Founder and Partner, Dowd Scheffel PLLC
Matthew Dowd focuses his skills on complex appellate and trial litigation, with an emphasis on patent and intellectual property issues. Through his years of practice, Mr. Dowd has successfully worked on numerous high-stakes and eclectic legal matters, focusing primarily on all stages of complex patent matters (AIA proceedings, litigation, prosecution, and counseling). Mr. Dowd's expertise and leadership are regularly consulted, as he is frequently asked to comment in the press on leading intellectual property issues.
Mr. Dowd has substantial experience with Hatch-Waxman litigation, including all stages of opinion analysis, litigation, and appeals. His technical background in medicinal chemistry is ideally suited for litigating pharmaceutical patents. He has represented clients in a range of trial forums for patent disputes, such as the Eastern District of Texas and the District of Delaware, as well as the Patent Trial and Appeal Board at the USPTO.
He has argued and briefed numerous appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and other courts involving issues such as patent law, Hatch-Waxman, administrative law, Fifth Amendment takings, contract claims, government employment issues, and criminal law. In 2018, Mr. Dowd is co-counsel with the Hon. Richard Posner (ret.) of U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in an appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
In 2013, Mr. Dowd represented Nobel Laureate James Watson, co-discoverer of the DNA double helix, as amicus curiae in the groundbreaking 2013 Supreme Court gene patent case. Mr. Dowd has over 15 years of experience representing clients before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Mr. Dowd is also well-known for his successful pro bono representation in the "free-range kids" case. The case was widely reported in the national, local, and international news.
Mr. Dowd attended The George Washington University Law School, graduating with high honors and being awarded Order of the Coif. While attending law school and before, Mr. Dowd worked full-time as a registered patent agent at the renowned IP boutique Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox.
After law school, Mr. Dowd clerked for the Honorable Paul R. Michel, Chief Judge (ret.) of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. While a law clerk, Mr. Dowd gained an insider's perspective on the appellate process. Understanding the appellate process is critical to maximizing success at the earlier stages of a case.
Mr. Dowd is currently appointed as a Professorial Lecturer in Law at The George Washington University Law School. He teaches appellate advocacy and is the coach for the student moot court team for the AIPLA Giles Sutherland Rich Moot Court Competition.
Prior to his legal career, Mr. Dowd spent four years in a Ph.D. program in medical chemistry, studying organic chemistry, pharmacology, and pharmaceutical drug design. During his Ph.D. program, Mr. Dowd's research discovered a novel structure-activity relationship for nicotinic ligands with potential utility in treating Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Mr. Dowd attended The College of William and Mary, in Williamsburg, VA, and Regis High School in New York City.
Principal, Knowles Intellectual Property Strategies
Sherry M. Knowles is an intellectual property attorney with 30 years of experience in global corporate and private practice, and is a member of the inaugural class of the IPWatchdog Masters™ Hall of Fame.
Currently the Principal of Knowles Intellectual Property Strategies, Ms. Knowles was the Senior Vice President and Chief Patent Counsel at GlaxoSmithKline from 2006-2010, where she served as the worldwide head of patents for all litigation and transactional matters, and managed a global department of over 200 people in 12 offices. At GSK, Ms. Knowles was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board, the Technology Investment Board, the Product Management Board, the Legal Management Team and she led the Global Patents Executive Team.
Ms. Knowles played a key role in the case of GlaxoSmithKline and Tafas v. Dudas, 541 F. Supp. 2d 805 (E.D. Va. 2008). On October 9, 2007, GSK became the first and only company in the US to file a lawsuit to challenge the Final Rules published by the US Patent and Trademark Office on August 7, 2007. During the course of litigation, 20 amicus briefs were filed by parties in support of GSK and Dr. Tafas, including from the AIPLA, PhRMA, BIO, IPO, Washington Legal Foundation and CropLife America. The litigation concluded in October 2009, when David Kappos made the decision to withdraw the contested regulations and GSK agreed to join with the PTO in a motion to dismiss all litigation.
In 2008, Managing IP Magazine named Ms. Knowles one of the top 10 most influential people in Intellectual Property, referring to her as a “Patent Owner’s Advocate.” In 2010, the New Jersey Intellectual Property Lawyers Association awarded GSK, with Ms. Knowles as the representative, the Jefferson Medal for exceptional contribution to Intellectual Property. In 2010, Managing IP Magazine named the GSK Global Patent Team the “In-House IP Team of the Year” for 2009 for the constructive approach to IP in the developing world, the engagement with public policy in Europe and the successful resolution of the USPTO rules matter in the US.
In November 2011, Intellectual Asset Management Magazine listed Ms. Knowles among the top fifty key individuals, companies and institutions that have shaped the IP marketplace in the last eight years. Ms. Knowles is also listed in the IAM 250 “World’s Leading IP Strategists,” published by IAM Magazine in 2011, the IAM 300 “World’s Leading IP Strategists,” published by IAM Magazine in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 as well as the IAM 1000 “World’s Leading Patent Professionals” in 2015, 2016 and 2017. She was also included in the list of Top 250 Women in IP by Managing IP Magazine in 2014, Managing IP’s 2016 and 2017 list of “IP Stars”.
Ms. Knowles was Chair of the IP Subcommittee of PhRMA in 2008, and Chair Emeritus of the PhRMA IP Subcommittees in 2009 and 2010. From 2006-2010, she was a member of InterPat, which is the association of Chief Patent Counsels of the major pharmaceutical companies, and from 2008-2010 was a member of the Executive Committee of InterPat. She was the Chair of the work stream on data exclusivity for InterPat from 2006-2010.
President & CEO, IPWatchdog, Inc.
Gene Quinn is a patent attorney and a leading commentator on patent law and innovation policy. Mr. Quinn has twice been named one of the top 50 most influential people in IP by Managing IP Magazine, in both 2014 and 2019. From 2017-2023, Mr. Quinn has also been recognized by IAM Magazine as one of the top 300 IP strategists in the world, and in 2021 he was recognized by IAM in their inaugural Strategy 300 Global Leaders list.
Mr. Quinn founded IPWatchdog.com in 1999, and he is currently President & CEO of IPWatchdog, Inc. According to IAM Magazine, Mr. Quinn “has reshaped the IP debate in the United States in a way that has forced policy makers to carefully consider the macroeconomic effects of IP law and its potential to drive innovation and economic activity.”
Regarded as an expert on software patentability and U.S. patent procedure, Mr. Quinn has advised inventors, entrepreneurs and start-up businesses throughout the U.S. and around the world. He consults with attorneys facing peculiar procedural issues at the Patent Office, advises investors and executives on patent law changes and pending litigation matters, and has represented patent practitioners before the Office of Enrollment & Discipline.
Mr. Quinn began his career as a litigator handling a variety of civil litigation matters, and he has been a patent attorney for nearly two decades. He has previously taught a variety of intellectual property courses at the law school level, teaching courses such as patent law, patent claim drafting, patent prosecution, copyright law, trademark law and introduction to intellectual property at Syracuse University College of Law, Temple University School of Law, The University of Toledo College of Law, the University of New Hampshire School of Law, the John Marshall Law School (Chicago) and Whittier Law School. Since 2000 Mr. Quinn has also taught the leading patent bar review course in the nation.
Mr. Quinn is admitted to practice law in New Hampshire, is a Registered Patent Attorney licensed to practice before the United States Patent Office and is also admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Managing Attorney, Rogitz & Associates
John M. Rogitz is a second-generation patent attorney that currently serves as Managing Attorney at Rogitz & Associates. He is also a member of the IPWatchdog Advisory Committee and an adjunct professor at Trinity Law School. In addition, John recently served on the Executive Committee of the IP Section of the California Lawyers Association (2023-2025) and co-founded CLA’s AI Interest Group.
As Managing Attorney at Rogitz & Associates, John manages the firm’s day-to-day operations and many of the firm’s clients. He is a registered patent attorney specializing in patent preparation and prosecution in a range of technologies including artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous vehicles, extended reality, video games, Internet of things (IoT), blockchain, fintech, rules-based software, computer hardware, medical devices, and other electrical and mechanical inventions. His clients range from startups and independent inventors to Fortune 500 companies. Before joining Rogitz & Associates, John was engaged in civil litigation at the Watkins Firm, a San Diego-based law firm.
John teaches all types of IP at Trinity Law School and has also taught IP at the undergraduate level. He writes for IPWatchdog, America’s leading patent law publication, and has also been published by IP Today, IP Magazine, and others. John regularly speaks to trade groups like the National Association of Patent Practitioners and Licensing Executives Society. Prior to practicing law, John worked in industry as a web developer.
John received his J.D. in 2009 from California Western School of Law, where he was selected for the Dean’s List and served as President of the Student Intellectual Property Law Association. John studied physics at Loyola Marymount University where, among other activities, he wrote for the school newspaper and participated in various philanthropic endeavors.
Professor of Law, DePaul University College of Law
Joshua D. Sarnoff is a professor of law at DePaul University and a faculty member in and former director of the Center for Intellectual Property Law & Information Technology (CIPLIT®). He teaches patent law, advanced patent law, administrative law, law and climate change, and other intellectual property law courses. He was previously a professor at the Washington College of Law, American University, in the Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic, and at the University of Arizona College of Law. In academic year 2014-2015, Professor Sarnoff was a Thomas A. Edison Distinguished Scholar at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He is a registered patent attorney and a member of the bars of Washington D.C. and California, a former member of the board of governors of the Federal Circuit Bar Association, and a member of the boards of directors and advisory boards of various nonprofit organizations. He has written numerous articles and book chapters on patent law and climate change and has been involved in a wide range of intellectual property legal and policy disputes. He has submitted testimony on domestic patent law reform bills, has filed numerous amicus briefs in the United States Supreme Court and in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on important patent law issues, has been a pro bono mediator for the Federal Circuit, and has been a consultant to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on international intellectual property, trade and environmental issues. Professor Sarnoff was formerly in the private practice of intellectual property, environmental, and food and drug law in Washington, D.C. He received his BS from MIT and JD from Stanford.
Founder and Partner, Dowd Scheffel PLLC
Matthew Dowd focuses his skills on complex appellate and trial litigation, with an emphasis on patent and intellectual property issues. Through his years of practice, Mr. Dowd has successfully worked on numerous high-stakes and eclectic legal matters, focusing primarily on all stages of complex patent matters (AIA proceedings, litigation, prosecution, and counseling). Mr. Dowd's expertise and leadership are regularly consulted, as he is frequently asked to comment in the press on leading intellectual property issues.
Mr. Dowd has substantial experience with Hatch-Waxman litigation, including all stages of opinion analysis, litigation, and appeals. His technical background in medicinal chemistry is ideally suited for litigating pharmaceutical patents. He has represented clients in a range of trial forums for patent disputes, such as the Eastern District of Texas and the District of Delaware, as well as the Patent Trial and Appeal Board at the USPTO.
He has argued and briefed numerous appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and other courts involving issues such as patent law, Hatch-Waxman, administrative law, Fifth Amendment takings, contract claims, government employment issues, and criminal law. In 2018, Mr. Dowd is co-counsel with the Hon. Richard Posner (ret.) of U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in an appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
In 2013, Mr. Dowd represented Nobel Laureate James Watson, co-discoverer of the DNA double helix, as amicus curiae in the groundbreaking 2013 Supreme Court gene patent case. Mr. Dowd has over 15 years of experience representing clients before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Mr. Dowd is also well-known for his successful pro bono representation in the "free-range kids" case. The case was widely reported in the national, local, and international news.
Mr. Dowd attended The George Washington University Law School, graduating with high honors and being awarded Order of the Coif. While attending law school and before, Mr. Dowd worked full-time as a registered patent agent at the renowned IP boutique Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox.
After law school, Mr. Dowd clerked for the Honorable Paul R. Michel, Chief Judge (ret.) of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. While a law clerk, Mr. Dowd gained an insider's perspective on the appellate process. Understanding the appellate process is critical to maximizing success at the earlier stages of a case.
Mr. Dowd is currently appointed as a Professorial Lecturer in Law at The George Washington University Law School. He teaches appellate advocacy and is the coach for the student moot court team for the AIPLA Giles Sutherland Rich Moot Court Competition.
Prior to his legal career, Mr. Dowd spent four years in a Ph.D. program in medical chemistry, studying organic chemistry, pharmacology, and pharmaceutical drug design. During his Ph.D. program, Mr. Dowd's research discovered a novel structure-activity relationship for nicotinic ligands with potential utility in treating Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Mr. Dowd attended The College of William and Mary, in Williamsburg, VA, and Regis High School in New York City.
Principal, Knowles Intellectual Property Strategies
Sherry M. Knowles is an intellectual property attorney with 30 years of experience in global corporate and private practice, and is a member of the inaugural class of the IPWatchdog Masters™ Hall of Fame.
Currently the Principal of Knowles Intellectual Property Strategies, Ms. Knowles was the Senior Vice President and Chief Patent Counsel at GlaxoSmithKline from 2006-2010, where she served as the worldwide head of patents for all litigation and transactional matters, and managed a global department of over 200 people in 12 offices. At GSK, Ms. Knowles was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board, the Technology Investment Board, the Product Management Board, the Legal Management Team and she led the Global Patents Executive Team.
Ms. Knowles played a key role in the case of GlaxoSmithKline and Tafas v. Dudas, 541 F. Supp. 2d 805 (E.D. Va. 2008). On October 9, 2007, GSK became the first and only company in the US to file a lawsuit to challenge the Final Rules published by the US Patent and Trademark Office on August 7, 2007. During the course of litigation, 20 amicus briefs were filed by parties in support of GSK and Dr. Tafas, including from the AIPLA, PhRMA, BIO, IPO, Washington Legal Foundation and CropLife America. The litigation concluded in October 2009, when David Kappos made the decision to withdraw the contested regulations and GSK agreed to join with the PTO in a motion to dismiss all litigation.
In 2008, Managing IP Magazine named Ms. Knowles one of the top 10 most influential people in Intellectual Property, referring to her as a “Patent Owner’s Advocate.” In 2010, the New Jersey Intellectual Property Lawyers Association awarded GSK, with Ms. Knowles as the representative, the Jefferson Medal for exceptional contribution to Intellectual Property. In 2010, Managing IP Magazine named the GSK Global Patent Team the “In-House IP Team of the Year” for 2009 for the constructive approach to IP in the developing world, the engagement with public policy in Europe and the successful resolution of the USPTO rules matter in the US.
In November 2011, Intellectual Asset Management Magazine listed Ms. Knowles among the top fifty key individuals, companies and institutions that have shaped the IP marketplace in the last eight years. Ms. Knowles is also listed in the IAM 250 “World’s Leading IP Strategists,” published by IAM Magazine in 2011, the IAM 300 “World’s Leading IP Strategists,” published by IAM Magazine in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 as well as the IAM 1000 “World’s Leading Patent Professionals” in 2015, 2016 and 2017. She was also included in the list of Top 250 Women in IP by Managing IP Magazine in 2014, Managing IP’s 2016 and 2017 list of “IP Stars”.
Ms. Knowles was Chair of the IP Subcommittee of PhRMA in 2008, and Chair Emeritus of the PhRMA IP Subcommittees in 2009 and 2010. From 2006-2010, she was a member of InterPat, which is the association of Chief Patent Counsels of the major pharmaceutical companies, and from 2008-2010 was a member of the Executive Committee of InterPat. She was the Chair of the work stream on data exclusivity for InterPat from 2006-2010.
President & CEO, IPWatchdog, Inc.
Gene Quinn is a patent attorney and a leading commentator on patent law and innovation policy. Mr. Quinn has twice been named one of the top 50 most influential people in IP by Managing IP Magazine, in both 2014 and 2019. From 2017-2023, Mr. Quinn has also been recognized by IAM Magazine as one of the top 300 IP strategists in the world, and in 2021 he was recognized by IAM in their inaugural Strategy 300 Global Leaders list.
Mr. Quinn founded IPWatchdog.com in 1999, and he is currently President & CEO of IPWatchdog, Inc. According to IAM Magazine, Mr. Quinn “has reshaped the IP debate in the United States in a way that has forced policy makers to carefully consider the macroeconomic effects of IP law and its potential to drive innovation and economic activity.”
Regarded as an expert on software patentability and U.S. patent procedure, Mr. Quinn has advised inventors, entrepreneurs and start-up businesses throughout the U.S. and around the world. He consults with attorneys facing peculiar procedural issues at the Patent Office, advises investors and executives on patent law changes and pending litigation matters, and has represented patent practitioners before the Office of Enrollment & Discipline.
Mr. Quinn began his career as a litigator handling a variety of civil litigation matters, and he has been a patent attorney for nearly two decades. He has previously taught a variety of intellectual property courses at the law school level, teaching courses such as patent law, patent claim drafting, patent prosecution, copyright law, trademark law and introduction to intellectual property at Syracuse University College of Law, Temple University School of Law, The University of Toledo College of Law, the University of New Hampshire School of Law, the John Marshall Law School (Chicago) and Whittier Law School. Since 2000 Mr. Quinn has also taught the leading patent bar review course in the nation.
Mr. Quinn is admitted to practice law in New Hampshire, is a Registered Patent Attorney licensed to practice before the United States Patent Office and is also admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Managing Attorney, Rogitz & Associates
John M. Rogitz is a second-generation patent attorney that currently serves as Managing Attorney at Rogitz & Associates. He is also a member of the IPWatchdog Advisory Committee and an adjunct professor at Trinity Law School. In addition, John recently served on the Executive Committee of the IP Section of the California Lawyers Association (2023-2025) and co-founded CLA’s AI Interest Group.
As Managing Attorney at Rogitz & Associates, John manages the firm’s day-to-day operations and many of the firm’s clients. He is a registered patent attorney specializing in patent preparation and prosecution in a range of technologies including artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous vehicles, extended reality, video games, Internet of things (IoT), blockchain, fintech, rules-based software, computer hardware, medical devices, and other electrical and mechanical inventions. His clients range from startups and independent inventors to Fortune 500 companies. Before joining Rogitz & Associates, John was engaged in civil litigation at the Watkins Firm, a San Diego-based law firm.
John teaches all types of IP at Trinity Law School and has also taught IP at the undergraduate level. He writes for IPWatchdog, America’s leading patent law publication, and has also been published by IP Today, IP Magazine, and others. John regularly speaks to trade groups like the National Association of Patent Practitioners and Licensing Executives Society. Prior to practicing law, John worked in industry as a web developer.
John received his J.D. in 2009 from California Western School of Law, where he was selected for the Dean’s List and served as President of the Student Intellectual Property Law Association. John studied physics at Loyola Marymount University where, among other activities, he wrote for the school newspaper and participated in various philanthropic endeavors.
Professor of Law, DePaul University College of Law
Joshua D. Sarnoff is a professor of law at DePaul University and a faculty member in and former director of the Center for Intellectual Property Law & Information Technology (CIPLIT®). He teaches patent law, advanced patent law, administrative law, law and climate change, and other intellectual property law courses. He was previously a professor at the Washington College of Law, American University, in the Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic, and at the University of Arizona College of Law. In academic year 2014-2015, Professor Sarnoff was a Thomas A. Edison Distinguished Scholar at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He is a registered patent attorney and a member of the bars of Washington D.C. and California, a former member of the board of governors of the Federal Circuit Bar Association, and a member of the boards of directors and advisory boards of various nonprofit organizations. He has written numerous articles and book chapters on patent law and climate change and has been involved in a wide range of intellectual property legal and policy disputes. He has submitted testimony on domestic patent law reform bills, has filed numerous amicus briefs in the United States Supreme Court and in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on important patent law issues, has been a pro bono mediator for the Federal Circuit, and has been a consultant to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on international intellectual property, trade and environmental issues. Professor Sarnoff was formerly in the private practice of intellectual property, environmental, and food and drug law in Washington, D.C. He received his BS from MIT and JD from Stanford.
Associate Professor, UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law
Zvi S. Rosen is an Associate Professor at UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law and the Faculty Director of the Franklin Pierce Society for Intellectual Property. He has served as a Assistant Professor at the Southern Illinois University School of Law, as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University, and as a Visiting Scholar and Professorial Lecturer in Law at George Washington University School of Law.
In 2015-2016, he was the Abraham L. Kaminstein Scholar in Residence at the U.S. Copyright Office. Mr. Rosen received his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law in 2005 and LLM in Intellectual Property in 2006 from the George Washington University Law School. He has practiced at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP as well as smaller firms and his own practice, and clerked for the Hon. Thomas B. Bennett of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Alabama. He has written extensively on the development of modern copyright and trademark law, as well as on bankruptcy law.
Professor, University of Southern California Gould School of Law
Jonathan Barnett is the Torrey H. Webb Professor of Law at the Gould School of Law, University of Southern California. He founded and currently directs the USC Media, Entertainment and Technology Law Program. Barnett specializes in intellectual property, contracts, antitrust, and corporate law. Barnett has published in the Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, Journal of Legal Studies, Review of Law & Economics, Journal of Corporation Law and other scholarly journals.
He joined USC Law in fall 2006 and was a visiting professor at New York University School of Law in fall 2010. Prior to academia, Barnett practiced corporate law as a senior associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in New York, specializing in private equity and mergers and acquisitions transactions. He was also a visiting assistant professor at Fordham University School of Law in New York. A magna cum laude graduate of University of Pennsylvania, Barnett received a MPhil from Cambridge University and a JD from Yale Law School.
Taft, Stettinius & Hollister Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School
Professor Thomas F. Cotter joined the University of Minnesota Law School faculty in 2006. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and in 1987 graduated magna cum laude from the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he served as Senior Articles Editor of the Wisconsin Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif.
From 1987-89, Professor Cotter clerked for the Honorable Lawrence W. Pierce, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He practiced law at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York City from 1988-90, and at Jenner & Block in Chicago from 1990-94. From 1994-2005, he taught at the University of Florida College of Law, where he held a University of Florida Research Foundation Professorship and directed the school’s Intellectual Property Law Program. From 2005-06, he was a Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University School of Law. In 2007, he was named to a two-year Solly Robins Distinguished Research Fellowship at the University of Minnesota Law School, and in 2008 was named to the Taft, Stettinius & Hollister Chair in Law.
Professor Cotter’s principal research and teaching interests are in the fields of domestic and international intellectual property law, antitrust, and law and economics. He is the author of six books—Patent Wars: How Patents Impact Our Daily Lives (Oxford Univ. Press, 2018); Trademarks, Unfair Competition, and Business Torts (with Barton Beebe, Mark A. Lemley, Peter S. Menell, and Robert P. Merges) (Wolters Kluwer 2d ed., 2016; 1st ed., 2011); Law and Economics: Positive, Normative, and Behavioral Perspectives (with Jeffrey L. Harrison) (3d ed., Thomson West, 2013); Comparative Patent Remedies: A Legal and Economic Analysis (Oxford University Press, 2013); and Intellectual Property: Economic and Legal Dimensions of Rights and Remedies (with Roger D. Blair) (Cambridge University Press 2005).
Altogether he has authored or coauthored over 60 other scholarly works, including articles in the California Law Review, the Georgetown Law Journal, the Iowa Law Review, the Minnesota Law Review, and the University of Illinois Law Review. He also publishes a blog, ComparativePatentRemedies.com, on the law (both foreign and domestic) and economics of patent remedies. Most recently, the Innovators Network Foundation, in partnership with ACT|The App Association, appointed Professor Cotter to a one-year Intellectual Property Fellowship.
Senior Counsel for Law and Policy, Committee for Justice
Jeff is a registered patent attorney and an intellectual property and innovation policy professional with a unique combination of training and real-world experience. Jeff is also currently a PhD candidate at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA). His dissertation is entitled “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of American Innovation: An Austrian Economics Perspective.”
Jeff maintains an active intellectual property law practice in the life sciences space. While counseling clients and working on his dissertation and other scholarship, Jeff remains active in the policy analysis and advocacy space. He currently serves as the President of the Association for American Innovation and a member and former Chair of the Public Policy Legal Task Force (PPLTF) for the Association of University of Technology Managers (AUTM).
Jeff has a bachelor’s degree chemical and biomedical engineering with concentrations in molecular biology and fermentation technology and from Carnegie Mellon. He also has a master’s degree in industrial administration (business) from Carnegie Mellon where he concentrated on international management, marketing and finance. He earned his law degree from the Duquesne University School of Law with a focus on intellectual property law.
Former Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
Judge Michel served for more than 22 years on the Federal Circuit, retiring on May 31, 2010. From December 25, 2004 until his retirement, he also discharged the duties of Chief Judge of this national court, serving simultaneously on the U.S. Judicial Conference -- the Judiciary's governing body -- and by appointment of the Chief Justice on its seven-judge Executive Committee.
He judged several thousand appeals and authored more than 800 opinions, one third concerning intellectual property law. Intellectual Asset Management magazine inducted him into its Hall of Fame and he was designated one of the 50 most influential leaders in intellectual property law in the world. His contributions were also recognized by lifetime achievement and similar awards by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA); Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation (IPO); the American Bar Association's Intellectual Property Section; Managing Intellectual Property magazine; the Sedona Conference; the Patent and Trademark Office Society (PTOS); the New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles Intellectual Property Law Associations; and the William C. Connor, the Giles S. Rich, and the Richard Linn Intellectual Property American Inns of Court. In 2010 the Los Angeles IP Inn was renamed in his honor as the Paul R. Michel IP Inn.
Judge Michel received the Jefferson Medal, the Eli Whitney Award, and the Katz-Kiley Prize as well as Honorary Doctor of Law degrees from the Catholic University of America and the John Marshall Law School. He is a lifetime Member of Honore of FICPI, the international association of private practitioners of intellectual property law. Williams College granted him the Kellogg Award for "outstanding leadership in law and public service."
Judge Michel has written numerous articles on patent law and advocacy, taught related courses and master classes at George Washington University, the University of Akron, and John Marshall law schools, serving as well on their IP advisory boards and on counterpart boards at the universities of California (Berkley), Washington, and Maryland. He co-authored a casebook, Patent Litigation and Strategy (West, 1999) and an August 2010 editorial in the New York Times on strengthening the patent system to promote prosperity and create new jobs.
A frequent speaker at conferences and law schools during his judicial tenure and since, he retired from a lifetime appointment to be free to speak out on the national need for better patent policy and protection of intellectual property and the vital, unmet resource needs of the courts, the PTO, the International Trade Commission, and other IP-related agencies. He was appointed Distinguished Scholar in Residence by IPO, following his retirement. Judge Michel also consults for law firms and their clients in intellectual property litigations, conducting moot courts, mock trials, case evaluations, editing briefs, advising on strategy and providing mediation and arbitration services.
Professor, University of Southern California Gould School of Law
Jonathan Barnett is the Torrey H. Webb Professor of Law at the Gould School of Law, University of Southern California. He founded and currently directs the USC Media, Entertainment and Technology Law Program. Barnett specializes in intellectual property, contracts, antitrust, and corporate law. Barnett has published in the Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, Journal of Legal Studies, Review of Law & Economics, Journal of Corporation Law and other scholarly journals.
He joined USC Law in fall 2006 and was a visiting professor at New York University School of Law in fall 2010. Prior to academia, Barnett practiced corporate law as a senior associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in New York, specializing in private equity and mergers and acquisitions transactions. He was also a visiting assistant professor at Fordham University School of Law in New York. A magna cum laude graduate of University of Pennsylvania, Barnett received a MPhil from Cambridge University and a JD from Yale Law School.
Taft, Stettinius & Hollister Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School
Professor Thomas F. Cotter joined the University of Minnesota Law School faculty in 2006. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and in 1987 graduated magna cum laude from the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he served as Senior Articles Editor of the Wisconsin Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif.
From 1987-89, Professor Cotter clerked for the Honorable Lawrence W. Pierce, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He practiced law at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York City from 1988-90, and at Jenner & Block in Chicago from 1990-94. From 1994-2005, he taught at the University of Florida College of Law, where he held a University of Florida Research Foundation Professorship and directed the school’s Intellectual Property Law Program. From 2005-06, he was a Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University School of Law. In 2007, he was named to a two-year Solly Robins Distinguished Research Fellowship at the University of Minnesota Law School, and in 2008 was named to the Taft, Stettinius & Hollister Chair in Law.
Professor Cotter’s principal research and teaching interests are in the fields of domestic and international intellectual property law, antitrust, and law and economics. He is the author of six books—Patent Wars: How Patents Impact Our Daily Lives (Oxford Univ. Press, 2018); Trademarks, Unfair Competition, and Business Torts (with Barton Beebe, Mark A. Lemley, Peter S. Menell, and Robert P. Merges) (Wolters Kluwer 2d ed., 2016; 1st ed., 2011); Law and Economics: Positive, Normative, and Behavioral Perspectives (with Jeffrey L. Harrison) (3d ed., Thomson West, 2013); Comparative Patent Remedies: A Legal and Economic Analysis (Oxford University Press, 2013); and Intellectual Property: Economic and Legal Dimensions of Rights and Remedies (with Roger D. Blair) (Cambridge University Press 2005).
Altogether he has authored or coauthored over 60 other scholarly works, including articles in the California Law Review, the Georgetown Law Journal, the Iowa Law Review, the Minnesota Law Review, and the University of Illinois Law Review. He also publishes a blog, ComparativePatentRemedies.com, on the law (both foreign and domestic) and economics of patent remedies. Most recently, the Innovators Network Foundation, in partnership with ACT|The App Association, appointed Professor Cotter to a one-year Intellectual Property Fellowship.
Senior Counsel for Law and Policy, Committee for Justice
Jeff is a registered patent attorney and an intellectual property and innovation policy professional with a unique combination of training and real-world experience. Jeff is also currently a PhD candidate at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA). His dissertation is entitled “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of American Innovation: An Austrian Economics Perspective.”
Jeff maintains an active intellectual property law practice in the life sciences space. While counseling clients and working on his dissertation and other scholarship, Jeff remains active in the policy analysis and advocacy space. He currently serves as the President of the Association for American Innovation and a member and former Chair of the Public Policy Legal Task Force (PPLTF) for the Association of University of Technology Managers (AUTM).
Jeff has a bachelor’s degree chemical and biomedical engineering with concentrations in molecular biology and fermentation technology and from Carnegie Mellon. He also has a master’s degree in industrial administration (business) from Carnegie Mellon where he concentrated on international management, marketing and finance. He earned his law degree from the Duquesne University School of Law with a focus on intellectual property law.
Former Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
Judge Michel served for more than 22 years on the Federal Circuit, retiring on May 31, 2010. From December 25, 2004 until his retirement, he also discharged the duties of Chief Judge of this national court, serving simultaneously on the U.S. Judicial Conference -- the Judiciary's governing body -- and by appointment of the Chief Justice on its seven-judge Executive Committee.
He judged several thousand appeals and authored more than 800 opinions, one third concerning intellectual property law. Intellectual Asset Management magazine inducted him into its Hall of Fame and he was designated one of the 50 most influential leaders in intellectual property law in the world. His contributions were also recognized by lifetime achievement and similar awards by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA); Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation (IPO); the American Bar Association's Intellectual Property Section; Managing Intellectual Property magazine; the Sedona Conference; the Patent and Trademark Office Society (PTOS); the New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles Intellectual Property Law Associations; and the William C. Connor, the Giles S. Rich, and the Richard Linn Intellectual Property American Inns of Court. In 2010 the Los Angeles IP Inn was renamed in his honor as the Paul R. Michel IP Inn.
Judge Michel received the Jefferson Medal, the Eli Whitney Award, and the Katz-Kiley Prize as well as Honorary Doctor of Law degrees from the Catholic University of America and the John Marshall Law School. He is a lifetime Member of Honore of FICPI, the international association of private practitioners of intellectual property law. Williams College granted him the Kellogg Award for "outstanding leadership in law and public service."
Judge Michel has written numerous articles on patent law and advocacy, taught related courses and master classes at George Washington University, the University of Akron, and John Marshall law schools, serving as well on their IP advisory boards and on counterpart boards at the universities of California (Berkley), Washington, and Maryland. He co-authored a casebook, Patent Litigation and Strategy (West, 1999) and an August 2010 editorial in the New York Times on strengthening the patent system to promote prosperity and create new jobs.
A frequent speaker at conferences and law schools during his judicial tenure and since, he retired from a lifetime appointment to be free to speak out on the national need for better patent policy and protection of intellectual property and the vital, unmet resource needs of the courts, the PTO, the International Trade Commission, and other IP-related agencies. He was appointed Distinguished Scholar in Residence by IPO, following his retirement. Judge Michel also consults for law firms and their clients in intellectual property litigations, conducting moot courts, mock trials, case evaluations, editing briefs, advising on strategy and providing mediation and arbitration services.
Associate Professor of Law & Dean’s Scholar in Intellectual Property, Texas Tech School of Law
Barbara Lauriat has taught and conducted research in most areas of intellectual property law, including copyright, patents, and trademarks; her work often takes a comparative approach, using examples from different national legal systems and drawing on legal history. Educated in the United States and the United Kingdom, she began her legal academic career in England, teaching intellectual property law to undergraduate, L.L.M., and Ph.D. students at King's College London from 2011-2022, after serving as the Career Development Fellow in Intellectual Property Law and a Fellow of St. Catherine's College at the University of Oxford from 2008-2010. She has previously held visiting positions as the Frank H. Marks Fellow in Intellectual Property Law at George Washington University Law School, a Faculty Fellow at the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study, a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for the Internet & Society at Harvard University, a Faculty Research Fellow of the Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre at the University of Oxford, a Scholar-in-Residence in the International Arbitration Department at WilmerHale London, a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the New Zealand Centre for International Economic Law, a Hauser Global Research Fellow at New York University School of Law, and a Visiting Scholar at the University of British Columbia. She was appointed an Academic Fellow of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple (2013-2016) and thereafter an Associate Academic Fellow. Lauriat won first prize in the International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property (ATRIP) Essay Competition in 2013 and was the winner of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A.'s Seton Award in 2015.
Lauriat earned her B.A. from Boston University and her J.D. from Boston's School of Law. She has also recieved her D.Phil at the University of Oxford. As a law student, Lauriat served as an editor on the BU Law Review and was later elected General Editor of the Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal (2007/2008). She currently serves on the editorial board of Arbitration International.
Lauriat is a member of the Bars of Massachusetts and New Hampshire (inactive) and was Called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2018.
Professor of Law, University of San Diego School of Law
Lisa Ramsey is a Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law, where she is a founding member of the Center for Intellectual Property Law and Markets. She teaches and writes in the intellectual property and international intellectual property law area and is an expert on trademark law. Professor Ramsey is an active member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and has given presentations on trademark law to attorneys, professors, and students throughout the United States and around the world. Before joining the USD law faculty, she was an intellectual property litigator at Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich and served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Rebecca Beach Smith in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Professor Ramsey’s scholarship focuses on potential conflicts between trademark laws and free speech rights, and explains how trademark protection of inherently valuable words, symbols, and product features can harm fair competition and freedom of expression.
Examples of Professor Ramsey’s publications include Protectable Trademark Subject Matter in Common Law Countries and the Problem with Flexibility in The Cambridge Handbook of International and Comparative Trademark Law (Irene Calboli & Jane Ginsburg eds., Cambridge University Press 2020); Using Failure to Function Doctrine to Protect Free Speech and Competition in Trademark Law in the Iowa Law Review Online (2020); Non-Traditional Trademarks and Inherently Valuable Expression in The Protection of Non-Traditional Trademarks (Irene Calboli & Martin Senftleben eds., Oxford University Press 2018); Free Speech Challenges to Trademark Law After Matal v. Tam in the Houston Law Review (2018); A Free Speech Right to Trademark Protection? in the Trademark Reporter (2016); and Free Speech and International Obligations to Protect Trademarks in the Yale Journal of International Law (2010). Her article Descriptive Trademarks and the First Amendment in the Tennessee Law Review (2003) was judged by the editor of the Intellectual Property Law Review to be one of the best intellectual property law articles of 2003.
Associate Professor, UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law
Zvi S. Rosen is an Associate Professor at UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law and the Faculty Director of the Franklin Pierce Society for Intellectual Property. He has served as a Assistant Professor at the Southern Illinois University School of Law, as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University, and as a Visiting Scholar and Professorial Lecturer in Law at George Washington University School of Law.
In 2015-2016, he was the Abraham L. Kaminstein Scholar in Residence at the U.S. Copyright Office. Mr. Rosen received his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law in 2005 and LLM in Intellectual Property in 2006 from the George Washington University Law School. He has practiced at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP as well as smaller firms and his own practice, and clerked for the Hon. Thomas B. Bennett of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Alabama. He has written extensively on the development of modern copyright and trademark law, as well as on bankruptcy law.
Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, UCLA School of Law
Eugene Volokh is the Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution (Stanford), as well as the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus and Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA School of Law. He recently retired from teaching at UCLA, after 30 years there, and is now focusing on research.
Volokh is the author of the textbooks The First Amendment and Related Statutes (8th ed. 2023), and Academic Legal Writing (5th ed. 2016), as well as over 100 academic law journal articles, mostly on First Amendment law. He is a member of The American Law Institute; the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Free Speech Law; and the creator and coauthor of The Volokh Conspiracy, a leading legal blog founded in 2002 (hosted at the Washington Post from 2014 to 2017 and now at Reason Magazine).
Associate Professor of Law & Dean’s Scholar in Intellectual Property, Texas Tech School of Law
Barbara Lauriat has taught and conducted research in most areas of intellectual property law, including copyright, patents, and trademarks; her work often takes a comparative approach, using examples from different national legal systems and drawing on legal history. Educated in the United States and the United Kingdom, she began her legal academic career in England, teaching intellectual property law to undergraduate, L.L.M., and Ph.D. students at King's College London from 2011-2022, after serving as the Career Development Fellow in Intellectual Property Law and a Fellow of St. Catherine's College at the University of Oxford from 2008-2010. She has previously held visiting positions as the Frank H. Marks Fellow in Intellectual Property Law at George Washington University Law School, a Faculty Fellow at the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study, a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for the Internet & Society at Harvard University, a Faculty Research Fellow of the Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre at the University of Oxford, a Scholar-in-Residence in the International Arbitration Department at WilmerHale London, a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the New Zealand Centre for International Economic Law, a Hauser Global Research Fellow at New York University School of Law, and a Visiting Scholar at the University of British Columbia. She was appointed an Academic Fellow of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple (2013-2016) and thereafter an Associate Academic Fellow. Lauriat won first prize in the International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property (ATRIP) Essay Competition in 2013 and was the winner of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A.'s Seton Award in 2015.
Lauriat earned her B.A. from Boston University and her J.D. from Boston's School of Law. She has also recieved her D.Phil at the University of Oxford. As a law student, Lauriat served as an editor on the BU Law Review and was later elected General Editor of the Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal (2007/2008). She currently serves on the editorial board of Arbitration International.
Lauriat is a member of the Bars of Massachusetts and New Hampshire (inactive) and was Called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2018.
Professor of Law, University of San Diego School of Law
Lisa Ramsey is a Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law, where she is a founding member of the Center for Intellectual Property Law and Markets. She teaches and writes in the intellectual property and international intellectual property law area and is an expert on trademark law. Professor Ramsey is an active member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and has given presentations on trademark law to attorneys, professors, and students throughout the United States and around the world. Before joining the USD law faculty, she was an intellectual property litigator at Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich and served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Rebecca Beach Smith in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Professor Ramsey’s scholarship focuses on potential conflicts between trademark laws and free speech rights, and explains how trademark protection of inherently valuable words, symbols, and product features can harm fair competition and freedom of expression.
Examples of Professor Ramsey’s publications include Protectable Trademark Subject Matter in Common Law Countries and the Problem with Flexibility in The Cambridge Handbook of International and Comparative Trademark Law (Irene Calboli & Jane Ginsburg eds., Cambridge University Press 2020); Using Failure to Function Doctrine to Protect Free Speech and Competition in Trademark Law in the Iowa Law Review Online (2020); Non-Traditional Trademarks and Inherently Valuable Expression in The Protection of Non-Traditional Trademarks (Irene Calboli & Martin Senftleben eds., Oxford University Press 2018); Free Speech Challenges to Trademark Law After Matal v. Tam in the Houston Law Review (2018); A Free Speech Right to Trademark Protection? in the Trademark Reporter (2016); and Free Speech and International Obligations to Protect Trademarks in the Yale Journal of International Law (2010). Her article Descriptive Trademarks and the First Amendment in the Tennessee Law Review (2003) was judged by the editor of the Intellectual Property Law Review to be one of the best intellectual property law articles of 2003.
Associate Professor, UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law
Zvi S. Rosen is an Associate Professor at UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law and the Faculty Director of the Franklin Pierce Society for Intellectual Property. He has served as a Assistant Professor at the Southern Illinois University School of Law, as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University, and as a Visiting Scholar and Professorial Lecturer in Law at George Washington University School of Law.
In 2015-2016, he was the Abraham L. Kaminstein Scholar in Residence at the U.S. Copyright Office. Mr. Rosen received his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law in 2005 and LLM in Intellectual Property in 2006 from the George Washington University Law School. He has practiced at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP as well as smaller firms and his own practice, and clerked for the Hon. Thomas B. Bennett of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Alabama. He has written extensively on the development of modern copyright and trademark law, as well as on bankruptcy law.
Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institution, Stanford University; Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, UCLA School of Law
Eugene Volokh is the Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution (Stanford), as well as the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus and Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA School of Law. He recently retired from teaching at UCLA, after 30 years there, and is now focusing on research.
Volokh is the author of the textbooks The First Amendment and Related Statutes (8th ed. 2023), and Academic Legal Writing (5th ed. 2016), as well as over 100 academic law journal articles, mostly on First Amendment law. He is a member of The American Law Institute; the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Free Speech Law; and the creator and coauthor of The Volokh Conspiracy, a leading legal blog founded in 2002 (hosted at the Washington Post from 2014 to 2017 and now at Reason Magazine).
Textualism and Patent Statutory Law – Patent Eligibility, ODP, and Upcoming Patent Reform in Congress
Matthew J. Dowd, Sherry Knowles, Gene Quinn, John M. Rogitz, Joshua Sarnoff
When it comes to patent eligibility and statutory construction, does “any” really mean “any?” In...
Textualism and Patent Statutory Law – Patent Eligibility, ODP, and Upcoming Patent Reform in Congress
Matthew J. Dowd, Sherry Knowles, Gene Quinn, John M. Rogitz, Joshua Sarnoff
When it comes to patent eligibility and statutory construction, does “any” really mean “any?” In...
What is Fair Use After the Warhol Case?
Zvi Rosen
A Regulatory Transparency Project Fourth Branch Video
Fair Use allows for copyrighted works to be used in certain circumstances. When Fair Use...
Topics
Patent Bills With Bipartisan Support Might Beat Congressional Gridlock
The Supreme Court’s patent law cases over the last decades have achieved significant majorities, if...
Patent Owners in the Soup... No Injunction for You!
Jonathan Barnett, Thomas F. Cotter, Jeffrey E. Depp, Paul Redmond Michel
Some Intellectual Property experts contend that American patent reliability has been in decline for 20...
Patent Owners in the Soup... No Injunction for You!
Jonathan Barnett, Thomas F. Cotter, Jeffrey E. Depp, Paul Redmond Michel
Some Intellectual Property experts contend that American patent reliability has been in decline for 20...
The First Amendment in Trademark Law after Vidal v. Elster
Barbara Lauriat, Lisa P. Ramsey, Zvi Rosen, Eugene Volokh
In Vidal v. Elster (the “Trump Too Small” case), the Supreme Court unanimously upheld a...
The First Amendment in Trademark Law after Vidal v. Elster
Barbara Lauriat, Lisa P. Ramsey, Zvi Rosen, Eugene Volokh
In Vidal v. Elster (the “Trump Too Small” case), the Supreme Court unanimously upheld a...
Topics
Who Owns the Law? The Pro Codes Act’s Copyright Conundrum
Voluntary consensus standards have become an essential but unseen part of everyday life. From ensuring...
Topics
Patent Office Fee and Procedure Changes: Nudging or Sludging?
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has recently proposed seemingly routine procedural updates that may...