One business year goes and the next comes, and so, as bylaws say, do our Presidents. Keith Newburry, our immediate past President, served with true dedication, leaving LAIPLA in good shape. After our successful Spring Seminar in Las Vegas, we did not slack and were successful in holding the well-attended Round Table event organized by Perry Goldberg. Irell & Manella was kind enough to open their large conference room for this event.
We have ambitious plans for the 2010/2011 business year. We kicked off by setting our event schedule. Please mark your calendars, but double check these dates again when you receive the actual meeting notices as there might be unforeseeable changes. As you may recall, last year’s snowstorms on the East Coast made us move the Washington in the West program to save it from just becoming an "in the West" program.
Here’s our schedule:
August 31, 2010: Monthly Meeting
September 23, 2010: Trademark Boot Camp
September 28, 2010: Joint Meeting with Michel Inn of Court
October 19, 2010: Monthly Meeting
November 9, 2010: Monthly Meeting
November 30, 2010: Judges Night
January 27, 2011: Washington in the West
February 2011: TBD Litigation Round Table
March 8, 2011: Monthly Meeting
April 12, 2011: Monthly Meeting
May 10, 2011: Monthly Meeting
June 3-5, 2011: Spring Seminar (Hotel del Coronado, San Diego)
Another ambitious goal is to keep involvement with LAIPLA at a high level. We are running a live performance theater, not a movie theater, so whatever role you would like to play, whatever level of involvement you would like to have, and whatever skill you would like to learn in any area of running the organization, we most likely have the right position for you. We will publish our committee roster on our website as a permanently-accessible link. We have already received an encouraging number of volunteers. We are even open to forming new committees, and have already founded two: an amicus brief committee and a committee, lobbying for the USPTO to open a branch in California. If any members have other good ideas, we are certainly open to forming a committee and providing you with a more official platform to pursue them. All committees already have a Board member assigned to assist as a "Board liaison" in coordinating with the board. Also, our Administrator Linda Cain is available for assistance. The idea is that committees basically run themselves and make decisions, but have assistance available if needed.
Here is what we have so far in filling our committee positions:
Law School Outreach Program
Chairperson: Bita Rahebi
Committee member: Steve Smyrski
Newsletter
Chairperson: Oral Caglar
Committee member: Seek help
Judges Night
Chairperson: Laura Burson
Committee member: Greg Cordrey
Washington in the West
Chairperson: Seek help
Committee member: Seek help
Spring Seminar
Chairperson: Phil Graves
Committee member: Alex Schlee
Membership
Chairperson: Kyri Tsircou
Committee Member: Seek help
Monthly Meeting
Chairperson: Scott Hansen
Committee member: Keith Newburry
IP Person of the Year
Chairperson: Marsha Mullin
Committee member: Brian Arnold
Website
Chairperson: Franklin Kang
Committee member: Seek help
Litigation/Round Table
Chairperson: Brent Sokol
Committee member: Seek help
Sponsorship
Chairperson: Keith Newburry
Committee member: Scott Hansen
Bring the USPTO to SoCal
Chairperson: Michelle Kim
Committee member: Keith Newburry
Amicus Brief
Chairperson: Seek help
Committee member: Seek help
I am looking forward to another great LAIPLA year, and my thanks to all who have kept LAIPLA going since 1934. This is truly impressive for a West Coast organization, and we hope to have your active involvement in keeping it as successful as it has been.
