Springtime Moves In The IP Community

The beginning of the year saw a particularly high number of changes at law firms and in the United States government. Also the World Trade Organization named a list of new chairpersons for its committees, the World Economic Forum named the head of its new cybersecurity centre, and Swiss pharma company Roche has a new head of research and development.

INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

The World Economic Forum appointed Troels Oerting to lead its new Global Centre for Cybersecurity. Oerting joins from Barclays where he was Group Chief Security Officer and Group Chief Information Security Officer.

At the World Intellectual Property Organization, some country groups have new coordinators. Kahed Dahbi from Morocco is coordinator for the African Group. He succeeds Lamine Ka Mbaye from Senegal. Ñusta Maldonado is coordinator for the Group of Latin America and Caribbean countries (GRULAC), She succeeds Mariana Castro from Costa Rica.

Also at WIPO, Marion Dietterich is the new director of the Global Challenges Division, which includes activities related to broader issues such as health and environment. She comes from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, in the Health Department, where she was GAVI CSO Constituency Coordinator. She follows Anatole Krattiger, who moved on from the position at the end of the year.

Separately, Benoît Müller is now acting director of the Copyright Infrastructure Division, Copyright and Creative Industries Sector. Muller is a long-time industry advocate at WIPO, based in Geneva, and a close follower of WIPO meetings for many years.

During the 142nd World Health Organization Executive Board in January, Carissa Etienne was elected for a second term as WHO Regional Director for the Americas (Pan American Health Organization).

The World Trade Organization Goods Council elected Canadian Ambassador Stephen de Boer as its new chair. The Council also agreed on 2018 chairs for subsidiary bodies, to be confirmed by the committee or working party concerned. For Market Access Committee: Zsofia Tvarusco of Hungary; for the Agriculture Committee: Debora Cumes Mariscal of Guatemala; for the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Committee: Noncedo Vutula of South Africa; for the Technical Barriers to Trade Committee: Kate Swan of New Zealand; for the Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs) Committee: Carrie I-Jen Wu of Taiwan; for the Anti-Dumping Practices Committee: Karine Mahjoubi Erikstein of Norway; for the Customs Valuation Committee: Yuichiro Okumura of Japan; for the Rules of Origin Committee: Thembekile Mlangeni of South Africa; for the Import Licensing Committee: Lorena Rivera of Colombia; for the Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Committee: Pedro Negueloaetcheverry of Argentina; for the Committee on Safeguards: Hyouk Woo Kwon of South Korea; for the Working Group on State Trading Enterprises: Antonius Yudi Triantoro of Indonesia; for the Information Technology Agreement (ITA): Muhammad Nur Hadri Bin Sopri of Singapore; and for the Trade Facilitation Committee: Dalia Kadišienė of Lithuania.

The WTO General Council decided on a list of chairpersons for WTO bodies for 2018. Regular bodies – General Council: Junichi Ihara (Japan); Dispute Settlement Body: Sunanta Kangvalkulkij (Thailand); Trade Policy Review Body: Eloi Laourou (Benin); Council for Trade in Goods: Stephen De Boer (Canada); Council for Trade in Services: Alfredo Suescum (Panama); Council of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS): Walter Werner (Germany); Committee on Trade and Development: Diego Aulestia (Ecuador); Committee on Balance-of-Payments Restrictions: Claudio de la Puente (Peru); Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration: Juan Esteban Aguirre Martínez (Paraguay); Committee on Trade and Environment: Sondang Anggraini (Indonesia); Committee on Regional Trade Agreements: Julian Braithwaite (United Kingdom); Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance: Mohammad Haqjo (Afghanistan); Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology: Sabine Böhlke Möller (Namibia).

Negotiating Bodies: Services Council in Special Session: Zhanar Aitzhanova (Kazakhstan), Negotiating Group on Rules: Roberto Zapata Barradas (Mexico).

Andrea Jelinek, head of the Austrian Data Protection Authority was elected as the new Chairwoman of the European Union Article 29 Working Party. Jelinek follows Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin from the French Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés.

Luiz Loures, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director at UNAIDS, said he would not seek the renewal of his position. Loures will end his term as Deputy Executive Director at the end of March. Loures had been with UNAIDS for 22 years and was the target of accusations.

GOVERNMENTS

Dennis Shea was confirmed to serve as Deputy US Trade Representative, Chief of Mission, in Geneva. Jeffrey Gerrish was confirmed to serve as Deputy US Trade Representative. C.J. Mahoney has also been confirmed as Deputy US Trade Representative; and Gregg Doud to serve as USTR Chief Agriculture Negotiator.

After the dismissal of former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Margaret Peterlin, Tillerson’s Chief of Staff, and Christine Ciccone, his deputy chief of staff, also left, as reported by many sources. Peterlin previously served as Deputy Director of the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Julia Friedman joined the House Ways and Means Committee Democrats’ trade staff as a counsel.

INDUSTRY

US Chamber of Commerce -India Business Council (USIBC) decided on a new Board of Directors in January, composed of industry leaders from the US and India. The Board includes: Thomas Donohue, President and CEO, US Chamber of Commerce; Miles White, Chairman and CEO, Abbott; Prakash Mehta, Partner, Akin Gump; Carlos Gutierrez, Chair, Albright Stonebridge Group; Samir Behl, President for Europe, Africa, India, Amway; Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director, Biocon; Michael Hayden, Principal, Chertoff Group; Matthew Friedrich, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer and Secretary, Cognizant; Ralph Voltmer, Partner, Covington & Burling LLP; Maurice Greenberg, Chairman, Starr Companies; Rajesh Subramaniam, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Federal Express Corporation; J. Michael McGuire, CEO, Grant Thornton LLP; Dinesh Paliwal, President and CEO, Harman International; Christopher Padilla, Vice President for Government & Regulatory Affairs, IBM; Andreas Fibig, Chairman and CEO, International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc.; Sanjay Govil, Chairman, Infinite Computer Solutions; Rajiv Lall, Founder, Managing Director, and CEO, IDFC Bank; William Thomas, Global Chairman, KPMG International; Richard Edwards, Executive Vice President, Lockheed Martin International; Edward Knight, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, NASDAQ; Stephen Hadley, Principal, RiceHadleyGates LLC; Amos Hochstein, Senior Vice President, Tellurian; Jim Barber, President, UPS International; and Siva Sivaram, Executive Vice President, Western Digital Corporation.

Crescendo Biologics Ltd, developer of targeted T-cell engaging therapeutic, appointed Dani Bach as Non-Executive Director. He replaces Rob Woodman as the representative for IP Group plc. Bach is former Managing Partner at Aravis.

The European Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (FESI) welcomed Virgile Caillet, Director General of the French Federation Union Sport & Cycle as a new Board member. Caillet was also appointed as Vice President and member of the Executive Committee, following a decision made during the FESI General Assembly in January. Caillet succeeds Michel Zany, former President of the French Sporting Goods Federation FIFAS.

Roche announced that William Pao, Global Head of the Oncology Discovery and Translational Area for Roche Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED), has been appointed the new Head of Roche pRED, and will become a member of the enlarged Corporate Executive Committee. Pao succeeds John Reed who decided to leave Roche for personal reasons, and was to return to the United States in April.

The American Apparel and Footwear Association announced the transition of its Board of Directors leadership, as well as the addition of 15 newly elected and re-elected Board members. Thomas Glaser, Vice President, VF Corporation & President – Global Supply Chain was elected as Chairman; Gary Simmons, President and CEO, Gerber Childrenswear, LLC, as Vice-Chairman; Kurt Cavano, President, Infor GT Nexus Commerce Network, as Treasurer; and Colin Browne, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Under Armour, Inc, as Secretary. They are elected for the 2018-2019 term. Paula Zusi of Advent International Corporation steps down as Chairman.

Karnvir Mundrey has been appointed as Founder President of the India chapter of the Branded Content Marketing Association (BCMA). Mundrey is Chief Ideation Officer at Atharva Marcom.

NGOs/ ACADEMIA

Baroness Catherine Ashton, former European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy now serves as the new chair of the Wilson Center’s Global Europe Program.

Former Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF – Doctors Without Borders) Director of Policy and Analysis Rohit Malpani joined the Initiative for Medicines (I-MAK), Access & Knowledge as Special Advisor on Patent Law and Policy. At I-MAK, Malpani will work to resolve drug patent issues.

LAW FIRMS

Olivera Medenica will join Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller LLP on 9 April. Medenica comes from Medenica Law PLLC, where she was Principal and Founding Member.

Foley & Lardner LLP has officially combined with Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP, effective in April. The combined firm will have approximately 1,100 lawyers in 24 offices in the US, Mexico, Asia, and Europe.

Daniel Miller joined Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP as Special Counsel in the firm’s Intellectual Property Litigation group. Prior to joining, Miller was with MicroStrategy where he served as Principal Senior Counsel.

Wiggin LLP announced that it promoted Chris Hammond, Alex Lea, and Jason Fisher to the partnership.

Wiggin also announced the launch of Overmorrow Partners, a strategic advisory business focussed exclusively on the Media, Entertainment, and Technology sectors. Overmorrow is led by a team of five Wiggin partners and is based in London.

Ryan Sulkin joined Michael Best & Friedrich LLP as Partner in its Chicago office. Sulkin joins from DLA Piper.

Intellectual property trial lawyer Jim Brogan joined King & Spalding as a Partner in its Trial and Global Disputes practice group. Brogan comes from Cooley.

Tamany Bentz joined DLA Piper’s Intellectual Property and Technology practice in Los Angeles. She will be in the Trademark, Copyright and Media subgroup. She joined from Venable LLP.

Dentons’s Intellectual Property and Technology group in Paris welcomed Partner Marianne Schaffner and her team, including counsel Pierre-Olivier Ally and associate Clémence Boland. The team joins from Dechert.

Cooley announced that TJ Graham joined its Palo Alto office as Partner in the firm’s technology transaction group. Graham joins from Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.

Gene Lee, Partner with Perkins Coie, has been elected as a Director of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board Bar Association.

Michael Best & Friedrich LLP announced that they added four attorneys to their intellectual property group. Scott Alter, Alexander Clayden, Stephen Horace and Jon Trembath, joined as Partners from Lathrop Gage.

Rimon announced that IP Attorney Peng Chen joined as Partner in the firm litigation and IP groups, in its San Diego office. Chen joins Rimon from Morrison & Foerster LLP where he was a Partner.

Intellectual property trial lawyer Jim Brogan joined King & Spalding as a Partner in its Trial and Global Disputes practice group. Brogan comes from Cooley.

Charlie Liu became a new Partner with AWA Asia in its Hong Kong office. He was formerly a Partner at a local tier one firm in Hong Kong. AWA Asia is the Asian arm of European IP firm Awapatent.

Four attorneys are joining Michael Best’s Intellectual Property Practice Group in its Denver office: Scott Alter, Alexander Clayden, Stephen Horace, and Jon Trembath.

Hogan Lovells announced that Julia Matheson, a trademark lawyer, joined the firm as a Partner in Washington DC. She comes from Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP.

Eric Fingerhut has been appointed as the Office Managing Member of Dykema’s Washington DC office. He succeeds Paul Laurenza who served for eight years. Fingerhut is a member of the firm’s IP Practice Group.

Benjamin Pelletier joined Venable Patent Prosecution and Counseling Practice as counsel in the San Francisco office.

McDermott Will & Emery announced that Kristina Bieker-Brady joined the firm as a partner in the Intellectual Property practice, in the Boston office.

Charles Marion joined Blank Rome as a Partner in the Commercial Litigation group in the Philadelphia office. He joins from Pepper Hamilton LLP.

Tim Flory and Peter Cumming, both IP partners, joined Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP Grand Rapids office.

DLA Piper announced that Margo Tank joined the firm’s IP and Technology practice in Washington DC. Tank was previously a partner at Buckley Sandler LLP and Goodwin Procter LLP, and served as counsel to the US House of Representatives Banking Committee for Chairman James Leach. She was followed by David Whitaker who joined DLA Piper’s Intellectual Property and Technology practice as a partner in the Chicago office. Whitaker joins DLA Piper from Buckley Sandler LLP.

Michael Garfinkel and Miles Cooley also joined DLA Piper’s Media, Sport and Entertainment practice as partners in Los Angeles. Garfinkel joins from Perkins Coie LLP, where he served as its firmwide chair of Media and Entertainment Litigation. Cooley was formerly a partner at Kelley Drye & Warren LLP.

Also joining as Partners at DLA Piper’s IP and Technology practice in Silicon Valley are Clayton Thompson and Jake Zolotorev. Thompson and Zolotorev are returning to DLA Piper after departing in 2011 to become founding partners of Feinberg Day Alberti & Thompson LLP.

The firm also named Partner Thomas Zutic as Chair of DLA Piper’s Trademark, Copyright & Media practice in Washington DC. The firm also expanded its Media, Sport and Entertainment capabilities with the addition of Ben Mulcahy and Gina Reif Ilardi as Partners. Mulcahy jointed the Intellectual Property and Technology practice in Los Angeles, and Reif Ilardi joined the same practice but in New York. They both join from Jenner & Block.

Loeb & Loeb announced that Josh Brackin has joined the firm as Senior Counsel in its Nashville office. Brackin joins from Greenberg Traurig, and before that served in business affairs roles at Bug Music, BMG Chrysalis and Evergreen Copyrights.

Rick Taché and his core team – Senior Counsel Erikson Squier and Senior Counsel Roger Scott, joined Buchalter. Taché will serve as the firm-wide Co-Chair of the Patent Litigation Group. They will be based in Buchalter’s Orange County, California office.

Robert Isackson joined Leason Ellis as a Partner in February. Until 2016, Isackson was a partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. In 2016, he joined Venable LLP as a Partner in the IP Litigation Practice.

Leason Ellis also welcomed Chelsea Russell as Associate in the Trademark and Copyright Practice Group. She comes from Whitmyer IP Group as an Associate.

Foley & Lardner LLP announced the election and elevation of several attorneys to Partner status: Brett Belden, Intellectual Property, Milwaukee, Alexis Bortniker, Business Law, Boston; Pamela Brown, Business Law, Orlando; Krista Cabrera, Litigation, San Diego; Steven Cade, Business Law, Chicago; Jean-Paul Ciardullo, Intellectual Property, Los Angeles; Brooke Clarkson, Litigation, Washington, DC; Maureen Easton, Business Law, Madison; Casey Fleming, Business Law, Milwaukee; Jonathan Friedman, Litigation, New York; Ramy Hanna, Intellectual Property, New York; Kimberly Klinsport, Litigation, Los Angeles; Nicholas Lagerwall, Intellectual Property, Madison; Jocelyn Lavallo, Business Law, New York; Matthew Lee, Litigation, Madison; Kevin Malaney, Intellectual Property, Milwaukee; Brittany Nelson, Litigation, Washington DC;     Kevin Shuler, Business Law, Tampa; Tony Tootell, Litigation, Los Angeles.

Filko Prugo joined Ropes & Gray’s New York office as Partner and Chair of the firm’s life sciences IP litigation practice. He joins from O’Melveny & Myers LLP, where he was partner and co-founder of the firm’s Hatch-Waxman and BPCIA practice.

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP announced it has elected eight new Partners and promoted seven new Special Counsels. New Partners: Lee Barnum as partner in the Corporate Department and Capital Markets Practice, New York; David Christmas as partner in the Corporate Department and Asset Management Practice, London; Joseph Fox as partner in the Tax Department, New York; Amir Ghavi as partner in the Corporate Department and Intellectual Property and Technology Practice, New York; Nathaniel Lifschitz as partner in the Real Estate Department, New York; Todd McMullan as partner in the Corporate Department and Asset Management Practice, New York; Maxwell Yim as partner in the Corporate Department and Mergers and Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice, New York; and Ariel Zell as partner in the Corporate Department and Finance Practice, New York.

Special Counsels: Daniel Daneshrad as special counsel in the Corporate Department and Asset Management Practice, New York; Will Gay as special counsel in the Tax Department, London; Jose Morales as special counsel in the Corporate Department and Mergers and Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice, Washington DC; Andrea Pollak as special counsel in the Executive Compensation & ERISA Department, New York; Dave Rao as special counsel in the Corporate Department and Capital Markets Practice, Washington DC; Justin Santolli as special counsel in the Litigation Department, New York; and Cyril Touchard as special counsel in the Real Estate Department, New York.

Dykema appointed Jennifer Fraser as Leader of Dykema’s Trademark Practice Group. Fraser is a member in the firm’s Intellectual Property and IP Litigation Department.

Troy Schmelzer joined BakerHostetler in its Los Angeles office as Partner in its IP Group. Schmelzer joins from Norton Rose Fulbright. He is part of the electrical, mechanical and computer science prosecution team.

BakerHostetler added a technology group in Atlanta with three lawyers: Janine Anthony Bowen, John Hutchins, and Christopher Wiech joined as Partners, and will be members of the firm’s privacy and data protection practice team. They joined from LeClair Ryan where they were leaders of the firm’s technology and innovations practice.

Hossein Moiin, former Chief Technology Officer of Nokia, joined Coriant as Strategic Executive Advisor. Moiin is expected to advise the company on next-generation technologies and architectures, market growth strategies, and end-to-end 5G solutions.

King & Spalding announced that intellectual property trial lawyer Thomas Friel joined the firm as Partner in the firm’s Silicon Valley office in Palo Alto and in its San Francisco office. Friel is a former Partner at Cooley. The firm also announced that Lori Gordon joined as a Partner in its Washington DC office. Gordon joins the firm’s Trial & Global Disputes practice group and was a former Partner at Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox.

Quarles & Brady LLP welcomed Lori Meddings as a Partner in the Intellectual Property Practice Group in the firm’s Madison office. Justin DeAngelis, Quarles & Brady’s IP attorney, has been named Chair of the International Policy & Practice Subcommittee of the Industrial Design Committee of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). The firm also announced that Partner Amy Cotton Peterson has been named national chair of the Health & Life Sciences Practice Group.

Nathan announced the addition of Michael Dansky and Bradford Kullberg to its intellectual property practice, and the opening of a Boston office. Prior to joining Nathan, Dansky served as national leader of BRG Corporate Finance’s and Capstone Advisory Group’s intellectual property practices. Kulberg was a managing director in BRG’s intellectual property practice.

Bruce Zivian, Dennis Peterson, and Joseph Paquin joined Barnes & Thornburg LLP. Zivian and Peterson joined as partners in the Corporate Department, and came from Perkins Coie LLP. Paquin is a new partner in the Intellectual Property Department.

 

Image Credits: John Gillespie