Greetings from Sydney

The Firm’s principal attorney, Ed Sisson, spent a week in Sydney, Australia for The International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property’s (AIPPI) Annual World Congress. While in Sydney, Ed had the opportunity to meet with fellow IP professionals from throughout the world while attending various sessions on different IP-related topics. Read some of his thoughts as he prepares to leave Sydney below.

I write this as the conference wraps up and I prepare to head to the United States. The conference was well attended internationally. I met with old colleagues, reinforcing the firm’s current global network, and also met at length with potential new colleagues to expand the firm’s network. The firm’s potential expanded network includes firms with skill sets and jurisdictions specifically needed by our customers.

The favoring of trade secrets over patents was a hot topic at this year’s World Congress. Many expressed the need for caution when using trade secrets. Trade secrets, while valuable, can provide a false sense of security as they must be constantly policed and cannot simply replace a patent.

Another topic was what constitutes theft of a trade secret – must it occur in tangible form, or can it occur electronic form, or even human memory? The panelists provided the same advice we give our customers – to carefully select the language, jurisdiction, and law for your agreements. They cited one New York statute, written in the 1960’s, that recently held that the theft must be tangible – on paper. Thumb drives, electronic formats, and digitization were not included in that law. It is always good to know that the advice we provide mirrors the best practices now being advocated at conferences.

This week will find me in Las Vegas meeting with clients before heading to the firm’s home base in Medina to participate in our firm’s booth at the Made in Medina County event.

Following Made in Medina County, at the end of October and the beginning of November, I will return to Las Vegas for the annual Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show. If any of you are attending the SEMA Show this year, please visit us in the Performance Pavilion at Booth 50120. We will be announcing our research that 1 in 4 SEMA exhibitors are likely being counterfeited. Those that are interested can come to our booth to find out if they are among the counterfeited exhibitors.