Maryland Intellectual Property Student Association

The Maryland Intellectual Property Student Association (MIPSA) is a University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law student organization dedicated to encouraging and developing student interest in intellectual property law. MIPSA is open to all interested law students. Among its activities, MIPSA coordinates career events, sponsors lectures on current issues, and hosts social functions to help develop relations between current students and alumni. Objectives include developing, coordinating, and implementing events, developing employer contacts in the community that are related to intellectual property, and creating opportunities for students to learn about intellectual property practice.

Intellectual property (IP) is an area of law concerned with patentable inventions, copyrightable works, trademarks, trade secrets and, more broadly, exclusive rights attaching to intangible assets and creative activities. From a policy perspective, intellectual property law is generally concerned with the promotion of progress and the protection of trade secrets and brands. In practice, intellectual property encompasses a range of legal services including counseling clients on strategic management of technology, creative assets, and other information resources in a sophisticated, ever-changing, and competitive business environment.

In collaboration with the Intellectual Property Law Program at the University of Maryland School of Law, Journal of Business & Technology Law, and Maryland Intellectual Property Legal Resource Center, MIPSA organizes:

  1. Lectures by prominent scholars and practitioners;
  2. Career panels and networking events; and
  3. Other activities aimed at inspiring and educating.

To contact MIPSA, please e-mail mipsa@law.umaryland.edu.

Executive Board

President: Sophia Skorup
Vice President: Fougeley Denis
Secretary: Robert Handler
Treasurer: Massa Sitta
Social Media Chair: Iqra Ashraf

MIPSA President

The responsibilities of the MIPSA President include the following:

  1. In the late summer, work with other board members to set up a plan for the year, including a budget, and be prepared to present it to the SBA for approval in the August/September time frame if needed to augment the written request.
  2. Each board member generally is responsible for running one or more major MIPSA events. It is the responsibility of the President to take on a project as well, but also to work with the other board members to ensure an equitable distribution of work.
  3. The President is required to attend annual SBA Treasurer training, usually held in the early fall.
  4. The President should drive the creation and execution of new projects.
  5. The President should drive project management-type of activities such as developing an informal time line of when projects should begin, setting up or driving the arrangement of general body meetings, setting up or driving board meetings (including agenda set up), setting up elections in the spring, interfacing with the administration, and being familiar with general SBA budget processes to assist the Treasurer.

MIPSA Vice President

The responsibilities of the Vice President include the following:

  1. The Vice President is responsible for running or more MIPSA events.
  2. One of the largest and more complicated events is the Business Card Fundraiser, which is traditionally run by the Vice President. This is only a suggested traditional assignment and is not mandatory. Follow SBA requirements for submitting expenses and acquiring access to funds.
  3. The Vice President is also responsible for attending and contributing to event planning, board meetings, and general body meetings as much as possible.
  4. The Vice President is responsible for assisting the other board members as needed.

MIPSA Treasurer

The MIPSA Treasurer’s responsibilities include the following:

  1. Work with other board members over the summer to prepare the plan for the year with a special focus on the budget.
  2. Finalize the written form of the budget request and submit to SBA by fall semester deadline. Be prepared to present to the SBA budget hearing if circumstances require.
  3. Become familiar with SBA expense reimbursement procedures and provide assistance, including signatures when required, on these procedures.
  4. Work with other board members to determine their projects’ financial needs and ensure all incoming and outgoing funds are reflected accurately in monthly financial statements from the SBA Treasurer.
  5. Prepare and submit end-of-semester reports to SBA. These reports include a project listing, as well as the funds raised and expended, and advertising distributed for each project.
  6. Come prepared to periodic board meetings with the organization’s financial information.

MIPSA Communications Coordinator

Responsibilities of the Communications Coordinator include the following:

  1. Post updates to the University of Maryland domain under Student Organizations. This includes compiling event information and soliciting content from members to keep the site current. Update cycles can occur as frequently as necessary but must be coordinated through the IT department. This position does not require web expertise.
  2. Circulate messages via the MIPSA list-serve, which includes fielding requests to distribute information to the group using Lyris Software.
  3. Assist the Co-Presidents with on-line voting in the spring to elect the new board.
  4. Produce flyers, banners, and other materials that benefit from cohesive presentation of graphics, logos, and other assets associated with MIPSA web publication and design.
  5. Plan fund-raising and social events; follow SBA requirements for submitting expenses and acquiring access to funds.
  6. Provide general input and ideas to the board.

MIPSA Secretary

Responsibilities include the following:

  1. Take notes during board and general body meetings with a special focus on action items and commitment lists.
  2. Run at least one project or event; follow SBA requirements for submitting expenses and acquiring access to funds.
  3. Provide general input and ideas to the board.

UMD Resources

Public Databases

Blogs & Web Sites

Agencies, Associations, & Non-Governmental Organizations

Jobs in Intellectual Property

Constitution

U.S. Const., art. I, § 8, cl. 8; Section 8

"The Congress shall have power … To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries …"

Statutes

Title 35 Patents, GPO Access, LexisNexis USCS - Title 35 (Patents), Westlaw FIP-USCA, 35 U.S.C. §§ 301-307 Ex Parte Reexamination, 35 U.S.C. §§ 311-318 Inter PartesReexamination, American Inventors Protection Act (November 29, 1999, PL 106-113) and amended November 2, 2002, PL 107-273), The Lanham Act Title 15, Chapter 22Trademarks, Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), 15 U.S.C. § 1125(d), Trademark Dilution Revision Act of 2006 (H.R. 683), Title 17 Copyrights, Digital Millennium Copyright Act (October 28, 1998, PL 105-304).

Regulations

USPTO Regulations, 37 C.F.R. §§ 1-150, 401-404, 501. Title 37 deals with Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights., GPO Access, LexisNexis CFR Titles 19 (Customs Duties), 37 (Patent, Trademark & Copyright), Federal Register Documents Relating To Patent Issues, Westlaw FIP-CFR, 37 C.F.R. §§ 501-570 Ex Parte Reexamination, 37 C.F.R. §§ 902-997 Inter Partes Reexamination, USPTO Trademark Regulations, Copyright Office Regulations.

Rules

Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP), LexisNexis Manual of Patent Examining Procedure, Westlaw FIP-MPEP8D, Manual of Patent Classification, Recent Patent-Related Notices of the USPTO, USPTO Index of Forms, Trademark Manual of Procedure, Fair Use.

Case Law

United States Patent Quarterly (USPQ) contains the full text of cases from federal courts and several administrative agencies, BNA's Intellectual Property Library Available online, LexisNexis BNA United States Patents Quarterly, Westlaw USPQ.

LexisNexis Patent Cases from Federal Courts and Administrative Materials, Patent Cases from Federal Courts, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit - Patent Cases, Westlaw FIP-CS, intellectual property cases from federal courts, FIP-CTA.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit website has rules, forms, and opinions from January 28, 2004 to date. The U.S. Court of Federal Claims website has rules, forms, and opinions from July 3, 1997 to date, U.S. Court of Appeals and Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, FIP-FEDCL.

Administrative Decisions

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, combined administrative decisions, LexisNexis U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Decisions, Combined, Westlaw FIP-PTO, Patent and Trademark Office FOIA Reading Room, final decisions from the Commissioner for Patents, Central Reexamination Unit (CRU).

Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, LexisNexis USPTO Board of Patent Appeals & Interferences Decisions, Westlaw FIP-BPAI, Patent and Trademark Office FOIA Reading Room, Trademark Trial and Appeals Board (TTAB), Final Decisions, Interference Trial Section Opinions.

U.S. International Trade Commission, Section 337 Investigations named parties and asserted patent and registered trademark numbers), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, LexisNexis U.S. Customs & Border Protection Rulings - HQ Series, Customs and Border Protection, Legal Spotlight.

Rulings regarding the Copyright Royalty Board Legal Opinions and Orders of the Register regarding proceedings before the Copyright Royalty Board.

Newsletters & Journals

Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society, 1985-date, LexisNexis Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society, Westlaw JPTOS, BNA's Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal, 1974-date, LexisNexis BNA Patent, Trademark & Copyright Journal, Westlaw BNA-PTCJ, AIPLA Quarterly Journal, from the American Intellectual Property Law Association, 1984-date, LexisNexis AIPLA Quarterly Journa, Westlaw AIPLAQJ, Andrew's Patent Litigation Reporter, Westlaw ANPATLR, BNA's Patent, Trademark & Copyright Law Daily, LexisNexis BNA Patent Trademark & Copyright Daily, Westlaw BNA-PTD.

Treatises

Robert P. Merges, Peter S. Menell, Mark A. Lemley, Intellectual Property in the New Technological Age (5th Ed.), Chisum, Patents: A Treatise on the Law of Patentability, Validity, and Infringement. 13 vols., LexisNexis Chisum on Patents, Moy's Walker on Patents, 4th ed. 3 vols., Westlaw MOY-PAT, Patent Law Fundamentals. Westlaw: PATLAWF, Patent Law Perspectives, 2d ed. 8 vols., LexisNexis Patent Law Perspectives, Matthew A. Smith, Inter Partes Reexamination, Ed. 1E, (Jan. 31, 2009), Modern Patent Law Precedent: Dictionary of Key Terms and Concepts, 5th ed., Westlaw MPATLAWP, Patent Law Basics, Westlaw PATBASICS, Patent Law Handbook, Westlaw PATLAWHAND, Patent Law: An Overview, Cornell LII.

Practice

LexisNexis: Patent Law: A Practitioner's Guide, Westlaw PLIREF-PATPRAC, Patents and the Federal Circuit, LexisNexis BNA Treatise: Patents and the Federal Circuit, Westlaw BNA-PFC, Patent Litigation, Westlaw PLIREF-PATLIT, LexisNexis Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Practice & Procedure, Patent Litigation Procedure & Tactics, Patent Office Rules and Practice, Westlaw PATDAMAGES, Patent Damages Law.

Foreign & International Sources

World Intellectual Property Organization, Patent Law Treaty, Patent Cooperation Treaty (1970) and Regulations: With Administrative Instructions, LexisNexis Intellectual Property Treaties, Decisions of the International Trade Commission, European Patent Office Boards of Appeal, Westlaw EPO-RPTS, European Patent Office Reports, RPC-RPTS, United Kingdom, Reports of Patent Cases, LexisNexis Baxter World Patent Law, Collection of Laws for Electronic Access (CLEA), WIPO Directory of IP Property Offices (Worldwide).