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Meeting Minutes
February 1, 2001 - State Bar Building, Lansing, Michigan
Present
Sims, Williams, Severance, Underwood, Dani, Kelley, Hoffman, Collins, Baldwin, Bunting, Miller (ICLE)
Absent
Introduction
The meeting was called to order by Mr. Sims at 9:51 a.m.
Treasurer’s Report
Mr. Williams gave the Treasurer's report. We have a dues influx for 2000-2001 of approximately $30,095. The budget currently shows a substantial surplus. A motion was made by Mr. Underwood to approve the budget as is, which was seconded by Ms. Severance. The motion carried unanimously.
Secretary’s Report
Ms. Severance moved to approve the January minutes as is. Mr. Kelley seconded the motion. The motion was carried unanimously.
2001 Summer Workshop
Mr. Dani gave the report on the Summer Seminar. Mr. Dani noted that Ms. Esther Kepplinger from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has agreed to speak on devleopments within the Patent Office. Discussion was had on the format of a breakfast for the registrants prior to the first session of each day. It was noted that the breakfast will be held in the Grand Hotel dining room rather than outside the presentation area.
Foster & Swift is confirmed as a sponsor of the first reception. Discussion was had on obtaining a sponsor for the second session. Possible sponsors included other law firms, potential corporate sponsors or the possibility of sponsorship from the section.
Ms. Miller reported on the difficulties of obtaining special considerations from the Grand Hotel regarding checkout procedures. Following up discussions from other meetings, alternative sites for the Summer Seminar were discussed for future dates after 2003 (currently the schedule calls for Shanty Creek in 2002 and the Grand Hotel in 2003-2004).
Spring Seminar/ Student Relations
Ms. Collins gave the report on the Spring Seminar. The planning for the Spring Seminar is virtually complete.
Ms. Bunting gave the report on the student content of the Spring Seminar. Ms. Bunting has contacted all of the law schools and sent the flyer to the law schools. The law schools agreed to get word out to their students. The flyer has also been sent in electronic form to all section members who had previously reported their e-mail address to the State Bar.
Further discussion was had by Ms. Collins about pre-printing the seminar materials and whether they should be posted on the section website (with the permission of the authors). It was agreed that any surplus seminar materials would be made available after the seminar on a first-come, first-served basis for a fee. Additional discussion was had regarding registration details for the seminar.
Annual Meeting
Mr. Kelley gave the report on the preparation for the Annual Meeting. Mr. Kelley attended the Annual Meeting planning session with the State Bar on January 18th. The dates for the Annual Meeting are September 12-14, 2001 - our section's session is on September 12th at 2:00 p.m. He noted that many other sections are exploring technology-based sessions that are of interest to the general membership of the Bar. Mr. Kelley solicited topic suggestions from the council members. One topic discussed was the Festo case. Other topics discussed were confidentiality issues, public use (especially in the software area), and statutory bars (both domestic and foreign).
Proceedings
Ms. Severance gave the report on the Proceedings and noted that all documents for publication are due on the date of this meeting. Ms. Severance noted that she has all necessary documents. Discussion was had on providing an electronic copy of the Proceedings on the website.
Fall PTO Seminar/New USPTO Section-Sponsored Seminar
Ms. Severance gave a report on a proposed Fall PTO Seminar to provide additional services to our membership with the budget surplus funds. She noted that PTO budgetary restraints often prevent PTO personnel from being able to put on these types of seminars, but if our section paid their travel expenses, they may be amenable to doing a seminar for our section.
Ms. Collins discussed a conversation she had with Kathy Small from the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office about doing a presentation on the new rule changes and the new electronic filing system. Logistics regarding the section's support of this seminar were discussed including location, attendance, meeting rooms, etc.
Mr. Sims called for a motion from the floor for the section to support this seminar and to develop a budget therefor. Ms. Collins moved that the section put on this seminar, with one location on the west side of the state (Grand Rapids) and one location on the east side of the state (Northern Detroit suburban location such as Auburn Hills) including a budget of $10,000 to include the seminar at both locations. Mr. Hoffman seconded the motion and it carried unanimously.
Ms. Collins and Mr. Underwood agreed to check with the PTO with available upcoming dates and Grand Rapids meeting locations. Ms. Bunting and Mr. Kelley agreed to investigate appropriate centrally-located northern Detroit suburb meeting locations. Messrs. Collins, Underwood, Bunting and Kelley will report back to the section council at the March meeting.
Mr. Baldwin proposed other seminar topics for use of the budget surplus including an intellectual property administrative assistant training seminar.
Law Committees
No substantive discussion was had on the law committees other than that the proposed new seminar on the PTO rule changes addresses the section's efforts in this area.
Old Business
The subject of diversity in our previous meetings was brought up again. Ms. Bunting noted the need for the section to develop a goal for its diversity efforts and perhaps consulting or partnering with any existing diversity committees of the State Bar. One possible avenue for speakers identified by Ms. Bunting are the Societies of Black/Hispanic/Women Engineers. Mr. Sims noted that developing a speaker resource would be an appropriate place for the section to focus its efforts. Possible conventions and shows, such as career days and technology conventions, were identified as well. Mr. Sims agreed to contact the State Bar to investigate whether it has a speaker's bureau available.
New Business
No new business was discussed.
Adjournment
A motion to adjourn was made at 11:49 a.m. by Mr. Baldwin which was seconded by Ms. Collins. The motion was carried unanimously.
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