Letter from the Chair

• Citation: Vol. 39 No. 1
• Publication year: 2014
• Author: Andrew W. Stroud

Letter from the Chair

Andrew W. Stroud

Hanson Bridgett LLP

BRANDING THE IP SECTION

In my last column I wrote about the IP Institute. The Executive Committee was finalizing plans for the Institute, which took place in November in Berkeley. I am pleased to report that by almost any measure the Institute was a success and generated a profit. More important than dollars and cents though, the 2013 IP Institute succeeded in celebrating and energizing our Section. The Institute was informative, educational and fun. From "The IP in IPA," an evening program that explored IP issues in California's burgeoning craft beer industry (including tastings), to "The North v. The South," which featured speakers from content creators and providers debating whether there is too much IP piracy or overzealous IP protection, to the Vanguard Awards dinner, where each of the winners spoke eloquently about the importance of our chosen profession, to our Keynote Speaker, Bryan Neider, COO of EA Labels, who informed us about the changes and challenges facing on-line gaming, all of our programs and speakers were insightful and impassioned. I thank everyone who participated in the planning and programming and I am looking forward to the IP Institute 2014 next November, as should you.

This is a New Year, a time when it is healthy to reassess your professional goals and vision. To determine whether you are moving forward on the right career path or have been diverted in a new direction by life's constant pressure. I want to use this opportunity to reassess my role as Chair of the IP Section as well.

To determine whether I am leading the IP Section in the right direction, I first need to ask what path we are on and why. I need to clarify for myself what the mission and purpose of the IP Section is before I can determine whether we are fulfilling that mission and meeting our purpose. In IP parlance, I need to know what the Section's "brand" is before I can determine whether we are using the right tools to meet the objectives of our brand.

This may seem at first like a simple task. The State Bar's website tells us that the purpose of a Section is to "offer members a greater voice in the programs of the State Bar and up-to-date information on particular fields of law." If this is the purpose of the IP Section, then I think we are doing a good job. Through the IP Section's webinars and in-person programming, Section members can get up-to-date information on the latest cases, regulations and trends...