Legal SIG: Protecting your Marketing Assets and Intellectual Property

Cost:

AMADC Member: $25
Non-Member: $40

Onsite Registration Fee: $10

Speakers:

Judy Branzelle, Legal Counsel, Goodwill Industries International
David Starr, Senior Associate Attorney, The Nath Law Group
Mary Boney Denison, Founding Partner, Manelli Denison & Selter PLLC

About the Program:

We live in a digital world, where information is shared and duplicated around the globe in the blink of an eye. With products and brands constantly at risk of being pirated, what measures should you take to protect your intellectual property?

In this panel discussion, you'll hear from legal experts on intellectual property rights, who spend every day battling to protect brand reputations. They'll share information and provide practical tips on how to guard your intellectual property whether you have in-house legal counsel or not. Discover ways to mitigate the dangers of using digital media, copyright material and secure trademarks.

About the Speakers:

H. David Starr

H. David Starr is a Senior Associate Attorney managing the Trademarks and Copyrights Department of The Nath Law Group. His practice involves all aspects of trademark, unfair competition and copyright law.

Mr. Starr received his J.D. degree, with honors, from the George Washington University Law School in 1998. During that time, he interned in the Office of the General Counsel at the United States Copyright Office, and at the Recording Industry Association of America. Mr. Starr's articles on legal developments in intellectual property law have been featured in the BNA Patent, Trademark and Copyright Journal, the A.I.P.P.I. Journal of the Japanese Group, China IP Magazine, Toast, and the Copyright & New Media Newsletter.

Mr. Starr is an active member of the Intellectual Property Section of the District of Columbia Bar. He has served on the Section's Steering Committee and has also served as the Section's Trademark Committee Chair and Copyright Committee Vice-Chair. Mr. Starr is also an active member of many organizations. Mr. Starr is admitted to practice before the Bars of the District of Columbia and the State of Maryland.

Judy Branzell

Judy Branzelle is General Counsel for Goodwill Industries International, Inc. She handles intellectual property and general non-profit issues on behalf of the Goodwill membership. She is a former Trademark Examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and serves on the Internet Committee as a member of the International Trademark Association. Ms. Branzelle has been a speaker on intellectual property issues for the Association of Society Executives (ASAE), and other organizations.

Mary Boney Denison

Mary Boney Denison is a founding partner of Manelli Denison & Selter PLLC. Her practice includes trademark and copyright law and commercial litigation.

Ms. Denison advises clients on strategic international intellectual property decisions; copyright, trade secret and trademark litigation (common law and registered marks); on-line liability issues; trademark cancellation and opposition proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board; and Section 337 investigations at the International Trade Commission. Mary prosecutes trademark applications throughout the world as well as U.S. copyright applications. She also counsels clients on franchise issues, right of publicity and gray market goods. Intellectual property clients are in the areas of software, medical devices, food, alcoholic beverages, restaurants, pharmaceuticals, health care and telecommunications.

She has been an active member of the 5,500 member International Trademark Association (INTA) for many years. Mary served as a member of the INTA Board of Directors for three years, and currently serves as Chair of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

She is a graduate of Duke University and the University of North Carolina School of Law and she founded the DC Chapter of the UNC Law Alumni Association. While in law school, Ms. Denison served as an editor of the North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation and was Co-Editor of Nouveau Guide de L'lmplantation aux Etats-Unis published by the Chambre de Commerce Franco-Americaine de Washington, DC in 1989. More recently, she has authored a number of articles and given a number of speeches in the intellectual property area.