News & Updates

The Midwest Intellectual Property Symposium was held November 19 & 20 at the University Hotel and Conference Center in Indianapolis, IN.  The event was sponsored by the Indiana Continuing Legal Education Foundation and featured presentations by speakers in a variety of intellectual property areas, including patent prosecution, trademark prosecution, biotechnology practice, intellectual property litigation, and ethics.  Woodard Emhardt Trial Practice Group Co-Chair, Holiday W. Banta, served as moderator for the event.  In addition, the following Woodard Emhardt attorneys were featured among the presenters and panelists (click on the topic titles to access presentation materials):

T.J. Cole
Hot Topics in Patent Law

Thomas Q. Henry
Top Patent Prosecutors Roundtable:  Prosecution and Client Management Tips from Indianapolis’ Leading Practitioners

Charles P. Schmal
Current Topics Concerning Corporate Ownership and Licensing of Intellectual Property

Kenneth A. Gandy (material preparation), Gilbert T. Voy (Eli Lilly & Co., presenter)
Patenting Therapeutic and Diagnostics Medical Methods Around the World:  Practices and Pitfalls in Divergent Systems

James R. Blaufuss
Hot Topics in Trademark Law – Part 1
Hot Topics in Trademark Law – Part 2

Daniel J. Lueders
‘You Really Should Settle This Case’ – Do the Courts Practice What They Preach?

The Symposium was a huge success, with over one hundred faculty, attorneys, and IP professionals from around the world in attendance.  Special thanks go out to all of the individuals involved who helped with organizing and presenting at the event.

Related Links:
Midwest Intellectual Property Symposium, Nov. 19-20, 2009

Patent searching is typically the first step in determining whether to pursue patent protection for an invention.  On November 11, 2009, Woodard, Emhardt attorneys Chuck Schmal and Doug Gallagher presented a class on techniques for conducting patent searches using the US Patent & Trademark Office’s Public Web-based Examiner Search Tool (PubWEST) System to members of the Indiana Inventors Association and the Central Library staff.  The PubWEST System allows the public to access the same computer databases used by Examiners at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Virginia.

The hour-long program included a general overview of the PubWEST System and a tutorial on conducting patentability searches.  Topics included basic search concepts and recommendations for organizing a search, recommendations for which PTO databases to use, specific techniques for conducting various types of searches (word, party, citation, and classification), and the various ways of viewing the information using PubWEST.

This program was conducted in conjunction with Woodard, Emhardt’s donation of upgraded PubWEST search terminals at the Library.  The class was provided as a companion resource to inventors as part of Woodard’s effort to improve patent searching capabilities at the Central Library.  For more discussion on the search terminals, please see Dedicated Patent Searching Terminals Available at the Central Library

Managing partner Thomas Q. Henry was an intellectual property law presenter at the Indiana Law Update 2009 CLE sponsored by the Indiana Continuing Legal Education Forum on September 22, 2009.  Mr. Henry presented on recent updates and developments in IP law, including federal district and appellate court cases, as well as Indiana cases involving IP issues.

Many of Woodard, Emhardt’s attorneys serve the Intellectual Property community in Indiana by teaching courses at Indiana law schools.  This fall, partners Charles P. Schmal and Charles R. Reeves are serving as adjunct law professors at Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis, teaching a course in International Protection of Intellectual Property.  Also this fall, partner Christopher A. Brown is teaching a course in Patent Law at Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis.  Partners Kenneth A. Gandy and Daniel J. Lueders regularly serve as adjunct law professors at Indiana University Maurer School of Law, with Mr. Gandy teaching a course in Patent Prosecution and Mr. Lueders teaching a course in Patent Litigation.  Additionally, partner Troy J. Cole regularly teaches a course in Patent Prosecution at Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis.

ICLEF and WEMMH are working to develop an impressive lineup of speakers for this year’s Midwest Intellectual Property Symposium, a two-day CLE event to be held at University Place Hotel and Conference Center in Indianapolis, IN. The Symposium will include presentations and discussions on a wide variety of intellectual property topics, including topical case reports, patent prosecution, trademark prosecution, trade secret law, biotechnology topics, and intellectual property litigation. Featured speakers during the luncheons will be Judge (ret.) Roderick McKelvie, who presided over more than 200 patent infringement cases during his 10 years on the bench of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, and Mike Kirk, former Executive Director of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and avid proponent of patent reform. Additionally, WEMMH’s managing partner, Thomas Henry, will be featured on a panel of expert patent prosecutors to discuss his experiences in patent prosecution. The Symposium will be moderated by WEMMH’s Trial Practice Group Chair, Holiday W. Banta, and anyone interested in speaking opportunities at the event or information on attending the event should contact Ms. Banta. Click here to download a copy of the brochure and registration information.

The Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library now provides five dedicated PubWEST patent searching terminals at its downtown Central Library location, thanks to a donation to the Library Foundation by Woodard, Emhardt. The five dedicated PubWEST computer terminals are located on the fourth floor of the Central Library at the east end. The Central Library is one of two designated Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries (PTDLs) in Indiana, the other being the Siegesmund Engineering Library at Purdue University in West Lafayette. As a designated PTDL, the Central Library is able to provide free public access to PubWEST, a web-based examiner search tool used by patent examiners at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, in addition to a variety of other patent and trademark resources. The PubWEST system is only available to the public at designated PTDLs and is a valuable inventor resource which is not otherwise available on the Internet. Please visit www.imcpl.org for library hours.

We would like to congratulate Dave Emhardt on his 50th Anniversary with the firm. The firm celebrated Mr. Emhardt’s anniversary with a firm-wide gathering on April 30, 2009. Mr. Emhardt began working at Lockwood, Woodard, Smith & Weikart in 1959, which has evolved into Woodard, Emhardt, Moriarty, McNett & Henry LLP. Mr. Emhardt has been an integral part of the firm’s success over the years. He has seen the firm grow from 4 attorneys to over 30 and has seen the number of staff grow from 4 to over 40. Before joining the firm, Mr. Emhardt served as an Officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and was a Patent Attorney for Western Electric Company after graduating from Harvard Law School in 1955. Among his numerous accomplishments during his time with the firm, in February of 2006, Mr. Emhardt was honored as a Sagamore of the Wabash – the highest award in the State for civic achievement.

In his 50 year tenure, Mr. Emhardt has played a major role in maintaining our firm culture of excellence in a friendly environment. We are extremely grateful for his service, his leadership and the example he has set over the last 50 years.

Associate Marta Paul presented on Updates in Copyright Law for Photography at the April 9, 2009, meeting of the Photo Venture Camera Club (www.photoventure.org). The Photo Venture Camera Club is an Indianapolis-based organization with a membership of over 100 photography enthusiasts. The Photo Venture Camera Club is an active organization which meets weekly to share knowledge, participate in monthly photo competitions, take field trips, and host guest speakers, among other activities. Ms. Paul provided information on copyright protection and discussed federal copyright registration of photographs, right of privacy issues, and copyright infringement of photographs. Ms. Paul previously presented for the group on the same topic in March of 2007.

Partners Holiday W. Banta and T.J. Cole chaired the Eleventh Annual Elegant Vintages International Wine Auction, which raised nearly $100,000 for the Indianapolis Zoo and its conservation and community programs. Many other Woodard Emhardt members served on the event Steering Committee and volunteered to work at the event, which was held March 21, 2009 at the Conrad hotel in downtown Indianapolis. The crowd of 220 guests was treated to a 5-course dinner with world-class wines, while being entertained by the hilarious antics of David Reynolds, the country’s number one charity wine auctioneer, whose battle cry during the auction was “No spousal restraint!” More than 200 lots were auctioned off, including many rare and valuable bottles of wine generously donated by collectors from Indianapolis and throughout the Midwest. There were also many interesting non-wine lots, including a luxury South African safari, the opportunity to bathe an elephant and then ride it back to the elephant barn, as well as a custom haute couture beaded evening gown. T.J. and Holly will again be chairing next year’s event, to be held on March 20, 2010.

Partner Chuck Schmal was a patent law presenter at the 2008 IP Year in Review CLE sponsored by the Intellectual Property Section of the Indianapolis Bar Association on March 12, 2009. Mr. Schmal presented on updates and developments in patent law from 2008, including federal district and appellate court cases and new and proposed regulations. Other speakers at the CLE were Brad R. Maurer of Baker & Daniels LLP and David A. Wong of Barnes & Thornburg LLP.