The American Bar Association’s Section of Intellectual Property Law (ABA-IPL) has confirmed Joseph M. Potenza to serve as Chair-Elect beginning on August 6, 2011. The confirmation took place at the ABA Annual Meeting in Toronto, August 4-9, 2011. Mr. Potenza served as Vice-Chair of the ABA-IPL Section during the 2010-11 term. The ABA-IPL Section is the largest intellectual property organization in the world and the oldest substantive Section of the ABA.
Mr. Potenza will serve in this capacity for the term of one year. Following this role, Mr. Potenza will serve as Chair of the ABA-IPL Section during the 2012-13 term.
Mr. Potenza formerly served as the Publications Officer and Chair of the Content Advisory Board for the ABA-IPL Section. He served on the Section Council for four years and as Section Secretary for three years. Mr. Potenza is the former Federal Circuit representative for the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, responsible for evaluating all Article III federal judicial nominees on behalf of the ABA. He is also a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Publishing Oversight where he continues to serve as a Special Advisor.
Previously, Mr. Potenza served as Chair of Division VI – Litigation, Alternative Dispute Resolution and Related Issues, and the committees on Patent System Policy Planning, Public Information, Trial and Appellate Rules and Procedure, and Young Lawyers. Mr. Potenza is also a former Chair of the ABA Section of Science & Technology Law.
Mr. Potenza is a senior shareholder and practices in the Washington, DC office of Banner & Witcoff, Ltd. He concentrates on litigation, Section 337 investigations at the United States International Trade Commission, licensing, counseling on patent and copyright matters, and the preparation and prosecution of patent and copyright applications. He is a founding member, Past President and a Fellow of the Giles S. Rich American Inn of Court, and has been an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center since 1985.
About the ABA-IPL Section
The 25,000-member ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law advances the development of intellectual property laws and their fair and just administration. As the forum for rich perspectives and balanced insight on the full spectrum of IP law, the section serves as the ABA voice on intellectual property law issues within the profession, before policymakers and with the public.
With nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the world’s largest voluntary professional membership organization. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.
Posted: August 5, 2011