The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times

PTO Adds to Its Government Affairs Team

By Sheri Qualters

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office continues to seed its leadership ranks with private-sector intellectual property lawyers.

Dana Colarulli, the director of government relations for the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), will join the PTO's Office of Governmental Affairs on Dec. 14. Colarulli will be a legislative attorney-adviser at the government affairs unit and join a team of about a half-dozen professionals, said PTO spokesman Peter Pappas.

“Dana brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in intellectual property,” Pappas said. “He will provide much needed bench depth to our [Office of Governmental Affairs] team and we very much look forward to having him join us.”

Colarulli, who referred questions about his move to the PTO, is leaving the IPO on Dec. 9, according to the organization’s newsletter. At the IPO, Colarulli developed close ties with numerous private-sector lawyers through his role as staff liaison to 15 of the association’s standing committees and overall committee coordinator.

“In more than seven years with IPO, Dana has contributed enormously to strengthening the government relations and committee programs of IPO,” stated IPO’s executive director, Herb Wamsley, in the newsletter. “He will be a great asset to the USPTO.”

The PTO has hired several high-profile private-sector intellectual property lawyers just prior to and since David Kappos’ Aug. 7 Senate confirmation as PTO director. Before joining the PTO, Kappos was vice president and assistant general counsel for intellectual property law at International Business Machines Corp.

More recently, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke tapped Sharon Barner as deputy director of the PTO on Oct. 2. Barner was a partner in the Chicago office of Foley & Lardner, who chaired its intellectual property department.

D.C. Court of Appeals Seeks Comment on IOLTA Proposed Changes

The District of Columbia Bar is looking to join the more than 40 state bars around the country that have made participation in a trust program mandatory.

Proposed changes to the D.C. Rules of Professional Conduct governing interest on lawyers' trust accounts, or IOLTA, are under review at the D.C. Court of Appeals. The court is seeking public comment on the proposal, which was recommended by the D.C. Bar Board of Governors.

Click here for a copy of the D.C. Bar’s proposal, submitted to the court in September. The D.C. Court of Appeals notice is here.

The rule change would require all members of the D.C. Bar who receive IOLTA-eligible funds to participate in the IOLTA program. Under the current rule, there is an opt-out provision. There are two exceptions to the proposed rule: a lawyer must first obey court orders regarding how client money is held; and the lawyer doesn’t have to participate in the D.C. IOLTA program if the lawyer is participating in the IOLTA program where the lawyer is licensed and principally practices.

The D.C. Bar’s board also recommended adopting interest rate comparability provisions for the banks in which lawyers hold client money. The banks that want to qualify as approved depositories must agree to provide certain interest rates on IOLTA accounts.

D.C. Bar officials say the proposed rule changes, if adopted, would increase both the revenue from D.C. IOLTA accounts and the interest paid by banks on money held in those accounts. “We’re all hopeful this will increase IOLTA revenue,” said a D.C. Bar official, Hope Todd, assistant director for legal ethics. The D.C. Bar Foundation distributes interest money to local legal service providers.

The deadline for written comments is January 4. Send ten copies of any comment to the clerk of the D.C. Court of Appeals, 430 E Street, N.W., Suite 209, Washington, D.C. 20001. Any comment submitted to the court will be made available to the public.

Carving out Thanksgiving Lobbying

Thanksgiving is a time to talk turkey. So we decided to check in with the interests that advocate for your Thanksgiving meal.

It turns out that they're trying to take a holiday this week, too.

"We try as hard as possible not to confuse the legislative regulatory issues...with what is a uniquely American holiday," said Joel Brandenberger, president of the National Turkey Federation, which has spent $240,000 so far this year lobbying over the agriculture appropriations bill, avian influenza, and climate change, among other things.

Brandenberger said he always hopes the association doesn't have a big issue before Congress in November. "We don't want to even create an appearance that we're mixing our members' government affairs business with the business of making sure Americans enjoy their holiday."

Of course, lobbyists for the National Turkey Federation still wind up fielding their share of cooking questions. Brandenberger said he's answered questions on the Hill ranging from whether he deep-fries his Thanksgiving turkey (he doesn't) to where one could find a heritage bird. The most popular question: "Why do I always fall asleep after I eat my Thanksgiving meal?" On that one, Brandenberger is quick to deflect blame from the birds. "The answer was because you eat so many more carbs at your Thanksgiving meal," he said.

The cranberry folks, too, lay low at Thanksgiving. "Maybe we should pardon a cranberry, huh?" joked Jeff LaFleur, executive director of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association. The Cape Cod association, along with the Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association, pushed for $1.25 million in research funds in the agriculture appropriations bill, but doesn't have any big issues right now.

"Everyone in the office gets free cranberries here," offered William Broydrick of Broydrick & Associates, which represents both growers' associations. Asked if he makes his own cranberry sauce, he said that "you'll have to ask my wife."

Cranberry giant Ocean Spray, meanwhile, has spent $300,000 with Cassidy & Associates so far this year, lobbying on everything from free trade agreements to the new federal dietary guidelines (they want mention of the health benefits of cranberry juice).

And the Georgia Pecan Growers Association, which has spent $30,000 with lobbyist Robert Redding Jr. so far this year, wants to be eligible for a subsidized school lunch program meant to provide more fruits and vegetables to students. But during the holiday season, they're concentrating on raising awareness in Georgia, said association president Hilton Segler.

"Our commissioner of agriculture has declared...that November is pecan month in the state of Georgia," Segler said.

Lawyer for Prosecutor Seeks Supreme Court Review of Immunity Ruling

Federal prosecutor Daniel Zachem has a lot riding on a pro se civil suit against him that alleges he participated in a conspiracy to violate the rights of a D.C. Superior Court grand juror.

But the suit has far-reaching implications for all federal prosecutors, and so Zachem’s lawyer wants the U.S. Supreme Court to pick up the case and reverse an appellate ruling this year that narrowed the scope of prosecution immunity from suit.

Zachem’s attorney, Michael Martinez, a partner at Crowell & Moring in D.C., said this week he is planning to file a petition for certiorari in January. Justice John Paul Stevens this month extended the deadline, which had been Nov. 23.

Zachem, an assistant U.S. attorney in D.C., “has determined that this is a case important enough, both personally and professionally, that it warrants a petition for certiorari,” Martinez said in court papers filed in the Supreme Court (.pdf) this month. “Indeed, the case presents important issues regarding the parameters of the absolute immunity defense for prosecutors.”

The Morning Wrap

Whose Church?: A schism over doctrine in the Episcopal Church has triggered some ugly legal battles over assets, The Wall Street Journal reports. In civil courts nationwide, breakaway parishes are fighting local dioceses and the national church for property, including financial accounts and endowments.

Health-care and Bankruptcy: The New York Times reports that the share of personal bankruptcies caused by illness is growing, according to bankruptcy lawyers and court officials. "This has really become the insurance system for the country," one trustee said.

Lawyer Charged with Hiring Hitman: A New Jersey defense lawyer, who is a former federal prosecutor, has pleaded not guilty to a 39-count indictment for charges including murder and drug trafficking, the New Jersey Law Journal reports via Law.com. According to investigators, the lawyer traveled to Chicago to hire a hitman to murder a cooperating witness who was set to testify against his client.

Merger Pressure: Reuters reports that 59 senators, including John Kerry and Orrin Hatch, have urged European antitrust regulators to conclude an investigation of the Oracle and Sun Microsystems merger and justify any further delay in making a decision on the deal. The U.S. Justice Department gave its OK in August.

No Defense Wounds: Kentucky investigators said Tuesday that the death of a U.S. Census worker was a suicide arranged to look like a murder so his family would get a big insurance payout, The Associated Press reports.

Sotomayor's Name Still Turning Up in Senate Races

The nomination of Justice Sonia Sotomayor continues to resonate in races for the U.S. Senate, four months after she was confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The latest example comes from California, where two Republicans running for their party's nomination have split on whether they would have supported Sotomayor.

Carly Fiorina, a former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard, said Monday that she probably would have voted for Sotomayor because “she seemed qualified.” A spokesman for Chuck DeVore, a state legislator, said that DeVore would not have because he favors only nominees who are against abortion rights.

One blogger for the San Francisco Chronicle suggested that Fiorina’s statement could be a controversial move among GOP primary voters, regardless of Sotomayor’s qualifications. But if she makes it to the general election against incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer (D), Fiorina would face an electorate with a large Hispanic population that presumably supports Sotomayor, the first Hispanic justice.

Other states where Senate candidates have spoken out about Sotomayor include Connecticut, Florida, and New Hampshire.

FTC Clears Panasonic / Sanyo Deal

The Federal Trade Commission today approved the $9 billion merger of Panasonic Corp. and Sanyo Electronic Co. - on one condition.

To satisfy the FTC's anti-competitive concerns, Sanyo must sell its portable nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery business, including a manufacturing plant in Japan. The two companies are the world's largest makers of such batteries, which power products including two-way radios used by police and fire departments throughout the United States.

The battery business will be sold to FDK Corp., a subsidiary of Fujitsu Ltd., within 15 days of Panasonic’s acquisition of Sanyo. Included in the divestiture is the Sanyo plant in Takasaki, Japan, that produces about 30 percent of all NiMH batteries worldwide. The order also requires Sanyo to provide FDK with access to select Sanyo employees, and to transfer all licenses, patents, and other intellectual property related to its batteries to FDK.

“Our nation’s police and fire departments rely on portable nickel metal hydride batteries to power the two-way radios that they use every day as part of their public safety missions,” said Richard Feinstein, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition in a Nov. 24 statement. “The consent order announced today protects consumers by preserving competition in the market for these critical batteries.”

The commission vote was 4–0.

Panasonic was represented by Ann Malester, a partner in the Washington office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Sanyo turned to Arman Oruc of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in Washington.

Hogan & Hartson Senior Advisor Wins Asian Peace Prize

A Washington-based senior advisor to Hogan & Hartson is in the Philippines today being awarded an international peace prize alongside a U.S. congressman, a world-famous boxer and a Tony award-winning actress.

President Gloria Arroyo of the Philippines will present Christine Warnke with the Gusi Peace Prize in economics and humanitarianism at a banquet in Manila.

Warnke is one of this year’s 20 international recipients recognized for “working toward the attainment of peace and respect for human life and dignity,” according to the prize’s Web site. The awards cover such fields as science, sports, performing arts and politics.

Warnke, a government affairs advisor at Hogan & Hartson, is recognized for her involvement with humanitarian, business and health initiatives, particularly her work in Africa, said prize spokesman George Bistis. Bistis said he has been familiar with her work for years, and referenced Warnke’s efforts delivering wheelchairs to South Africa, building a hospital in Congo and fighting human trafficking in Romania among her accomplishments.

“There were so many countries,” Bistis said. “It was very impressive work that she has done, particularly for human rights, dignity and equality among sexes.”

Warnke, a native Washingtonian, works with several nonprofit organizations and said she was drawn to this work early on after spending part of her childhood in Sao Paolo, Brazil. “Growing up as a child and seeing it and watching kids on the street growing up in cardboard boxes really impacted me,” she said. “There are people living this way. Really destitute.”

Her next projects will be helping deliver wheelchairs to the Philippines (with help from Deepak Chopra) and encourage Angolans to register their children at birth so they can be citizens of the country, she said.

Meantime, she added, it’s rewarding to be honored among a class of noted humanitarians. “You feel like you’re among Mother Teresas here,” she said. “It’s very humbling.”

The only other American laureate this year is Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.), who is recognized in the category of legislation for introducing into Congress the Filipino World War II Veterans Act, which extended equal veteran status to Filipino veterans. The act passed in February as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Among this year’s other recipients are seven-time world champion boxer Manny Pacquiao; Tony award-winning Philippine singer and actress Lea Salonga; Russian painter Alexey Steele; Princess Fuziah Raza Uda of Malaysia; and Ali Nasuh Mahruki, the first Muslim and the first Turk to climb Mt. Everest.

The Gusi Peace Prize is named for Capt. Gemeniano Javier Gusi, a Filipino guerrilla who fought against Japan during World War II before becoming a politician and a human rights activist. It’s administered by the nonprofit Gusi Peace Prize Foundation.

Former laureates include actor Anthony Quinn, U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), and noted forensic scientist Henry Lee, of TV show Forensic Files fame. For a complete list of this year's and past winner, visit the prize’s Web site.

Tennessee Man Sentenced to 14 Years for Mosque Fire

A 24-year-old man who firebombed a mosque in Columbia, Tenn., last year was sentenced yesterday to a little more than 14 years in federal prison on charges of destruction of religious property and use of fire to commit a felony.

The defendant, Michael C. Golden, pleaded guilty earlier this month before Senior Judge Robert Echols of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Golden, represented by Michael Flanagan, a solo practitioner in Nashville who was court-appointed, admitted he constructed Molotov cocktails and used them to destroy the Islamic Center of Columbia in February 2008. Flanagan said in an interview that Golden was a follower, not a leader in the criminal activity.

A co-defendant painted swastikas and the phrase “White Power” on the building, the Justice Department said. Two co-defendants have pleaded guilty and are scheduled to be sentenced next month.

“The right to worship without fear of this kind of violent interference is among our most fundamental civil rights,” Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, said in a statement on Nov. 23. “We will aggressively prosecute anyone who seeks to intimidate or injure any congregation because of what they believe, how they worship or who they are.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal McDonough from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nashville and Jonathan Skrmetti, a Civil Rights Division trial attorney, prosecuted the case.

The Morning Wrap

Overcriminalization?: What do you call it when former AG Edwin Meese III begins to agree with the American Civil Liberties Union? The New York Times calls it "an emerging consensus on the right that the criminal justice system is an aspect of big government that must be contained."

Today's Ponzi News: The alleged Ponzi scheme at Florida law firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler helped subsidized the firm's salaries to the tune of $10 million a year, the Daily Business Review of south Florida reports via Law.com.

Drywall Testing: Federal regulators say there is a "strong association" between chemicals emitted by Chinese drywall and metals corrosion, a finding that could pave the way for the government to help homeowners facing billions of dollars in repair bills, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Silverdome Saga: A state judge in Michigan agreed Monday to allow the controversial sale of the Pontiac Silverdome to a Toronto firm for $583,000, lifting a restraining order that had stalled the sale for a week, the Detroit Free Press reports.

So Long, Farewell: Staffers at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia celebrated the retirement of long-time clerk of the court Nancy Mayer-Whittington with a song-and-dance number in the second floor ceremonial courtroom. The Washington Post obtained a video taken on an attendee’s phone.