Each year, the Boston Patent Law Association honors the judges who make our intellectual property system work. On June 1, at the Moakley Courthouse, the BPLA once again honored the men and women who wear the robes and work tirelessly to help make our system of justice better. For at least one night, the lawyers were not yelling at the judges, and the judges were not yelling at the lawyers.
Annual Dinner to Honor the Federal Judiciary an Evening Enjoyed by the Bench, Bar, and Guests
This year, the BPLA honored
Circuit Judge Kimberly A. Moore
of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
. Also in attendance from the Federal Circuit were Judges Raymond C. Clevenger, III
, Timothy B. Dyk
, Arthur J. Gajarsa
(Ret.), 2011 BPLA Public Service Award Recipient Alan D. Lourie
, and Jimmie V. Reyna
.From the District of Massachusetts, the BPLA hosted District Judges
Allison D. Burroughs
, Edward F. Harrington
, Nathaniel M. Gorton
, 2009 BPLA Public Service Award Recipient Richard G. Stearns
, and 2010 BPLA Public Service Award Recipient Rya W. Zobel
, as well as Magistrate Judge Donald L. Cabell
.
The keynote speaker was Benjamin Roin
, Assistant Professor of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management at MIT’s Sloan School of Management
. Professor Roin’s research focuses on innovation policy, intellectual property, and entrepreneurship. He spoke about patent law from the perspective of entrepreneurs. Professor Roin’s theory is that patents, rather than being too strong, as many academics posit, are actually not strong enough. He took as an example patent protection for cancer drugs. Given the way that the validity analysis works, patent law (as well as the FDA regulatory process) encourages the development of late stage cancer drugs for terminal patients while discouraging the development of drugs for early stage cancer patients who might be cured. If the law could be amended to change the validity analysis (e.g., by placing a time limit on how far back a defendant can reach to find prior art), perhaps there would be more incentive to develop the early stage drugs.
President Erik Belt
then presented the annual BPLA Distinguished Public Service Award
to Judge Moore. President Belt noted Judge Moore’s contributions to patent law, both as a law professor and currently as a jurist. Judge Moore has drawn from her MIT
engineering background to apply empirical analysis and a passion for the law to the legal issues of the day. Judge Moore than spoke eloquently about her colleagues on the bench, several of whom are entitled to take retirement and a generous pension but, out of love of their work and a commitment to the country, continue to serve on the bench (essentially for free) and contribute to the law. The BPLA applauds all of the judges for their dedication to public service.
Summer 2016 -
By
, Erik Belt
McCarter & English LLP
2009 BPLA Distinguished Public Service Award Recipient, The Honorable Richard G. Stearns, The Honorable Timothy B. Dyk, The Honorable Raymond C. Clevenger, III, 2016 BPLA Distinguished Public Service Award Recipient, The Honorable Kimberly A. Moore, The Honorable Jimmie V. Reyna, 2011 BPLA Distinguished Public Service Award Recipient, The Honorable Alan D. Lourie, and The Honorable Edward F. Harrington.
The Honorable Jimmie V. Reyna, The Honorable Raymond C. Clevenger, III, 2016 BPLA Distinguished Public Service Award Recipient, The Honorable Kimberly A. Moore, The Honorable Timothy B. Dyk, and 2011 BPLA Distinguished Public Service Award Recipient, The Honorable Alan D. Lourie.
Jeffrey Shneidman and BPLA Past President Chuck Hieken of Fish & Richardson; Back: BPLA Past President Timothy French of Fish & Richardson, Elizabeth French, Maureen Mazza of Bergman & Song, David Mello of Onello & Mello, BPLA Secretary Michael Bergman of Bergman & Song, Mark J. Hebert of Fish & Richardson, and Pat Hebert.
Melissa Brand of Latham & Watkins, Magistrate Judge Donald L. Cabell, and Robert Sahr of Choate Hall and Stewart; Back: John Serio of Burns & Levinson, Joanna Wu of ConforMIS, Charles Sanders of Latham & Watkins, Edward Podszus of Osram Sylvania, and Amy Hudspeth Cabell of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.
Derek Roller, Michael Visconti, and Josh Rudawitz of Nutter McClennen & Fish share a laugh during the cocktail hour.
Brendan Cox of Proskauer Rose and Zachary Piccolomini of WilmerHale take a break from catching up to mug for the camera during the cocktail hour.
BPLA President Eric Belt about to bestow the traditional Patriot Plate to Professor Benjamin Roin as a token of gratitude for speaking at the 2016 Annual Dinner to Honor the Federal Judiciary
The Honorable Rya W. Zobel and James Finke share a conversation with a member of the BPLA.
Professor Benjamin Roin explains to the BPLA and its guests why he does not think patents are strong enough.
The Honorable Kimberly A. Moore praises the service of her colleagues while graciously accepting the 2016 BPLA Distinguished Public Service Award.
Index
Table of Contents
President's Message by Erik Belt
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Check Yo’self Before You Wreck Yo’self (or Your Sequence Listing)
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< Back
Message from the Editor-in-Chief
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Cuozzo
: The Case that Wasn’tRead more >
Annual Dinner to Honor the Federal Judiciary an Evening Enjoyed by the Bench, Bar, and Guests
Read more >
Patent Agent Privilege in the United States and Canada
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Enfish and TLI:
A Study of the Federal Circuit’s Recent Section 101 OpinionsRead more >
USPTO Launches Pilot Program for Early Review of Cancer Immunotherapy Patent Applications
Read more >
Federal Circuit Finds
BASCOM
Internet Content Filtering Claims Patent Eligible
Read more >
Invented Here!
- 2016 - Highlighting New England’s InnovatorsRead more >
BPLA Files Amicus Brief in Support of Sequenom’s Petition for a Writ of Certiorari
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Writing Competition
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Halo
Decision Regarding the Standard for WillfulnessRead more >
Members on the Move
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Reasonable Royalties and the Federal Circuit in 2015: Evolution of the Revolution
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Community Calendar
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