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Late last month, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved President Obama’s recent appointments to fill two of the five pending or scheduled vacancies on the Northern District of Illinois bench. Sharon Coleman and Gary Feinerman now await confirmation by the full Senate.
President Obama has now nominated Assistant U.S. Attorney Edmon Chang to fill the third of the five vacancies. Chang started his career as a Northern District of Illinois clerk for Judge Aspen and then as a Sixth Circuit clerk for Judge Ryan. Chang’s bio from Senator Durbin’s press follows:
Chang has served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois since 1999, and he is currently the chief of appeals. He previously worked as an associate at Sidley Austin in Chicago, and as a judicial law clerk to Judge Marvin Aspen in the Northern District of Illinois and Judge James Ryan on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. He received a Star of Distinction award from the Chicago Crime Commission. He has served as an adjunct professor at Northwestern University law school, where he graduated with honors and served on the law review.
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Continue Reading Obama Continues to Fill Northern District of Illinois Bench Vacancies

President Obama announced a couple of nominations this week impacting the Northern District of Illinois and the national patent bar.
First, President Obama appointed WilmerHale partner Edward DuMont to the Federal Circuit. DuMont clerked for the Seventh Circuit’s Judge Posner and was an Assistant to the Solicitor General where he briefed and argued Supreme Court cases. DuMont currently has an appellate practice with a considerable focus on patent and intellectual property issues (click here for DuMont’s firm bio). DuMont also spent a year working for a law firm in Bangkok, Thailand. DuMont’s Supreme Court and varied appellate experience make him a very interesting choice to take Judge Michel’s place on the Federal Circuit bench.
Second, President Obama has nominated the Northern District’s Deputy U.S. Marshall Senior Inspector Darryl McPherson to become the Northern District’s next U.S. Marshall. McPherson has served as a Deputy U.S. Marshall since 1999 and won a Special Recognition award for his service as lead Deputy Marshall for Judge Lefkow.
Both nomination must be confirmed by a vote of the U.S. Senate.
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Continue Reading President Obama Makes Northern District of Illinois & IP Nominations

This week President Obama appointed Illinois Appellate Court Justice Sharon Johnson Coleman and Sidley Austin partner Gary Scott Feinerman to the Northern District of Illinois bench. Here is biographical information from President Obama’s press release:
Justice Sharon Johnson Coleman sits on the Illinois Appellate Court in Chicago, a position she has held since 2008. From 1996 until 2008, Justice Coleman served as a judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. Between 1993 and 1996, she held the position of Deputy State’s Attorney and Bureau Chief for the Public Interest Bureau of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. From 1989 to 1993, Justice Coleman served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois. From 1984 until 1989, she was an Assistant State’s Attorney in Cook County. Justice Coleman received her J.D. in 1984 from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis and her B.A. in 1981 from Northern Illinois University.
Gary Scott Feinerman is a partner in the Chicago office of Sidley Austin LLP, where he practices in the general litigation and appellate practice groups. He received his B.A., summa cum laude¸ from Yale College in 1987 and his J.D. from Stanford, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and the Law Review, in 1991. After law school, Feinerman clerked for Judge Joel M. Flaum of the Seventh Circuit and for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy of the Supreme Court of the United States. After his clerkships, Feinerman worked in the Justice Department’s Office of Policy Development (now known as the Office of Legal Policy). From 2003- 2007, Feinerman served as Solicitor General of Illinois, where he received Best Brief Awards from the National Association of Attorneys General in each year from 2004-2007.
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Continue Reading President Obama Nominates Two to the N.D. Illinois Bench

Illinois’s senior senator Dick Durbin recently sent President Obama the names of seven nominees to fill three vacancies on the Northern District of Illinois bench. The nominees are AUSA Edmond Chang, Illinois appellate Judge Sharon Coleman, Magistrate Judge Susan Cox (click here to read about Judge Cox’s IP opinions in the Blog’s archives), Thomas Durkin, Gary Feinerman, Mary Rowland and Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez (click here to read about Judge Valdez’s IP opinions in the Blog’s archives).
Here are biographies of each nominee from Senator Durbin’s press release:
Chang has served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Illinois since 1999, and he is currently the chief of appeals. He previously worked as an associate at Sidley Austin, and as a judicial law clerk to Judge Marvin Aspen in the Northern District of Illinois and Judge James Ryan on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. He has served as an adjunct professor at Northwestern University law school, where he graduated with honors and served on the law review. He lives in Northbrook.
Coleman is a judge on the Illinois Appellate Court, following her election in 2008. She served as a judge on the Circuit Court of Cook County from 1996 to 2008. Before that, she was a supervisor in the Cook County state’s attorney’s office and an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Illinois. She has served on the boards of numerous bar associations and public interest organizations. She is a graduate of Washington University law school in St. Louis, and she lives in Chicago.
Cox has been a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the Northern District of Illinois since 2007. She previously worked as a litigator at several Chicago law firms, as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Illinois, and as a judicial law clerk to Judge Wayne Andersen in that district. Judge Cox has served on the boards of many bar associations and public interest organizations. She has taught as an adjunct professor at DePaul University law school, and she is a graduate of Boston University law school, where she served on the law review. Judge Cox lives in LaGrange.
Durkin has been a partner at Mayer Brown since 1993 and was the chair of the firm’s pro bono committee for nearly a decade. He previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Illinois for over twelve years. He served as a judicial law clerk to Judge Stanley Roszkowski in the Northern District of Illinois. He is a graduate of DePaul University law school, where he has taught as an adjunct professor. Durkin lives in Downers Grove.
Feinerman has been a partner at Sidley Austin since 2007. From 2003 to 2007, he served as Illinois’s solicitor general, and before that he was a partner at Mayer Brown. He has argued numerous cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and Illinois Supreme Court. He served as a judicial law clerk to Justice Anthony Kennedy on the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Joel Flaum on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago. He has served on numerous boards and is the president of the Appellate Lawyers Association of Illinois. He graduated from Stanford Law School and lives in Winnetka.
Rowland is a partner at the Chicago law firm of Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, where she has worked since 2000. From 1990 to 2000, she worked at the Federal Defender Program in Chicago, including five years as the chief appellate attorney. She has served on numerous boards. She was a judicial law clerk to Judge Julian Cook in the Eastern District of Michigan, and she is a graduate of the University of Chicago law school. Rowland lives in Oak Park.
Valdez has been a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the Northern District of Illinois since 2005. From 1992 to 2005, she was the Chicago regional counsel and staff attorney for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Prior to that, she worked as a Deputy Federal Public Defender in California. She has served on many boards. She is a graduate of the University of California-Hastings law school, and she lives in Western Springs.
A hat tip to Ameet Sachdev at the Chicago Tribune’s Chicago Law Blog for identifying this story last week.
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Continue Reading Senator Durbin Sends Northern District Judicial Nominees List to President Obama

Yesterday, President Obama announced his intent to nominate David J. Kappos as the next Director of the Patent and Trademark Office, also known as Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property. Kappos is currently IBM’s Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, Intellectual Property. Kappos earned a degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California Davis and received his law degree from Berkley. Here is some of Kappos biography from President Obama’s press release on the pending nomination:
Mr. Kappos serves on the Board of Directors of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the Intellectual Property Owners Association, and the International Intellectual Property Society. He is also the Vice President of the Intellectual Property Owners Association. He has held various previous leadership positions in intellectual property law associations in Asia and the U.S. He has spoken widely in Asia, Europe, and the U.S. on intellectual property topics. Mr. Kappos received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of California Davis in 1983, and his law degree from the University of California Berkeley in 1990. He joined IBM in 1983 as a Development Engineer and has served as an Intellectual Property Law attorney in IBM’s Storage Division and Litigation group, as IP Law Counsel in IBM Software Group, as Assistant General Counsel in IBM Asia/Pacific, IBM Corporate Counsel and as Assistant General Counsel prior to his current position.
For initial reactions from the blogosphere, check out: ChipLaw; IPWatchdog; Patent Law Insights; and Patently-O.
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Continue Reading Obama Announces Kappos as Nominee for Director of the Patent Office

Here are a few stories that do not warrant a full post:
* The mainstream media and the blogosphere are buzzing with predictions of who is on President Obama’s shortlist for replacing Justice Souter The Northern District’s Judge Castillo and the Seventh Circuit’s Judge Wood are both making many of the lists — check out one list at the Daily Writ. Both excellent choices. Over the weekend, the Chicago Tribune ran a story about a local expectation that someone connected to the University of Chicago would be appointed to the Supreme Court during the Obama presidency. I also wonder if the Northern District’s Judge St. Eve is or should be on some shortlists.
* Ronald Slusky is bringing his two-day patent claim drafting seminar to Chicago May 19-20. Slusky promises to teach “a comprehensive approach to analyzing inventions and capturing them in a sophisticated set of patent claims. Through this interactive seminar, participants will enhance their skills in a classroom setting.” I have not attended Slusky’s seminar myself, so I cannot speak to its value, but it definitely looks interesting.
* Last week the House held hearings about the Patent Reform Act. Check out some commentary on the hearings at Patently-O.
* I got out of the habit of posting each week’s Blawg Review, but last week’s was both too good and too unique to pass up. Blawg Review #209 is up at John Hochfelder’s New York Injury Cases Blog (another LexBlog site) — read it here. Hochfelder tells the moving story of his father’s life, the life of an American hero. Blawg Review #210 is also available at the China Law Blog — click here to read it. It is also an excellent Review based loosely on the 90th anniversary of China’s May 4th Movement.
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Continue Reading Patent News: Patent Reform & Supreme Court Shortlist

Yesterday, President Obama announced that he was appointing Senator Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) to become the next Secretary of Commerce, a significant position in the intellectual property world. As Secretary of Commerce, Gregg will oversee the PTO and have a strong voice in any patent reform that might occur while he is Secretary. The blogosphere and mainstream media are slowly providing background regarding Gregg:*
Patently-O
Peter Zura’s 271 Patent Blog (highlighting this Congressional Quarterly article which points out that Gregg once voted to abolish the Department of Commerce).
Washington Post’s 44 Blog.
* I will update this post with more links if I see anything especially valuable.
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Continue Reading Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) Nominated Commerce Secretary

While I head out to watch Chicago’s adopted son, President-elect Barack Obama become the nation’s next president, I thought it was appropriate to provide some thoughts on where the new administration might lead the IP community. I am an IP litigator and fortunate enough to be able to watch one of the most amazing spectacles of our democracy, the peaceful transfer of power, but I do not pretend to be either a prognosticator or political expert. So I will leave the predictions to those who feel qualified to make predictions:
* Computer Business Review magazine’s Jason Stamper Blog;
* IAM Magazine Blog;
* Intellectual Property Watch Blog;
* National Journal’s Tech Daily Dose; and
* Patent Baristas.
[UPDATE:] Duncan Bucknell’s weekly podcast, which is always worth your time, discussed how the Obama administration might impact US IP policy — click here to listen to it.
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Continue Reading Blogs Speak: Where Will the Obama Administration Lead IP

Time has published a list of 2008’s best inventions — click here to read it. Here are a couple of inventions with Chicago connections:
* 12. MacroMarkets — MacroMarkets was instrumental in starting housing futures trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (the Chicago connection). Now MacroMarkets is working on exchange-traded funds that allow regular investors to bet on housing futures.
* 23. The Branded Candidate — This invention is actually about a trademark and a brand. Chicago’s own President-elect Obama created a marketing sensation with his branding this year. Here is how Time describes it:
Barack Obama hat: $15. Barack Obama special-edition Beyoncé T shirt: $60. Devising a system to make and sell your own swag and garner millions in profits, not to mention the phone numbers and addresses of hundreds of thousands of potential volunteers? Priceless.
Hat tip to Dennis Crouch who identified Time’s list at Patently-O.
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Continue Reading Time’s 2008 Inventions of the Year: Chicago Connections