trade
Environmental and Natural Resources
Federal Indian Law
Government Contracts and Construction Law
Merit Systems Protection Board Appeals

Membership is free to students the entire time they are in law school.

This membership includes the newsletters, law journals, invitations to webcasts (free for students), writing competition information, various available scholarship information, and networking with other members of the FCBA - including federal judges, partners, associates, government attorneys, and academia.

Students interested in joining should provide the following information to Olivia T. Luk, of Latham & Watkins, LLP at the address below:

Name
Address
Phone Number
Email Address
Law School
Date of Anticipated Graduation
Areas of Interest (Patent, Copyright, Trademark, Environmental, Indian, etc.)

Olivia T. Luk
LATHAM & WATKINS LLP
Sears Tower, Suite 5800
233 South Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
Direct Dial: +1.312.876.6587
Fax: +1.312.993.9767
Email: olivia.luk@lw.com
http://www.lw.com

The Nathan Burkan Memorial Competition

Congratulations to Igor Dubinsky and Jing Zhang on winning the 2007 DePaul University College of Law American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Nathan Burkan Memorial Writing Competition:

The 1st Place Award went to Igor Dubinsky for his paper, Déjà vu Double Headers and the Race to the Copyright Box Office: Rent Dissipation of Movie Profits and the Influence on Parallel Works.

The 2nd Place Award went to Jing Zhang for her paper, Pushing Copyright Law in China---A Double-edged Sword.

Both Igor's and Jing's papers have now been certified to the National Nathan Burkan Memorial Competition for consideration for a national award.

All of the papers submitted for this year's competition were of excellent quality and all applicants should be applauded for their efforts.

Triumph In Beijing For DePaul IP Moot Court Team

Professor Jerold Friedland, in an e-mail received today, was delighted to inform the law school that "… DePaul's team was awarded First Place in the First Annual Intellectual Property Moot Court Competition sponsored by the Supreme People's Court of China and Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU). We competed against 13 teams from Chinese universities, the China State Intellectual Property Office and a prominent IP law firm in a two-day event on May 27 and 28. Judges for the final round included two Justices from the China Supreme Court IP Division, Judge Elizabeth LaPorte of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the Senior Attorney for the Jones, Day Litigation Group, an official from China's State Intellectual Property Office and well-known academics from key Chinese universities."

"Our team included four participants in our 2007 Asian Legal Studies Program-- Tom Rammer, Dina Masiello, Angus Fung and Pedro Fernandez—and was superbly coached by Professor Song Richardson. Professor Kathy Strandburg also coached the team in Chicago on the preparation of their briefs."

Some additional background on the competition:

From the Rules for BFSU Intellectual Property Moot Court Competition:

"This Competition is organized by Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), School of Law, with an aim to promote legal education and awareness of the actual problems in intellectual property disputes arising in the business sectors in China. The problem presented for the Competition (The “Problem”) is entirely crafted on fictional basis and being litigated by fictitious parties. However, the legal issues presented for discussion are all practical that may affect the industries now or in the future"

"Chinese laws, regulations and the Supreme People's Court's decisions or interpretive announcements will be the governing law in general; international laws and treaties which by adoption have been incorporated into Chinese laws will also be binding; all other legal authorities, such as national laws of other countries, judicial decisions of any court other than the Supreme People’s Court, domestic or foreign, or commentaries made by legal scholars, will be considered at best as persuasive but not binding. For issues of first impression (meaning: not dealt with in the governing laws), a team is free to make an argument citing secondary authorities, which will be considered at the judges' discretion."

From the BSFU Law School website news item about the competition :

"Students from various parts of the United States under the DePaul-BFSU Summer Program of Law could not contain their excitement for being able to take part in this event, considering it "a good opportunity to learn and understand Chinese law and legal education." Chinese Students believe the same because through the Competition, they could see and experience first-hand how intellectual property law is put in action."

"After the two-day heated contest, DePaul Team won the first prize, Kanxin Team the second, with the third prize shared by Beijing Institute of Technology and Ximen. The "Best Memo" was awarded to Ximen University, and the "Best Advocate" to Ms. CHEN Tiantian, a second-year law student from Beijing University of Diplomacy."

In the closing to his message, Professor Friedland says that, "We are grateful to our good friends in China for inviting us and scheduling the event at a time that allowed our students to compete. The invitation reflects the deep relationship that our Asian Legal Studies Program has established with BFSU and other law schools in China. The team's outstanding performance before such prominent judges will surely enhance DePaul's reputation for excellence in the legal communities of China and the United States."

By Walt Bauman.

Jessica Underwood article "Impeaching Finnigan and Realigning the Corroboration Standard for Uninterested Single Witness Testimony with Precedent and Policy" was recently published in the Journal of Technology Law and Policy.

Jessica Underwood recently published her article "Impeaching Finnigan and Realigning the Corroboration Standard for Uninterested Single Witness Testimony with Precedent and Policy" in the Journal of Technology Law and Policy, and the article is pending publication in the Federal Circuit Bar Journal. Jessica worked on this article with Intellectual Property Professor Matthew Sag of DePaul University College of Law. The article examines the Federal Circuit split regarding whether an uninterested witness's testimony submitted to prove patent invalidity must be corroborated with other evidence as a bright-line rule or whether courts should have the option to evaluate this testimony on a case-by-case basis. Further, the paper makes a recommendation for a more moderate standard for uninterested witness testimony in lieu of a bright-line rule in order to realign the corroboration requirement's purpose and rationales with established case precedent and policy.

Congratulations to the 2007-2008 newly elected IP Society officers

The 2007-2008 IP Society officers are:

President: Kyle Davis
Vice President: Andy Balazer
Secretary: Dan Rothenberg
Treasurer: Ryan Crockett

Craig Mandell wins third place in Nathan Burkan National Writing Competition

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) recently sponsored the annual Nathan Burkan Memorial Competition, an essay contest for third-year law students that covers various aspects of copyright law. DePaul law student Craig Mandell’s article, “Balance of Powers: Recognizing the Uraguay Round Agreement Act’s Antibootlegging Provisions as a Constitutional Exercise of Congress’s Commerce Clause Authority,” earned him $1000 and a third place ranking in the national competition. He is the first DePaul student to reach the top three in the national competition.