Maurice Klitzman Award

Sean is part of an association for intellectual property attorneys called the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). The association has an annual conference in Washington D.C. and this year they introduced an award for young corporate attorneys/patent agents called the Maurice Klitzman award. Guess who won? Sean! :) Guess who got to go with him? Me! 

They paid for his airfare, conference fees, hotel, etc. Sean says the coolest part about winning the award was the fact that they set him up with a mentor during the conference and he was able to network with some pretty amazing people. His mentor is a patent attorney for 3M. Other notables he got to meet: David Kappos (Under Secretary of Commerce and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office), Judge Randall Rader (Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals of the Federal Circuit), Paul Michel (Former Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals of the Federal Circuit), and many others.

Receiving the award at the luncheon

From left: Bruce Klitzman (Maurice's son), Sean, David Hill (President AIPLA)

A bit fuzzy since this was taken by cell phone. There was a professional photographer there who took a picture, so I'll post that later if we get a copy.

Photo from the AIPLA newsletter:

Pretty cool. Congrats, Sean!

A HUGE thanks to my sister-in-law Erin and her family, as well as my parents, for adopting two little boys for a few days so I could go!

For anyone who is interested, here is AIPLA's description of the award:

The Maurice Klitzman Award

Through the generosity of the Klitzman Family, and Mrs. Mary Ann Klitzman as the initial benefactor, AIPLA is proud to introduce The Maurice Klitzman Award.  The Award is intended to provide a junior corporate attorney or corporate patent agent the opportunity to attend the AIPLA’s Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. and to be connected with an experienced AIPLA mentor.  The award was established as a lasting and appropriate memorial to Mr. Klitzman, who passed away in January 2010, for his active service to AIPLA, including serving as a member of the Board of Directors and a member of the Amicus Committee, as well as the active role he took in educating many new patent attorneys, both as a senior corporate patent counsel and as an adjunct law professor. His heart and soul were dedicated to training young patent attorneys and helping them to develop a broad approach to IP Law with a conviction to moral principles and ethics.  Mr. Klitzman also promoted and recognized innovation by helping found the National Inventors Hall of Fame.  His career was a unique blend of corporate IP law, heart-felt support for the inventor and shaping the mindset of future IP leaders.