Intellirights appreciates Stephen Siwek of Economists Inc. for sharing insights on some of the key economic issues raised by counterfeiting and piracy. His recent report, Copyright Industries in the U.S. Economy: The 2011 Report, discusses the economic impact and contributions of U.S. copyright industries to U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employment, and trade. His research and interview comments counter the notion that counterfeiting and piracy are harmless, victimless activities.

Dr. David G. Stork, former chief scientist of Ricoh Innovations, was in August 2011 named Distinguished Research Scientist and Research Director at Rambus Labs. Rambus Inc. is a leading technology licensing company.

Professor Jeanne VanBriesen is the director of the Water QUEST (Water Quality in Urban Environmental Systems) Center at Carnegie Mellon University. She has earned three degrees from Northwestern University: a Ph.D. in civil (environmental) engineering (1998); an M.S. in civil (environmental) engineering (1993); and a B.S. in chemistry (1990). Among other groups, Jeanne is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Chemical Society, the American Society of Microbiology, the Association for Environmental Engineering and Science Professors, and the Society of Women Engineers.

David Dzombak is the Walter J. Blenko Sr. professor of civil and environmental engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Professor Dzombak’s interests are aquatic chemistry; the fate and transport of chemicals in water, soil, and sediment; water and wastewater treatment; soil and sediment treatment; abandoned mine drainage remediation; hazardous waste site remediation; river and watershed restoration; energy and environment; population and environment; public communication of environmental engineering and science. He has a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts of Institute of Technology.

Intellirights thoroughly appreciates the opportunity to discuss innovation with Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association. Shapiro shared with us his vision for American prosperity and key points of his best-selling book The Comeback: How Innovation Will Restore the American Dream.

Again, Intellirights thanks William Morris, trademark counsel at UnderArmour, for providing insight on the problems his company faces in dealing with counterfeit goods.

During our interview, Morris was clear that UnderArmour is a high-quality, performance brand, and that the company intends to vigorously enforce its intellectual property rights to protect the brand. We look forward to hearing from him soon with an update on UnderArmour’s progress in this ongoing battle.

In its recent 2011 Special 301 Report, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) framed the global problem of counterfeiting this way:

We want to thank Elmore Leonard, one of America’s most prolific and well known writers, for coming on to talk with Jen Richer about the creative process and commercializing his written works.

Mr. Leonard has a library of books, screenplays, television shows, and films to his credit. Born in New Orleans in 1925, Leonard was drawn to the westerns early in life. In the pre-interview discussion with Eric Yeager, Leonard said that he fell in love with westerns because they were easy stories to tell: a good guy sets out to battle bad guys. For Leonard, that formula was simple, and he learned how to perfect it in his spare time while at a job writing advertising copy.

Intellirights thanks David Strobhar of Beville Engineering for taking time discuss the important research into human factors issues that come into play in protecting and securing refineries and petrochemical plants.

Steven Gordon is an extremely talented and experienced artist who started his career out of high school by working for Ralph Bakshi Productions on the feature film Lord of the Rings, and then on projects for Filmation. He credits artists Mike Ploog and Dave Jonas and animators Irv Spence, Marty Tarras, and Bruce Woodside as early influences. Over the years, he did a stint at Disney Pictures animating on The Black Cauldron, The Great Mouse Detective and also took on freelancing assignments for Hanna-Barbera, Warner Bros TV, Disney TV, DIC and Sabanstudios. Steve was one of the directors and the character designer on X-Men: Evolution and was story artist for the Dreamworks films Madagascar, Moby Dick, Shrek 2and Over the Hedge. In his interview with Intellirights, Steve points out that timing and networking are important keys in the animation industry. He also notes that Twitter is a terrific way to connect to fans, other artists, and potential clients. We thoroughly enjoyed our look at art through the lens of Steven Gordon and await our next meeting with him about other projects down the road.

To learn more about artist Steven Gordon, please visit his site at http://www.stevenegordon.com.

Intellirights thanks Dr. Christian Mammen for taking the time to discuss the doctrine of inequitable conduct and the amicus curiae brief he submitted on behalf of IP law professors in the en banc case of Therasense Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson & Co., Fed. Cir., No. 2008-1511. As noted in an earlier Intellirights story, the Federal Circuit heard oral arguments in that case on November 9, 2010.

Before joining TiVo, Matthew Zinn was Senior Attorney, Broadband Law and Policy for MediaOne in Denver, Colorado. Prior to holding that post, Matt served as Corporate Counsel for Continental Cablevision's Western Region, based in Los Angeles. Matt was also an associate with the Washington, D.C., law firm of Cole, Raywid & Braverman, where he represented cable operators before the Federal Communications Commission. Matt earned his J.D. at the George Washington University National Law Center and his B.A. in political science from the University of Vermont.