PRESS RELEASE Contact: Brigid Quinn 703-305-8341 brigid.quinn@uspto.gov July 31, 2003 #03-23 COMMERCE SECRETARY EVANS NAMES NEW MEMBERS TO PATENT AND TRADEMARK PUBLIC ADVISORY COMMITTEES Commerce Secretary Don Evans has appointed three new members to the Patent Public Advisory Committee and an equal number to the Trademark Public Advisory Committee. Members will serve three-year terms. The boards advise the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO on the management of patent and trademark operations. The new members of the Patent Public Advisory Committee are: Rick D. Nydegger, a Salt Lake City, Utah attorney, who will serve as Chair of the Patent Advisory Committee. Nydegger is a founding shareholder, director and officer of Workman, Nydegger and Seeley, a firm specializing in intellectual property law. Nydegger is currently President-Elect of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) and Chairman of the Board of the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation. Andrew Dillon of Austin, Texas, a partner of Bracewell and Patterson, L.L.P., whose practice focuses on patent, trademark and general intellectual property matters primarily in the electronics and software industries. Dillon is an inventor, a prolific author and frequent speaker on patent law and intellectual property related industry issues. Howard J. Klein, a lawyer in Irvine, Calif., who specializes in intellectual property law. Klein is a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the Orange County Bar Association and is a past President of the Orange County Patent Law Association. The new members of the Trademark Public Advisory Committee are: Jeffrey Samuels of Akron, Ohio, who also will serve as Chair of the Committee, and is the David L. Brennan Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Intellectual Property Law and Technology at the University of Akron School of Law. From 1987 to 1993, Samuels was Assistant Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks at the USPTO. Samuels also practices trademark and related unfair competition law and copyright law. Maury M. Tepper, III of Raleigh, N.C., a partner in the law firm of Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge and Rice, PLLC, and previously Director and Trademark Counsel at GlaxoSmithKline. At Glaxo, he was responsible for the company’s U.S. trademark portfolio. He also assisted with licensing and marketing issues. Tepper serves on the Board of Directors of the International Trademark Association, and is chair of its USPTO Subcommittee. Joseph N. Welch, II from Chicago, Ill., a partner in the law firm of Pattishall, McAulifee, Newbury, Hillar and Geraldson. His practice has included intellectual property litigation, trademark registration and transactional matters since 1984. He has co-authored two books on trademark law and has taught trademark law as an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University since 1989. Welch currently serves as Chair of the Trademark Division of the American Bar Association Section of Intellectual Property Law. He also is a member of the AIPLA board. # # #