AIPLA Bestows Annual Awards

The American Intellectual Property Law Association(AIPLA) bestowed its highest awards on professionals in the IP industry during the 2012 Annual Meeting, October 25-27 in Washington, DC. The following awards were presented:

Board of Director’s Excellence Award. This is AIPLA’s highest award, and is presented to individuals who have made outstanding contributions fostering intellectual property law.

The Honorable Pauline Newman, Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Washington, DC received the Board of Director’s Excellence Award in recognition of her extraordinary leadership and service to the intellectual property community, and a distinguished career marked by intellect, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to the administration of justice.

President’s Outstanding Achievement Award for Fostering AIPLA’s Mission and Goals

Margaret A. Boulware, Boulware & Valoir, Houston, TX, received the President’s Outstanding Achievement Award in recognition of, and with gratitude for,her years of service to AIPLA, as President, Board member and Committee leader, and for her work in developing the Women’s Retention Survey.

Project Awards, recognition for extraordinary effort on a project for AIPLA

Gregory D. Allen, 3M Innovative Properties, St. Paul, MN, received a project award in recognition of his outstanding service to AIPLA, particularly in his leadership as Chair of the Patent Office Practice Issues Group of the Special Task Force on the America Invents Act Rulemaking.

Herbert D. Hart, McAndrews Held & Malloy, Ltd., Chicago, IL, received a project award in recognition of his outstanding service to AIPLA, particularly in his leadership as Chair of the Post-Grant Review Group of the Special Task Force on the America Invents Act Rulemaking.

Alan J. Kasper, Sughrue Mion PLLC, Washington, DC, received a project award in recognition of his outstanding service to AIPLA, particularly in his leadership as Chair of the Special Task Force on the America Invents Act Rulemaking.

Michael K. Kirk, Santee, SC, received a project award in recognition of his outstanding service to AIPLA, particularly in his leadership as Chair of the Special Task Force on the America Invents Act Rulemaking.

Kenneth N. Nigon, RatnerPrestia, Valley Forge, PA, received a project award in recognition of his outstanding service to AIPLA, particularly in his service on the America Invents Act Committee of Experts.

Mentor of the Year for Excellence in Serving as a Mentor

Tracy Corneau, Borden Ladner & Gervail, LLP, Ottowa, ON, was recognized as Mentor of the Year.

Maurice Klitzman Award

Jason Sosa, IBM, Endicott, NY, received the Maurice Klitzman Award, recognizing a junior corporate attorney or patent agent.

Robert C. Watson Award

Samantak Ghosh, University of California, Berkeley School of Law, won the Robert C. Watson Award, recognizing a student for a paper on an IP issue. Ghosh won for his paper entitled, “Punishing Prometheus: Taking the Fire out of the Personalized Medicine Industry.”

Past Presidents Award, the second place award in the Jan Jancin Competition. The Jan Jancin Competition recognizes law students, nominated by their schools, who have excelled in the study of intellectual property law.

Darran Smith, Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP, Houston TX received the Past Presidents Award.