Table of Contents

Open Community Calendar >

Message from the President Rebecca M. McNeill

Message from the Editor

KIPO Commissioner Insil Lee’s Visit to the BIPLA

USPTO Pro Bono Update

Members on the Move

BIPLA Third Annual Symposium

BIPLA and KAIPBA Joint Press Release

BIPLA Legislative Committee Panel

Patent Office Practice Committee Update

G2/21 – “Plausibility”: using post-published evidence in Europe

BIPLA Writing Competition

USPTO Recognizes 2022 Patent Pro Bono Achievement Certificate Recipients

A notice from the USPTO Patent Pro Bono Team

A notice from the Diversity & Inclusion Committee

Celebration in Honor of the Judiciary

List of Officers and Board of Governors

Job Listings

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President's Message

By Rebecca M. McNeill, McNeill Baur

Greetings to all of you! I have had a very exciting month as President of the Boston Intellectual Property Law Association. As you can read in this issue, BIPLA has had a jam-packed Spring. And we have even more fun and opportunities for meaningful professional connection coming.

In the last week of April, I was thrilled to host a visit from Commissioner Insil Lee of the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) and six members of her team. Commissioner Lee is the first woman in her role in Korea and shared her career journey with us. We also learned about some of the initiatives of the KIPO, including the PCT Korea Center in Virginia that provides information to applicants using Korea as an international search authority (ISA) during the PCT phase. Thank you Vice President Emily Whelan and Wilmer Hale for sharing your conference space with us for this special event!

The next day, I represented biotech patent practitioners in a Korea-US Cluster Round Table event hosted by the South Korean government. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and his delegation visited Boston for a series of events centered on biotechnology and innovation ecosystems. President Yoon led a conversation with a small group of academic leaders, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists. I shared my perspective on the contribution of patents to the biotech ecosystem here in Boston. I invite you to read my remarks and the BIPLA and Korean American Intellectual Property Bar Association (KAIPBA) joint press release. President Yoon is leading an initiative in South Korea to develop a K-Bio Lab Hub in Songdo, Incheon by 2025. He and his team are looking for ways to establish long-term connections with Boston. If you are interested in this effort, please reach out to me.

The first week of May, we held our third annual BIPLA Symposium, this time over two days and in person! Thank you to President Elect Josh Dalton and everyone at Morgan Lewis for hosting this event. Thank you for welcoming so many of us to your offices and sponsoring and hosting a lively celebration reception the first evening. Thank you to all of our cochairs and speakers for such excellent programming and so much CLE credit! We have already announced that the next Symposium will be held at Morgan Lewis on April 10-11, 2024. Mark your calendars!

We have more opportunities for you get involved this year! I’m looking forward to our annual Celebration of the Judiciary. We will be returning in person for dinner at the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse on Wednesday, June 21, 2023. We are giving our Public Service Award to the Honorable Kara Farnandez Stoll of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Navy SEAL and Paralympian Dan Cnossen will give our keynote address. Dan believes some leadership principles come naturally to certain people, other principles can be learned, and all principles can be continually developed. I look forward to hearing from him and seeing many of you in person. Thank you to all of our sponsors to date for this event including:

Gold Sponsors: McNeill Baur; Finnegan
Silver Sponsors: McCarter; Choate; WilmerHale
Bronze Sponsors: Latham & Watkins; Goodwin
Individual Sponsors: Parabellum Capital; Worldwide IP Solutions

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to our association. Please continue to remain active, invite your friends and colleagues, and take advantage of the opportunities our association provides for you. I look forward to hearing from you. You can reach me at president@bipla.org.

Rebecca M. McNeill President, Boston Intellectual Property Law Association