ABOUT IPO
Intellectual Property Owners Association
(IPO), established in 1972, is a trade association for owners of
patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. IPO is the only
association in the U.S. that serves all intellectual property owners in
all industries and all fields of technology.
The association advocates effective and
affordable IP ownership rights and provides a wide array of services to
members. It concentrates on: supporting member interests relating
to legislative and international issues; analyzing current IP issues;
providing information and educational services; and disseminating
information to the general public on the importance of intellectual
property rights.
Government Affairs:
Promoting the Interests of the Owner
IPO advocates effective protection for
patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets, and also urges laws
that provide reasonable certainty to avoid undue litigation. IPO
positions are communicated to Congress, the U.S. Copyright Office, the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the U.S. Trade Representative and
other agencies.
During the 110th Congress, IPO’s primary
focus is on patent reform legislation. IPO members file about 30
percent of the patent applications that are filed at the USPTO by U.S.
nationals. IPO supports reforms that
enhance the quality of patents granted, reduce the uncertainty and
increasing costs of litigation and change the U.S. patent system to a
first-inventor-to-file system. IPO will also continue throughout
this session to support legislation to end the diversion of user fees
away from the USPTO towards unrelated government programs.
A Unique Resource:
Information for You Not Available Elsewhere
The popular IPO DAILY
NEWSTM is e-mailed to IPO members
every business day. It summarizes all precedential patent and trademark
opinions of the U.S. Court of Appeals, usually within 48 hours after
they are issued. It also includes brief items on lawsuits, legislation,
and IPO association activities. Other materials are mailed to IPO
members, including IPO's annual list of TOP 300 Corporations Receiving
U.S. Patents. The IPO staff is available by telephone to provide varied
information and documents at the request of members. The IPO website (www.ipo.org) has over
5,000 web pages.
IPO
Meetings, Education and Networking:
Building Relationships with Your Peers and Participating in the
Association's Work
IPO provides several educational
and networking opportunities each year that bring together experts from
the United States and abroad to discuss trends and recent development in
IP law.
IPO meetings include the IPO
Annual Meeting, which is held in a major U.S. city each fall,
committee-sponsored CLE programs such as "ADR in the IP Context,"
"Managing Corporate IP Today," "Patent 'Trolls' and Patent Property
Rights," and "PTO Appellate and Interference Practice in the New
Millennium." The 2009 Annual Meeting will be held in Chicago, IL,
September 13-15. To view a list of IPO events in IPO's Global IP
CalendarTM click here.
Public
Awareness:
Educating the Public About Intellectual Property Rights
IPO views public education concerning
intellectual property rights as an increasingly important issue.
IP is being challenged in connection with controversies over access to
AIDS treatments and other medicines, issues of "open source" licensing,
piracy through web-based song swapping services, and the desire of
developing countries to protect "traditional knowledge." Moreover,
government officials are reexamining the IP-antitrust interface.
IPO Education Foundation works to
increase public awareness on the importance of technology and patents to
U.S. industry and the national economy by honoring an outstanding
American inventor each year with the National Inventor of the Year
Award. The award, which is administered by IPO Education
Foundation, has been given each year since 1974 to an outstanding
American inventor whose work has been patented or made commercially
available recently. Past winners include some of the country's
best-known inventors. The association holds a reception on Capitol Hill
each spring in connection with the awards.
IPO Standing IP
Committees
IPO has 29 Standing IP
Committees, which address seven areas of intellectual property practice.
Committees prepare reports on current issues in front of the courts,
government agencies and Congress and develop policy recommendations for
adoption by the IPO Board of Directors.
All members of IPO are encouraged to join a committee. IPO strives to balance committee membership both by
involving various industries and by involving both corporate and private
practice. IPO members can serve on only one committee at a
time. Appointments are made by the IPO President and are
for a two-year cycle (currently ending Dec. 2009). To learn more about
IPO's committees click here.
Membership
The membership of Intellectual Property
Owners Association includes more than 250 companies and 10,000
individuals involved in IPO through their companies or as inventors,
authors, executives, university, law firms or individual attorney
members.
IPO is a nonprofit association with a tax exemption under the Internal
Revenue Code section 501(c)(6). Dues are deductible as ordinary and
necessary business expenses for income tax purposes, but are not
deductible as charitable contributions. For a dues schedule and
more information about becoming a member of IPO click here.
Directors and
Officers
Most members of IPO's Board of
Directors are chief intellectual property counsel in U.S.
companies. The board also includes an independent inventor or small
business owner. For 2009, the IPO President is Steven W. Miller (Procter
& Gamble Co.). IPO's Vice President is David J. Kappos (IBM
Corp.). The Treasurer is Douglas K. Norman (Eli Lilly and
Co.). To view a complete list of the IPO Board of Directors
click here.
Inquiries and
Suggestions Invited
Everyone
interested in intellectual property rights is cordially
invited to join IPO. Membership applications are available from the IPO
office and on this website. If you have questions about membership or
suggestions for how IPO can become more effective, any IPO officer or
director will be pleased to hear from you. Call 202/507-4500 for more
information.
