Murgitroyd Expands IP Hero Awards Globally to Coincide with IPO 2012

DURHAM, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The IP Hero Awards is entering its second year campaign to raise awareness of extraordinary intellectual property professionals who have made an outstanding contribution to the global IP Industry. Murgitroyd, global IP attorneys, are please to expand the awards globally based on the success of the US awards in 2011. This announcement coincides with the September 9 – 11 Annual Meeting of the IPO Association, being held in San Antonio, Texas.

The IP Hero Awards Campaign, which has its own dedicated web site at http://iphero.net, gives all organizations involved in IP, from litigation firms to corporates and inventors filing for patents, a chance to nominate individuals as “IP Heroes”. Up until July 2012 the Campaign has awarded the title of IP Hero to one person each month. With the global campaign expansion, award selection will move to a quarterly format in order to provide more international scope for the selection process and a broader time frame to feature the winners and their take on current issues in IP.

As the October 2011 winner, the patent litigation attorney, Joseph J. Zito observes, there has probably never been a moment when it was more important for people to step forward as IP Heroes. “There is something of a wave against intellectual property sweeping through American politics and corporate America. Patents are increasingly being cast as impediments to business and as restrictive and strangling to free innovation. In reality, Silicon Valley, with its plethora of great companies, from Microsoft, to Google and Facebook, would never have got off the ground without the protection and surety afforded by patents,” Zito says.

Eric Dobrusin, the November 2011 IP Hero Award winner, specialises in patent counselling and strategic patent prosecution at Dobrusin & Thennisch and comments: “There are some aspects to US patent law that are neutral, but other aspects make it very difficult for companies who do not have access to major cash reserves to get access to the courts and to get their patents through the system. At the same time the law makes it relatively easy for a company with sufficient resources at its disposal to tie up patents in post grant proceedings.”

Dobrusin adds that some aspects of current IP law need to be upheld since it is important to allow established companies to protect their existing revenue streams while continuing to innovate and to bring new products to market at reasonable prices. However, he believes, finding the balance between the rights of established businesses and new entrants with new, ground breaking ideas is key.

IP looks certain to be a hotly debated and hotly contested issue for as far ahead as the eye can see. And as the highly publicised case of Apple against Samsung, which saw Samsung being found guilty of infringing Apple’s patents, demonstrates, the outcome of major IP litigation battles can be hugely significant.

Jamie LeLiever, Global IP Counsel Liaison at Murgitroyd comments: “The global expansion of the IP Hero Awards, an initiative that Murgitroyd is proud to sponsor and administer, but which features independently nominated candidates for the award from across the IP industry, will now provide a global platform to highlight the importance of IP and the work done by IP professionals every day. IP is essential to the health of all economies. The serious and wide ranging debating of key issues in IP and IP legislation across both advanced and emerging markets has a powerful role to play. The expansion of the IP Hero Awards as a quarterly event will enable us to give the Awards the prominence and publicity they deserve.”

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