It has been a privilege to serve as the 2020 president of the Boston Patent Law Association. Thank you.

We can be pleased with our accomplishments this year. Despite the obvious challenges, we have advanced the mission of the organization. Our programs have been plentiful and well attended, and we have seen rich discussions of issues relevant to intellectual property. We have welcomed leaders of the profession as our speaking guests. Our comments to the Patent Office have been well received and our amicus committee has contributed to the essential work of the judiciary. Representatives of our legislative committee have met in roundtable with stakeholders from across the nation to advance our positions.

Our ad hoc committee on diversity and inclusion has laid the groundwork to broaden access to leadership roles in the organization, and to consider the broader impediments, grounded in systemic bias and racism, that remain in our profession.

This year’s achievements reflect the diligence and dedication of our committee chairs and our board, and I am deeply grateful for their support and hard work. I have been fortunate to have Dan Young serve as president-elect, Keith Toms as vice president, Rebecca McNeill as treasurer and Josh Dalton as secretary, along with Deirdre Sanders as immediate past president and Rachel Emsley, Emily Whalen and Derek Roller as board members. I have also benefited greatly from the work of Dave Mello, our activities chair. Each of these has been a trusted friend and a valuable contributor to the BPLA.

I’d also like to offer special thanks to Constance Brennan for her tireless efforts on behalf of the Association.

As pleased as I am with our outcomes, I am also convinced that this organization must look beyond its traditional concerns.

Intellectual property represents the intangible value that springs from creativity and mental effort. Our complex society, with communications, transportation and medical technology that would’ve been unimaginable only a few generations ago, exists only because we have managed to harness that creativity. The law that enables this achievement can only exist in a well ordered society where the rule of law prevails. These things are inextricably linked.

As such, the concerns of this organization must reach beyond the focused legal issues that are our specialty, to the broader societal questions of whether we can preserve our democratic legal institutions, whether we can realize the potential of all of our colleagues in this great endeavor, and, indeed, whether we can preserve a society where the social contract prevails over the state of nature.

The efforts we make to bring equity to our association must reach beyond that association to the broader society. Our commitment to causality and rationalism, and to an enlightened view of human politics, must prevail.

And so, as I conclude my year as president, I urge you to continue supporting this organization and to making it the engine of a better and more equitable society.

Thank you again for your support. Michael Bergman