Leahy Institute of Advanced Patent Studies 2024

Marylee previously served as Chairperson of the US Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) from 2016 to 2019 and was a member of PPAC from 2013 to 2019. PPAC reviews the policies, goals, performance, and budget of the USPTO’s patent operations and advises the Director of the USPTO on these matters.

She has practiced IP law for over 30 years, notably founding and leading the firm’s New York IP Group for over 12 years. She counsels Fortune 500 companies, international businesses, and emerging technologies on IP litigation and strategies, portfolio enforcement and management, as well as technology development, licensing, and protection. Her depth of knowledge in IP law enables her to counsel clients from numerous industries on patent, trademark, and copyright matters. She has spent her entire career with an eye toward the future, working with government and legal organizations to improve existing laws and shape new ones as technology rapidly evolves. Marylee’s leadership in the law is buttressed by her commitment to her clients representing numerous industries, including software and computer systems, consumer products and fashion design, information and financial services, biotech and medical devices, food and beverage, and real estate and construction.

About The Naples Roundtable and The Leahy Institute 

Origins of the Original “Phoenix List” to be discussed at the conference: “Upon the creation of the Federal Circuit [in 1982], Chief Judge Howard Thomas Markey created a ‘Phoenix List’  to fulfill what he saw as the “duty of [the new court] of clarify the law of patents itself [which] will require the resolution of numerous apparent conflicts [amongst the circuits] lurking in past decisions and decisional approaches of various courts.”  William C. Rooklidge & Matthew F. Weil, En Banc Review, Horror Pleni, and the Resolution of Patent Law Conflicts, 40 Santa Clara L. Rev. 787, 802 (2000)(citing Howard T. Markey, The Phoenix Court, 10 Am. Pat. L. Ass’n Q.J. 227, 232  (1982)). Following Chief Judge Markey’s lead, The Naples Roundtable identifies current issues in need of clarification. These issues focus our attention, foster our discussion, and inspire us to work toward making the U.S. patent system an “engine of innovation.”