PIIPA-PIJIP Conference on Pro Bono Intellectual Property Services: Past, Present, and Future
Conference Saturday, April 25, 2009 (Reception Friday, April 24, 2009)
On Saturday April 25th, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm Eastern Time, Public Interest Intellectual Property Advisors (PIIPA) and the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP) of the American University Washington College of Law (WCL) will host a conference at WCL on the past, current, and future needs for pro bono intellectual property services. PIIPA was established in 2002 to create an international pro bono intellectual property referral network to help developing country clients. See www.piipa.org. The conference will focus attention on the need for assistance in developing countries, and the opportunities for law firms, law school clinics, and other legal service providers to engage in pro bono work in the intellectual property law and policy space.
The goal of the Conference is to assess the future of public interest intellectual property law and how pro bono effort can be matched to demand in difficult economic times. Conference speakers will also discuss the broader mission and history that led to the formation of PIIPA and other public interest intellectual property providers, and will summarize some of the many matters and projects that the PIIPA network has handled during its six years of existence. The current state of demand for pro bono legal services, the available supply of pro bono providers of intellectual property work, and the drop-off of funding in this sector leading to the dissolution of several pro bono organizations will also be considered. Speakers will include:
Michael Gollin, PIIPA Founder and partner at Venable LLP;
Ron Layton, Lightyears IP founder and CEO;
Josh Sarnoff, Assistant Director of the Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic;
Richard Wilder, Associate General Counsel for Intellectual Property Policy at Microsoft;
Members of PIIPA’s IP Corps of volunteers and other participating attendees.
The conference will be held in room 524 of WCL, 4801 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20016. The conference will be preceded by a light breakfast and followed by an informal lunch. Space is limited for onsite attendance and advance registration is required at http://www.wcl.american.edu/secle/registration. Or you may participate in the conference through a real-time webcast, by logging in on 4/25 to www.wcl.american.edu/go/PIIPA-PIJIP-Webcast. A podcast recording will be available afterwards at http://www.wcl.american.edu/pijip/ (recent webcasts). A reception for registered on-site attendees (space permitting) will be held on Friday April 24th from 5:00pm to 7:30pm Eastern Time in the George Washington University (GWU) Law School Faculty Conference Center, 2000 H St., NW, Washington, DC 20052.
The Venable Foundation, WCL, and GWU are supporting this event. To become a sponsor of the conference, or a sponsor of PIIPA, or to volunteer for the conference or as a participant in the PIIPA pro bono referral network, please contact info@piipa.org, Michael Gollin at magollin@venable.com or 202-344-4072, or Prof. Josh Sarnoff at jsarnoff@wcl.american.edu or 202-274-4165. For questions about attending the conference in person or on-line, please contact PIJIP Program Coordinator Stacey Jackson-Roberts at sdrobert@wcl.american.edu or 202-274-4445.
