Bruce Lehman

Last updated

Bruce A. Lehman (born September 19, 1945) served from 1993 to 1998 as Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). [1] Lehman is noted for being the first openly gay man to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate. [1]

Contents

Nominated by President Bill Clinton on April 23, 1993, he was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 5, 1993. During this short period of time, he was responsible for significant changes to the United States patent law.

After leaving the USPTO, Lehman founded the International Intellectual Property Institute, a non-profit, non-governmental organization. In 2014 he was appointed by the Secretary General of the United Nations to serve on the High Level Panel on the Feasibility of a Technology Bank for Least Developed Nations. The panel submitted its report to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015.

Biography

Lehman earned a B.A. in 1967 and a J.D. in 1970 from University of Wisconsin–Madison. [2] [3]

He was named "Lawyer of the Year" in 1994 by The National Law Journal . [4]

In 1996 he served as the head of the U.S. delegation to World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on the December 1996 Diplomatic Conference on Certain Copyright and Neighboring Rights Questions. [5]

He chairman the Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights of the National Information Infrastructure Task Force for the Clinton administration and, on September 5, 1997, was appointed, on an interim basis, as acting chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. [4] On June 16, 1997, he was named one of the 100 most influential men and women in Washington by the National Journal . [4]

He has been legal counsel to the Wisconsin State Legislature; the United States House of Representatives, for nine years; and the Committee on the Judiciary and Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties, and the Administration of Justice, in the drafting of the 1976 Copyright Act, the 1980 Computer Software Amendments, and 1982 amendments to the Patent Laws. [3]

He has also worked as an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, as a partner at Swidler & Berlin, for 10 years; and as an officer in the U.S. Army. Lehman is currently a member of the Bar of the District of Columbia. [3]

On February 7, 2006, Lehman was honored as one of 23 inaugural inductees to the newly created International IP Hall of Fame, a project sponsored by London-based Intellectual Asset Management magazine. [6]

Lehman is president and chairman of the International Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI), a non-profit, non-partisan economic development organization based in Washington, D.C. He is also a member of the Legal Advisory Council of LegalZoom. Since 2015, Lehman has focused on advancing the cause of visual artists rights. He serves as an advisor to the Artists Rights Society of the United States and the Association of Medical Illustrators. In that capacity he has filed amicus briefs on behalf of numerous visual artists organizations with the U.S. appellate courts and the United States Supreme Court and has drafted legislation introduced by U.S. Representative Jerrold Nadler that would establish an artists resale royalty right in the U.S., patterned after similar legislation in over 70 countries. Lehman resides in Sarasota, Florida where he serves as a board member of the La Musica chamber music festival.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intellectual property</span> Ownership of creative expressions and processes

Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets. The modern concept of intellectual property developed in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. The term "intellectual property" began to be used in the 19th century, though it was not until the late 20th century that intellectual property became commonplace in most of the world's legal systems.

A patent office is a governmental or intergovernmental organization which controls the issue of patents. In other words, "patent offices are government bodies that may grant a patent or reject the patent application based on whether the application fulfils the requirements for patentability."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Industrial property</span> Intellectual property applied to industry

Industrial property is one of two subsets of intellectual property, it takes a range of forms, including patents for inventions, industrial designs, trademarks, service marks, layout-designs of integrated circuits, commercial names and designations, geographical indications and protection against unfair competition. In some cases, aspects of an intellectual creation, although present, are less clearly defined. The object of industrial property consists of signs conveying information, in particular to consumers, regarding products and services offered on the market. Protection is directed against unauthorized use of such signs that could mislead consumers, and against misleading practices in general.

Intellectual property rights (IPRs) have been acknowledged and protected in China since 1980. China has acceded to the major international conventions on protection of rights to intellectual property. Domestically, protection of intellectual property law has also been established by government legislation, administrative regulations, and decrees in the areas of trademark, copyright, and patent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Design patent</span> US Patent Law

In the United States, a design patent is a form of legal protection granted to the ornamental design of an article of manufacture. Design patents are a type of industrial design right. Ornamental designs of jewelry, furniture, beverage containers and computer icons are examples of objects that are covered by design patents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property</span>

The Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property, or USC(IP), is a senior official in the United States Department of Commerce and the principal advisor to the United States Secretary of Commerce on the intellectual property matters. In tandem, the Under Secretary is also the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office within the Commerce Department, filling dual roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google Patents</span> Search engine from Google that indexes patents and patent applications

Google Patents is a search engine from Google that indexes patents and patent applications.

Scams in intellectual property include scams in which inventors and other rights holders are lured to pay money for an apparently official registration of their intellectual property, or for professional development and promotion of their ideas, but do not receive the expected services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of intellectual property</span> Overview of and topical guide to intellectual property

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to intellectual property:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intellectual property infringement</span> Illegally breaching a monopoly on an idea

An intellectual property (IP) infringement is the infringement or violation of an intellectual property right. There are several types of intellectual property rights, such as copyrights, patents, trademarks, industrial designs, and trade secrets. Therefore, an intellectual property infringement may for instance be one of the following:

Intellectual property organizations are organizations that are focused on copyrights, trademarks, patents, or other intellectual property law concepts. This includes international intergovernmental organizations that foster governmental cooperation in the area of copyrights, trademarks and patents, as well as non-governmental, non-profit organizations, lobbying organizations, think tanks, notable committees, and professional associations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TRIPS Agreement</span> International treaty on intellectual property protections

The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is an international legal agreement between all the member nations of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It establishes minimum standards for the regulation by national governments of different forms of intellectual property (IP) as applied to nationals of other WTO member nations. TRIPS was negotiated at the end of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) between 1989 and 1990 and is administered by the WTO.

Q. Todd Dickinson was an Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). He was an executive director of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), and had been mentioned by some sources for possible reappointment to his former post as director of the USPTO by the Barack Obama administration prior to the appointment of David Kappos to that post.

World Intellectual Property Indicators (WIPI) is an annual statistical report published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The publication provides an overview of the activity in the areas of patents, utility models, trademarks, industrial designs, microorganisms, plant variety protection, geographical indications and the creative economy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Hughes (law professor)</span>

Justin Hughes is the William H. Hannon Professor of Law at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, where he teaches courses in intellectual property law, international trade, and internet law. As a scholar he has emphasized philosophical and historical issues in intellectual property, focusing on copyright, trademarks, and geographical indications. He led United States delegations to international negotiations on copyright.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Kappos</span>

David "Dave" J. Kappos is an attorney and former government official who served as Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) from 2009 to 2013. Kappos is currently a partner at New York law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intellectual property in Iran</span>

Iran is a member of the WIPO since 2001 and has acceded to several WIPO intellectual property treaties. Iran joined the Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property in 1959. In December 2003 Iran became a party to the Madrid Agreement and the Madrid Protocol for the International Registration of Marks. In 2005 Iran joined the Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration, which ensures the protection of geographical names associated with products. As at February 2008 Iran had yet to accede to The Hague Agreement for the Protection of Industrial Designs.

The International Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI) is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation founded in 1999 and located in Washington, DC. An international advocacy organization and think tank, IIPI is dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding of the use of intellectual property as a tool for economic growth, particularly in developing countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intellectual Property Agency of Armenia</span>

The Intellectual Property Agency of Armenia (AIPA) is the patent office of Armenia. The agency works under the supervision of the Ministry of Economy of Armenia and is tasked with granting patent and IP address protections, trademarks, and copyrights for objects of industrial property, inventions and usage patterns, industrial design, and commercial and service marks, among others.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Archives and Records Administration: The Clinton-Gore Administration – A Record of Progress for Gay and Lesbian Americans". Archived from the original on 2013-03-19. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
  2. ↑ Carney, David. "Bruce A. Lehman Biography". techlawjournal.com. Tech Law Journal. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 "IIPI Board of Directors". International Intellectual Property Institute. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 "Lehman to Leave Patent and Trademark Office by End of Year". uspto.gov. United States Patent and Trademark. 23 October 1998. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  5. ↑ Lehman, Bruce (1996). "Global Intellectual Property in the Twenty-First Century". Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal. Book 2. VII (1). Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  6. ↑ "IP Hall of Fame Website". Iphalloffame.com. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.