Team USA placed an impressive third in the international Patent Cup Regatta. Team USA was skippered by Chicago patent attorneys Gary Ropski, President of Brinks Hofer, and Leif Sigmond, a former Managing Partner at McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff. This year’s Cup was held at the Yacht Club de Ilhabela, located on the island of Ilhabela on the northeast coast of the Brazilian state of Sao Paolo. Ropski’s and Sigmond’s crew included: Marcus Thymian of McDonnell Boehnen and Derek Minihane , in-house counsel at Intermolecular. In 2007, the team also placed third when the competition was in Venice. Team USA won the United States’ first Patent Cup in 2006, when the event was hosted in Chicago. Congratulations Team USA!
The Cup was created in 1989 by a German patent attorney and a French patent attorney to foster camaraderie and relationships among IP lawyers internationally. The Cup is held in a different country each year, with the host country organizing the event, providing vessels and setting the rules.

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Brinks Hofer’s Robyn Bowland is the winner of the 2008 George Hutchinson Writing Competition, Hutchinson was the first Federal Circuit Chief Clerk. The competition honors an excellent articls or paper from a law student. Bowland’s article — Distress Signals: Considering the Patentability of Signals in Light of Nuijten considered whether electromagnetic signals were patentable focusing on In re Nuijten. It is expected to be published later this month in the Federal Circuit Bar Journal. It is great to see another strong writer joining the Chicago IP bar.
* Hat tip to the Chicago Lawyer for identifying this story.

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Team USA placed an impressive third in the international Patent Cup Regatta, skippered by Chicago patent attorneys Gary Ropski, President of Brinks Hofer, and Leif Sigmond, a former Managing Partner at McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff (“MBHB”). This year’s Cup was held in Venice, Italy on the Adriatic Sea. Ropski’s and Sigmond’s crew included: Marcus Thymian and Michael Gannon, MBHB attorneys; Derek Minihane, in-house counsel at Intermolecular; and Michael Pophal, in-house counsel at Energizer. Congratulations Team USA!
The Cup was created in 1989 by a German patent attorney and a French patent attorney to foster camaraderie and relationships among IP lawyers internationally. The Cup is held in a different country each year, with the host country organizing the event, providing vessels and setting the rules. Chicago hosted the Cup in 2006, and Ropski’s and Sigmond’s crew won the Cup that year.

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Tomorrow, Wednesday, September 18, from 3:00 – 4:00 PM, the Chicago-Kent College of Law is hosting its fourth annual Federal Circuit Roundtable. The Roundtable, composed of former Federal Circuit law clerks, will address the topic, “MedImmune and SanDisk: Seeking a License Without Getting a Lawsuit.” The scheduled participants are:
Laura L. Donoghue, Sidley Austin;
Lisa A. Schneider, Sidley Austin;
Jonathan R. Spivey, Foley & Lardner,
Meredith Martin Addy, Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione;
Laura A. Lydigsen, Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione;
Leonard D. Conapinski, McDermott Will & Emory;
Sasha D. Mayergoyz, Latham & Watkins;
David C. McKone, Latham & Watkins;
Michael R. Weiner, Marshall, Gerstein & Borun; and
Michelle Armond, Marshall, Gerstein & Borun.
The Roundtable will be moderated by Chicago-Kent Professor Timothy R. Holbrook.
I will not be able to attend this year’s event because I am teaching an IP course at Loyola on Wednesday afternoons, but I can vouch for the program. It is an hour of excellent insight from former Federal Circuit clerks. Also, in the interest of full disclosure, my wife (Laura Donoghue) is a roundtable participant. So, I am biased, but it is still an excellent program.

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