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Join AIPLA President Joe Re for our Annual Meeting Kick-Off as we welcome attendees to back together for our in-person AIPLA Annual Meeting. This is our first meeting back in person since January 2020! 

Opening Plenary: Sliding Doors - Tales of Courage Choosing Diverse IP Career Paths
 
A career is an evolving part of who we are, and the choices we make every day can help shape how we show up for ourselves and others now and in the future. Our choices may affect our worldview and possibly limit how we advice our associates, agents, and mentees as they follow their own paths. Please join our special opening panel of dedicated professionals who have successfully navigated conscious change at various stages of their professional careers—the challenges they faced, the questions they asked, how they emerged wiser through the process and how they advise others to follow in their footsteps.
 
Moderator: Christal A. Sheppard, University of Nebraska, Professor of Law and former Regional USPTO Director

Speakers:

• Honorable Kara Stoll, Judge, US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Washington, DC
• Angela Sebor, Global IP Manager, Tolmar, Inc., Fort Collins, CO
• Robert Stoll, Partner, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath, Washington, DC and former USPTO Commissioner for Patents
• Andrea Hence Evans, The Law Firm of Andrea Hence Evans, Laurel, MD 

Speakers

• Evans, Andrea H.

  The Law Firm of Andrea Hence Evans | Principal

  Andrea Hence Evans, Esq. launched the intellectual property law practice, The Law Firm of Andrea Hence Evans, LLC. Attorney Evans career path is unique since she worked at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for 5 years as both a patent examiner and a trademark examining attorney after graduating from law school.
• Sheppard, Christal A.

  University of Nebraska College of Law | Law Professor

  Dr. Christal Sheppard has over 3 decades of science, intellectual property law and policy experience covering a large proportion of the IP ecosystem. Her experience includes serving as chief counsel of patent and trademarks in the United States House of Representatives, as the first Director of the first USPTO Regional Office, as a member of the Administration's Public Patent Advisory Committee, and in the International Trade Commission’s General Counsel’s Office. Currently she is Lecturer at University of Nebraska College of Law, and has served as a Distinguished Fellow at the Nebraska Governance and Technology Center.
• Stoll, Robert L.

  Stoll Patent Consulting and Expert Testimony, LLC | Founder

  Robert “Bob” Stoll is a passionate advocate and expert on patent issues with four decades of service in the intellectual property universe. He negotiated international treaties on behalf of the United States, led the 8,000-person patent corps of the USPTO, and worked to improve the patent system for all Americans. Bob’s unique leadership and creativity in the development and protection of IP policy and rights have prepared him for his role as a uniquely qualified expert and consultant in patent matters.
• Stoll, Kara F.

  US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit | Circuit Judge

  Judge Kara Farnandez Stoll was appointed by President Barack H. Obama in July 2015. Prior to her appointment, Judge Stoll practiced law for seventeen years with the firm of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett and Dunner, LLP, where she specialized in patent litigation, with an emphasis on appeals. Judge Stoll served as an adjunct professor at George Mason University School of Law from 2008 to 2015, at Howard University School of Law from 2004 to 2008, and at The George Washington University Law School in 2019.
• Sebor, Angela

  Tolmar | Director Intellectual Property

  Angie Sebor is the Director Intellectual Property at Tolmar, Inc., a Colorado-based, fully integrated pharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative, specialty pharmaceutical products in the areas of urology, oncology, pediatric endocrinology and men’s health. Angie is a registered U.S. patent agent with a Ph.D. in Immunology and more than 27 years’ experience in patent law, both as an in-house practitioner and in private practice, primarily in the areas of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.
• Re, Joseph

  Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP | Partner

  Mr. Re, a Partner at Knobbe Martens, is a nationally recognized trial and appellate attorney, having handled high-stakes technology cases in federal courts throughout the country for over thirty years.