Dear Colleagues, To start, I would like to again thank our past-president, Michael Bergman, for doing a fantastic job navigating us through a very challenging year and leaving the BPLA stronger than before and adept at delivering on its objectives of promoting public understanding and appreciation for intellectual property and providing related programming in a virtual format. The strength and impact of our association was highlighted recently in the USPTO’s report on artificial intelligence (AI) and IP policy which drew significantly from BPLA’s comments on that policy, which we submitted aside nearly 200 other responses from foreign patent offices, bar associations, trade associations, advocacy groups, companies, academia, law firms, practitioners and individuals. As an association, we intend to continue to build on our successes bringing you programming and events virtually (and hopefully soon again in person) throughout the year, as well as continuing with providing amicus briefs, regulatory comments, and feedback to policymakers. In the months to come, we will be tracking how the Biden Administration approaches intellectual property policy and looking forward to the appointment of a new Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property. We will place a significant emphasis this year on the well-being of our members. We will be working closely with Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers (LCL) to bring you programming throughout the year supporting our mental and physical health with topics on stress management, yoga, meditation and resiliency skills for lawyers. We kicked this effort off on January 12 with an event on lawyer emotional health and well-being amid a pandemic held by Dr. Tracey Meyers of LCL. Dr. Meyers is also providing weekly virtual yoga sessions which you can register for on our website. There is more to come. We hope you will take advantage of these opportunities. Many of our members, in addition to their work in IP counseling, licensing and litigation, make significant efforts with pro bono work in a broad range of areas, such as employment issues, domestic issues, veteran’s issues, immigration issues, and the list goes on. We will be highlighting these pro bono efforts through member spotlights in each installment of our newsletter. Further recognizing this work and seeking to promote such efforts, we will be revitalizing the mandate of our pro bono committee to oversee a new pro bono service award that will recognize annually one of our members for their efforts at such work. Please stay tuned for details here. In May, we will bring you a full day Spring IP symposium, with educational events put on by our various committees including biotech, computer law, litigation, in house practice, post grant, licensing and foreign practice. We encourage you to keep this symposium on your radar. Thank you for your ongoing commitment to our association. Please continue to remain active and take advantage of the opportunities our association provides for you.