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Law Firm News

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Robinson & Cole LLP

Robinson & Cole Business Lawyer Elected to Board of Directors of the Connecticut AIDS Resource Coalition, Inc.
R&C Business lawyer, Cathryn A. Reynolds, was recently elected as a director of the Connecticut AIDS Resource Coalition, Inc. (CARC). CARC's services include consumer organizing and advocacy, disbursement of housing and client assistance funds, cross training of employment and AIDS service providers, and technical assistance to AIDS housing and AIDS service providers and advocates for those who are experiencing homelessness.

10-24-2006

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O'Melveny & Myers, LLP

Novartis Wins Appeal in Suit against Animal Rights Extremists
O'Melveny client Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Inc., one of the nation's leading biopharmaceutical corporations, won consolidated appeals in its suit against an animal rights group accused of conspiring with protesters who bombed the company's headquarters, harassed employees, and vandalized their homes.

On October 12 San Francisco's First District Court of Appeal unanimously rejected Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty USA's free-speech challenge to Novartis' suit, ruling that there is ample evidence that SHAC USA conspired in illegal attacks upon the homes of employees of Chiron Corp. -- now Novartis -- and therefore is not shielded from Novartis' suit by the state's anti-Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) statute. The court also unanimously upheld the preliminary injunction that Chiron obtained against SHAC.

""SHAC USA, through postings on its Web sites, gave its members essential information for carrying out attacks on the homes of Chiron employees,"" Acting Presiding Justice Paul Haerle wrote for Court of Appeal. ""It named the dates and gathering places, and even supplied its members with the addresses of the targeted Chiron employees. And after these attacks occurred, SHAC USA essentially ratified them by praising them in statements it posted on its Web site.""

The ruling sends the case back to Alameda County Superior Court Judge Steven Brick for further proceedings. Brick had denied SHAC USA's motion to strike claims of harassment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, intrusion, and trespass brought by Novartis on behalf of its employees.

""We're pleased that the ruling has been upheld, that justice was done,"" said Novartis spokesman Eric Althoff. ""The reality was, this went beyond free speech -- this endangered people's lives.""

San Francisco partner Dan Bookin, associates Ben Smietana and Brynly Llyr, and then-associate Steve Swaney led the O'Melveny team. Download the decision.

Novartis sued SHAC USA in February 2004, after two bombs exploded outside of the company's Emeryville headquarters. Kevin Kjonaas, SHAC USA's then-president, made a public statement that his group shared the bombers' passion and that Novartis and its employees should be ""very worried."" SHAC USA also posted links to the group that took responsibility for the bombing.

SHAC USA, Kjonaas, and five other SHAC USA activists were convicted in March 2006 of charges including conspiracy to violate the Animal Enterprise Protection Act, as well as counts of stalking and telephone harassment. Kjonaas was sentenced to six years in prison, and SHAC USA Web site coordinator Jacob Conroy got four years.

SHAC USA admits targeting Novartis for condemnation for having done business with Huntingdon Life Sciences, a British-based research firm accused of abusing animals, but denies organizing any of the attacks or the bombings on Novartis.

10-24-2006

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Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP

Finnegan Henderson Wins Important Trademark Ruling for Professional-Services Certification Mark Owners
Finnegan Henderson successfully represented the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification (NCTRC) in an appeal of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's (PTO) refusal to register the certification mark CERTIFIED THERAPEUTIC RECREATION SPECIALIST on the grounds that the mark was generic or descriptive without secondary meaning. This is a significant decision for owners of professional-services certification marks. Historically, the PTO considered professional-services certification marks consisting of the word CERTIFIED/REGISTERED/PROFESSIONAL coupled with the name of an occupation or position only descriptive and allowed registration on the Supplemental Register or on the Principal Register with a showing of secondary meaning. Contrary to this practice, the PTO refused NCTRC's mark CERTIFIED THERAPEUTIC RECREATION SPECIALIST on the grounds it was generic, and took this same position with numerous other professional-services certification marks. On September 15, 2006, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) reversed the PTO's refusal to register on all grounds.

The TTAB’s decision should prove useful to certification mark owners both in terms of the end result and several key rulings. First, the PTO argued that the genus of services should be narrowly defined as “therapeutic recreation specialists who have been certified.” The TTAB rejected this argument and held that the description of services in the certification mark application is controlling if sufficiently definite. Here, NCTRC’s description of “recreational therapy and recreational therapy counseling” was deemed sufficiently definite to serve as the genus of services. Second, the PTO argued that NCTRC’s mark was simply a large compound term comprised of the generic word CERTIFIED and the job title THERAPEUTIC RECREATION SPECIALIST, so that the whole mark was generic under In re Gould Paper Corp. Second, NCTRC argued that the TTAB should instead follow in In re American Fertility Society, a case handled by Finnegan Henderson, in which the Federal Circuit distinguished between “phrases consisting of multiple terms, which are not 'joined' in any sense other than appearing as a phrase,"" and compound terms “formed by the union of words.” The TTAB agreed with NCTRC and held that CERTIFIED THERAPEUTIC RECREATION SPECIALIST was more like a phrase under American Fertility, and not a compound mark under Gould. Thus, evidence that the separate words “certified” and “therapeutic recreation specialist” were generic was insufficient to prove that the complete phrase CERTIFIED THERAPEUTIC RECREATION SPECIALIST was generic. Finally, in support of acquired distinctiveness, NCTRC submitted evidence of over 15,000 certificants; 20-plus years of use of the mark; over $7 million in revenues over a five-year period; active promotion under the mark; monitoring and policing of proper use of the mark; and recognition of the certification mark by several states. The PTO, however, had rejected this evidence as insufficient. The TTAB, taking into account that NCTRC was a nonprofit certifying organization in a specialized healthcare field, found that NCTRC had engaged in significant marketing activities and earned “impressive” revenues sufficient to establish acquired distinctiveness.

10-24-2006

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Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Davis Wright Tremaine Law Firm Receives “Achievement in Diversity” Award
The Puget Sound Chapter of the Association of Legal Administrators (PSALA) has selected the law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP as the 2007 recipient of PSALA’s Achievements in Diversity award. PSALA presents this award each year to a law firm within the Chapter's membership that has demonstrated exceptional achievements in diversity within the firm. By establishing this award, PSALA's goal is not only to raise awareness and increase sensitivity in the area of diversity but to have the legal community more closely reflect the diversity of the community at large.

The award was presented to Seattle office Partner-in-Charge Susan Duffy at PSALA's managing partner’s dinner on Oct. 18. ""It was a proud moment to hear PSALA President, Evelyn Dunagan, announce our firm’s name as the recipient of this prestigious award"" said Duffy. ""We are honored to be recognized as a leader in this important initiative. Diversity is a core value of our firm. We are committed to furthering diversity both in the legal profession as a whole and within Davis Wright. ”

Davis Wright’s wide ranging diversity program is implemented through the Prism Group, Davis Wright Tremaine's firm-wide diversity/cultural competency committee. With members from nearly every DWT office, the committee represents the cultural, racial, gender, position, geographic, age, seniority and other dimensions of diversity within the firm.

10-24-2006

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Cozen O' Connor

Cozen O'Connor Associate Jeffrey C. Calabrese to Serve Second Term as Co-Chair of Veterans Legal Assistance and Military Law Committee
Jeffrey C. Calabrese has been appointed to a second term as co-chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Section Veterans Legal Assistance and Military Law Committee. Calabrese, an ex-Navy officer, co-founded the committee last year with a law school colleague, an ex-Army paratrooper, Jason Williams, who works for a Chicago law firm. Their goal is to build and make available to the Midwest's military community, a network of attorneys who will provide pro bono legal services for active duty and retired military members, as well as their immediate families.

To date, they have assisted military members on a broad range of issues from counseling on USERRA and related matters prior to deploying in support of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, to family law matters resulting from the strain of war and extended deployments on a marriage. They are presently building a relationship with the Judge Advocate General's office at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center to spread the word with respect to the committee and its services.

Calabrese practices with Cozen O'Connor’s subrogation and recovery department from the firm’s Chicago office. He is admitted to practice in Illinois, before the Illinois Supreme Court and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Northern District of Illinois, Southern District of Indiana and Western District of Missouri.

Calabrese earned his undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University in (B.B.A, 1987). Upon graduating, he served as a U.S. Navy officer for more than 11 years, where he directed numerous amphibious operations and shipboard departments. He also completed graduate studies at the Naval Postgraduate School in national security affairs, strategic planning, international relations and negotiations. He earned his law degree from Southwestern University School of Law (J.D., 2002), where he was a CALI Award recipient for legal research and writing. While in law school, he served as a judicial extern for the Hon. Rodney E. Nelson of the Los Angeles County Superior Court. He also attended Chicago-Kent College of Law as a visiting, third-year student where he was a CALI Award recipient for Jurisprudence.

10-24-2006

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Cozen O' Connor

James F. Desmond, Jr. Joins Cozen O'Connor New York Downtown Office as Associate
James F. Desmond, Jr. recently joined Cozen O'Connor’s New York Downtown office as an associate in the firm’s commercial litigation practice group. He is a former assistant district attorney with the Office of the District Attorney, Suffolk County, New York, where he conducted numerous jury trials, grand jury presentations and felony investigations with federal and state law enforcement agencies. Prior to his appointment as a prosecutor, Desmond served as a judicial extern for The Hon. Richard F. Suhrheinrich of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Desmond has extensive experience defending corporations, professional entities, and individuals against labor law, professional liability, product design defect and claims for commercial property loss.

Desmond is admitted to practice in New York and before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims, U.S. Tax Court and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He is a member of the commercial and federal litigation section of the New York State Bar Association.

Desmond earned his undergraduate degree from Villanova University (B.A., 1991) and his law degree from Michigan State University (J.D., 1999), where he was an editor of the Journal of Medicine and Law and member of the Moot Court Board and National Civil Rights Moot Court Competition Team.

10-24-2006

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Cozen O' Connor

Cozen O’Connor Attorney Richard Mason Serves as Guest Lecturer at American Conference Institute in New York
Cozen O’Connor member Richard C. Mason recently served as a guest lecturer at the American Conference Institute, ""Reinsurance Arbitration,"" in New York. Mason practices in the firm’s Philadelphia office and heads its financial risk transfer practice. He has broad experience in litigating and arbitrating insurance and reinsurance coverage disputes concerning financial risks, environmental coverage and property losses, as well as issues of insurance and reinsurance allocation. His experience includes involvement in such high-profile disputes as the Enron bond insurance coverage dispute, the WorldCom bond default insurance dispute, multibillion-dollar property reinsurance claims in connection with 9/11 losses, and London market reinsurance spiral disputes. His practice also concentrates in complex commercial fraud matters, and other transactional disputes.

Mason is editor-in-chief of the American Bar Association's (ABA) Tort & Insurance Law Journal, and a member of the ABA's Financial Institutions Litigation and Business Litigation Subcommittees; the Excess, Surplus Lines & Reinsurance Subcommittee; and the Financial Institutions Litigation Subcommittee. He is also a member of the New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey State bar associations, and a member of AIDA Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society. He has authored numerous articles, and has been named a Pennsylvania “Rising Star” by Law & Politics.

Richard earned his undergraduate degree from Loyola College (B.A., 1987), and his law degree from the University of Maryland Law School (J.D., with honors, 1991). He is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.

10-24-2006

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