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.

The popular IPO DAILY NEWS^TM  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 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 "Corporate Patent Management Roundtables," "Managing Corporate IP Today," "Patent Rights in India and China," and "Patent Interferences."  The 2010 Annual Meeting will be held in Atlanta, GA, September 12-14. To view a list of IPO events in IPO's Global IP Calendar^TM 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

In 2010, IPO has 31 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. 2011). 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.

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 2010, the IPO President is Douglas K. Norman (Eli Lilly and Co.), IPO's Vice President is Richard F. Phillips (ExxonMobil Corp.) and the Treasurer is Angelo N. Chaclas (Pitney Bowes Inc.).  To view a complete list of the IPO Board of Directors click here.

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 or e-mail info@ipo.org for more information.