Blog

Moderator: Michael W. Carroll, American University Washington College of Law, Washington, DC

DMCA: Recap of DMCA Reform Hearings hosted by Senator Tillis, Overview of Proposed Legislation, Pro/Con Perspectives of Industry Including both Platform and Content Providers.
Brian Wassom, Warner Norcross + Judd, Clinton Township, MO

Deep Dive into the DMCA Removal of Copyright Management Information
Kevin Tottis, TottisLaw, Chicago, IL

Managing Your Brand in Times of Social Change
Patrick Kole, Idaho Potato Commission, Eagle, ID

Interplay of Failure to Function as a Mark and Aesthetic Functionality, Playing Off the 9th Circuit’s Recent LETTUCE TURNIP THE BEET decision (LTTB v Redbubble)
Dean Eyler, Lathrop GPM, Minneapolis, MN

Speakers

• Carroll, Michael

  American University Washington College of Law | Professor of Law

  Michael W. Carroll is Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (2009 – present). He teaches and writes about intellectual property law and cyberlaw. Professor Carroll's research focuses on the search for balance in intellectual property law over time in the face of challenges posed by new technologies. His research includes projects about the social costs imposed by one-size-fits-all intellectual property rights and about the history of copyright in music.
• Kole, Patrick

  Idaho Potato Commission | Vice President Legal & Government Affairs

  Patrick Kole is the Vice President, Legal & Government Affairs for the Idaho Potato Commission (IPC). Mr. Kole has practiced law for the past fourty-two (42) years. He has specialized for the last thirty-one (31) years with the IPC, where he focuses on legal and policy issues impacting agriculture; market access issues, including developing new markets for Idaho® potatoes; and research and technology issues. Mr. Kole has litigated certification mark cases, registered certification marks in jurisdictions around the world and developed legislation that amended the U.S. Lanham act. He has testified before the U.S. Congress several times. Mr. Kole also manages IPC’s government affairs at the Federal, State and local levels and directs the IPC’s Trademark licensing program.
• Eyler, Dean

  Lathrop GPM LLP | Partner

  Dean Eyler is a partner at Lathrop GPM in Minneapolis, where he practices intellectual property and complex commercial litigation. Dean has more than two decades of experience litigating intellectual property cases, with particular emphasis in trademark and unfair competition litigation. Dean has been repeatedly recognized by World Trademark Review, where he has been described as “a go-to on complex or unusual disputes” and “an exemplary brief writer and persuasive oral advocate.” He is the past chair of AIPLA’s Trademark Litigation Committee, and currently the vice-chair of the Trademark Law Committee.
• Tottis, Kevin

  TottisLaw | Managing Partner

  For the better part of the past four decades, Kevin’s litigated commercial and intellectual property cases around the country. He currently heads up TottisLaw, a Chicago litigation boutique he started after several years as a partner in a national law firm. Last month, TottisLaw was one of only a dozen firms recognized for its intellectual property practice by Chambers in its inaugural Chicago “Regional Spotlight Guide” of small and midsized law firms.
• Wassom, Brian D.

  Warner Norcross & Judd LLP | Partner

  Brian litigates disputes and counsels clients in a wide range of commercial and intellectual property matters. He has developed a particular focus in matters of creative expression, commercial identity and privacy, which spans the legal doctrines of copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity rights, advertising, journalism and related fields.