Lawyers Serving Others: Outreach Beyond Legal Services

 

UPDATE: View the video below to learn more about The Girl Scout IP Patch! 

 

On December 13, 2016, Kelly McDow and Abbey Lopez from The Procter and Gamble Company will discuss ways that lawyers can serve others beyond the provision of legal services.  Lawyers have traditionally donated their time through pro bono legal work and other community service. The aspiration to serve runs deep in the legal profession, to the point that it is expressed in our professional creed. Many lawyers desire to serve others in one way or another, but are challenged with finding the time and the best way to make an impact. This program will include a discussion of a lawyer’s call to community service and the role of the lawyer in the community.

Ms. McDow and Ms. Lopez will also discuss The Girls Scout IP Patch. The Girl Scout IP Patch was developed under a partnership between the United States Patent & Trademark Office, the Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation and the Girls Scouts Council of the Nation’s Capital. The initiative is aimed at exposing school aged girls to innovation and the laws that protect and encourage innovation. This presentation will focus on the implementation of this program in Cincinnati and how lawyers can become involved to expand the program’s reach.

The ideals of this program are in line with those of IP attorneys.  Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution, in which intellectual property law is rooted, aims to “promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries….” The implementation of this program offers IP attorneys a unique opportunity to foster the ideals of intellectual property and professionalism by introducing individuals to the legal mechanisms available for them to protect their ideas and creations.

CincyIP also welcomes to the December meeting representatives from the Pro Bono Partnership to discuss initiatives and opportunities for involvement.

About the Speakers

Kelly McDow is a University of Michigan graduate with degrees in chemistry and cellular and molecular biology. She joined Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals as an organic synthetic chemist in 1992. Her work with P&G included the design and synthesis of new chemical entities for musculoskeletal indications. Following her research work, Ms. McDow obtained her J.D. degree in 1997. She joined the Legal Division of The Procter & Gamble Company in 1997, providing intellectual property and other legal support for corporate research, food and beverage, beauty care, and health care technologies. Ms. McDow spent a substantial part of her career as counsel for P&G’s Global Health Care Business where she managed multiple litigations for its Actonel and Asacol pharmaceutical products, as well as the divestiture of the pharmaceutical business in 2010. Afterwards, Ms. McDow led P&G’s intellectual property needs for Global Corporate Functions, having responsibility for P&G’s Transformative Platform Technologies and the Connect + Develop open innovation program. Ms. McDow now holds the position of Associate General Counsel, Innovation, for P&G’s Global Oral Care and Health Care businesses. Her work has included global intellectual property strategy development and freedom to market assessments, legal due diligence assessments in anticipation of licensing and acquisition deals, negotiating and executing transactions, enforcement strategy development, dispute resolution, and litigation management. Ms. McDow served on the Board of Managers for CincyIP (and as the CincyBIO steering committee chair for several years), and currently serves on the Board of Directors for LifeCenter (our region’s organ and tissue donation procurement organization). She is also an active member of the Intellectual Property Owners’ Women in IP Committee (and its Inventor of the Year and Push Forward Initiative subcommittees) and serves non-profit organizations in a variety of pro bono capacities.

Abbey Lopez is Senior Innovation Counsel at Procter & Gamble. She is the global intellectual property coordinator for P&G’s air care business, which includes Febreze and Ambi Pur product lines that together generate over a billion dollars in revenue each year. In this role, she drafts and prosecutes patent applications, advises on freedom to practice and contract issues, handles enforcement matters, and provides day to day counseling on a variety of IP issues. She joined P&G in 2011 after graduating from Michigan State University College of Law. Abbey has a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan. She is a member of CincyIP and the Ohio Women’s Bar Association. Abbey is leading the implementation of the USPTO/IPO Girl Scout Patch initiative at P&G and throughout the Cincinnati area.

 

Presentation Materials Available Upon Request

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