BNA, ABA Announce Judges for Writing Contest for Young IP Attorneys

ARLINGTON, Va., April 20, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Legal and business publisher BNA and the American Bar Association Section of Intellectual Property Law announce the selection of three eminent judges for their new writing contest for young lawyers practicing intellectual property law.

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Judging the entries will be the former Registrar of Copyrights, Marybeth Peters; Akron University law professor Jeffrey M. Samuels; and the recently retired Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Paul R. Michel.

The BNA/ABA Young IP Lawyer Writing Award is open to lawyers who are either under the age of 36 or have been practicing in the field of IP for less than five years. It is jointly sponsored by BNA, a leading publisher in the IP area, and the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law (ABA-IPL), with its ABA-IPL Young Lawyers Action Group.

The new contest will recognize superior writing concerning a current topic, trend, issue, or legal development in U.S. or foreign intellectual property law. The winning article will be published by BNA, and the author will receive a certificate and his or her choice of a BNA treatise, to be presented at the ABA Annual Meeting.

The deadline for entries is June 1.

For further details, visit http://www.bna.com/bnaabaipaward/

The Judges

Marybeth Peters served as the 11th register of copyrights at the U.S. Copyright Office from 1994 until her retirement in December 2010. Before becoming register, Peters served as policy planning adviser to the register, as acting general counsel for the Copyright Office, and as chief of both the Examining Division and the Information and Reference Divisions. Since leaving government service, Peters is frequently called upon to provide advice and analysis on domestic and international copyright issues. She is a member of the advisory board of BNA's Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal.

Jeffrey M. Samuels is the David L. Brennan Professor of Law at the University of Akron and the director of the law school's Center for Intellectual Property Law and Technology. He also serves as an arbitrator/mediator in trademark-related litigation, as an expert witness in trademark matters, and as a panelist under ICANN's Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy.

From November 1987 until January 1993, Samuels served as assistant commissioner of patents and trademarks, heading the trademark division of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Samuels is the editor of Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Laws, published by BNA Books. He serves on the advisory board of BNA's Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal, and was its managing editor from May 1982 to October 1987, before beginning his work at the PTO.

Judge Paul R. Michel was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in March of 1988. He was the court's chief judge from December 2004 until his retirement in May 2010. In his years on the bench, Judge Michel wrote over 800 opinions, approximately one-third of which were in patent cases.

Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Michel served in the executive and legislative branches for 22 years. He was assistant district attorney and then deputy district attorney for investigations under Arlen Specter in Philadelphia, and assistant special Watergate prosecutor in 1974-1975. From 1975 to 1976, he was an assistant counsel for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. From 1976-1978, he served as deputy chief of the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, where he directed the "Koreagate" investigation. In 1978, he was appointed as an associate deputy attorney general; in 1980 he served as acting deputy attorney general. From 1981 until 1988, he served on the staff of Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), as counsel and as chief of staff.

Since retiring from the court, Judge Michel continues to speak out on issues related to the courts and the patent system. He also provides mediation, arbitration, and case evaluation services to private clients.

In June 2010, Judge Michel was elected a member of the Board of Directors of the Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation and became a distinguished scholar in residence there. Judge Michel is a member of the advisory board for BNA's Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal.

BNA is the leading independent publisher of print and electronic news, analysis, and reference products for professionals. Delivering specialized information to business, legal, and government professionals at every level of expertise, BNA produces more than 300 news and information services, including the highly respected U.S. Law Week, Patent Trademark & Copyright Journal, and U.S. Patents Quarterly.

The 25,000-member ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law provides the highest quality information, analysis and practice tools to intellectual property lawyers, and serves as the thoughtful source of information and commentary for policy makers as they consider legislation affecting the law and regulations in intellectual property matters. The section is respected and known as the premier resource for knowledge in this increasingly important and complex area of law.

With nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

SOURCE BNA