ABA-IPL hosts FIRST® team robots at spring conference reception
At a reception at the recent 30th Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference, the ABA-IPL Section hosted the teams and robots of RM Robotics. Based out of Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, MD, RM Robotics currently fields two teams, "RMageddon" and "RM'd and Dangerous," in the FIRST® Tech Challenge.The teams demonstrated their robots in action, and the team members were available to interact with conference attendees to discuss their robots, how they were constructed, and how the teams participated in the FIRST® organization.
The teams of future engineers (and possibly even some future patent attorneys!) and their robots were well-received by attendees, and the section looks forward to continued participation with teams involved in the FIRST organization.
ABA-IPL Joins the USPTO at the National Trademark Expo
In October, the ABA-IPL Section joined the USPTO at its National Trademark Expo–participating as an Expo Exhibitor and providing information about the legal importance of trademarks. Every other year or so the United States Patent and Trademark Office holds the National Trademark Expo, disseminating trademark information to educate the public about the importance trademarks play in our society and in the global marketplace. Open to the public, the Expo draws a crowd of approximately 17,000 attendees over two days. Attendees range from experienced trademark examiners to children of all ages learning about the concept of a trademark.Back by popular demand, the exhibit featured interactive activities for both adults and children. Attendees were again challenged by participating in a "Brand Memory Game," in which visual clues were provided and participants named the brand based on clues–the more brands they named the better the prize. Gifts marked with the Section’s "ABA-IPL" brand were given to game winners. The kids joined in on the fun too, by participating in "Brand Memory for Kids". The newly created game provided "kid-friendly" clues for the kids to then name the brand - the more brands they named the more toy prizes they were able to choose. Both games helped to reinforce exposure to trademarks (on average people are exposed to 1,500 trademarks a day) and the role they play to distinguish a product.
In 2012, the ABA-IPL Section premiered the ABA-IPL exhibit with great success, paving the way for the Section to repeat its success again in 2014. The ABA-IPL Section again received kudos and excellent feedback on the booth from attendees and USPTO Expo representatives. A special thank you goes to Matthew Hintz, Nancy Leon, Awista Ayazi, Janice Goh, Sharmian White, Holly Lane, Tiffany Vanita Duncan, and Macaulay Williams for their hard work and dedication to support the Section’s exhibit plans and activities.