Topic: Encapsulating Product Packaging Trade Dress

Date: Friday, March 21

The 3rd Annual Business Law Review Symposium virtually brought together prominent intellectual property academics and practitioners to discuss how firms establish rights in trade dress (the packaging and configuration of their goods) in U.S. law and internationally, how those rights are infringed, and the consequences of that infringement. 

Available CLE Credits:

• 6.0 general

• 6.0 business litigation

  Recording Pt.1     Recording Pt.2 

Schedule

Friday, March 21

9:00 a.m. – Welcome

Opening remarks to begin the day's program.

9:15 a.m. – Peter Yu (Fred Abbott comments)

Professor Peter Yu presented his latest research, offering insights into the intersections of intellectual property, global innovation, and legal frameworks influencing international policy.

10:15 a.m. – Break

Refreshments and transition period.

10:30 a.m. – Jan Osei-Tutu (Lauren Scholz comments)

Professor Janewa Osei-Tutu shared her current work focusing on international law, intellectual property, and the global dynamics shaping creative and economic development. 

11:30 a.m. – Jake Linford (Jacob Eisler comments)

A research presentation on trademark law, communication theory, and consumer perception.

12:30 p.m. – Lunch

Midday break for attendees.

1:30 p.m. – Michael Keyes (Justin Sevier comments)

A presentation on contemporary issues in intellectual property enforcement, digital technologies, and legalities surrounding innovation. 

2:30 p.m. – Felicia Caponigri (Ruth Vafek comments)

Professor Felicia Caponigri discussed cultural heritage law, fashion law, and the preservation of artistic identity within global legal systems.

3:30 p.m. – Reception

Closing reception for networking and discussion.

Featured Speakers

 

Felicia Caponigri is an American lawyer and comparative cultural heritage, art, and fashion law scholar. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at Chicago-Kent College of Law in Chicago, Illinois, and a Guest Scholar at the IMT School for Advanced Studies in Lucca, Italy. Her work has been published in the Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property, and the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal, among other law reviews, and her current project on Color and Cultural Functionality is forthcoming in the American University Law Review. Caponigri hosts a podcast, A Fashion Law Dinner Party which explores issues at the nexus of law, design, and heritage. She has written op-eds and articles for industry news outlets, including The Fashion Law. 

J. Michael Keyes is an intellectual property trial attorney at Dorsey + Whitney LLP. He has a vast reservoir of experience in cases involving trademarks, copyrights, and false advertising, including individual consumer and class action claims. Keyes and his team have represented some of the world’s most recognized brands and companies in high-stakes litigation in numerous federal courts across the country, including Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, Utah, and Florida.  These disputes have encompassed a wide array of subject matters, including medical diagnostics software, online games and apps, Google Ads, social media, e-books, consumer products, food and beverage, fashion, sports equipment, educational testing tools, and hospitality services. Keyes is a leading voice on consumer survey evidence, regularly presenting at national conferences and events hosted by the ABA, AIPLA, PLI, Strafford, and AAPOR (the American Association for Public Opinion Research). His insights on survey research have also been shared with students and faculty at esteemed law school institutions, including the University of Notre Dame, Franklin Pierce Law Center, and Gonzaga University.

Jake Linford is the Loula Fuller & Dan Myers Professor and Associate Dean for Research at the Florida State University College of Law. He focuses his scholarship on trademarks, copyright, and contract law. He teaches Trademarks and Unfair Competition, Contracts, Copyright, Information Privacy, and various IP and tech-related seminars. His scholarship empirically tests and theoretically reassesses key trademark and copyright doctrines and has been published in leading law reviews, including The Georgetown Law Journal, Notre Dame Law Review, and Minnesota Law Review.

J. Janewa Osei-Tutu is a Professor of Law at the University of Miami School of Law. She teaches Contract Law and Trademark Law. Her research focuses on the societal impacts of intellectual property rights, with a particular focus on the effects on developing countries. She has published widely on IP, human development, human rights, and traditional knowledge/traditional cultural expressions. She has authored several chapters for books published by leading academic presses such as Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press, as well as several articles in reputable U.S. law journals. Osei-Tutu’s current research explores the right of publicity and intangible cultural heritage. Professor Osei-Tutu serves as the Co-Chair of the IP Committee for the American Branch of the International Law Association and as a member of the Editorial Board of the American Intellectual Property Association (AIPLA) Quarterly Journal. Osei-Tutu co-founded the Junior Intellectual Property Scholars Association (JIPSA) and is active in professional organizations such as the AIPLA and the International Trademark Association (INTA).

 

 

Peter K. Yu is a University Distinguished Professor, Regents Professor of Law and Communication, and Director of the Center for Law and Intellectual Property at Texas A&M University. He previously held the Kern Family Chair in Intellectual Property Law at Drake University Law School and was Wenlan Scholar Chair Professor at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in Wuhan, China. He served as a visiting professor of law at Bocconi University, Hanken School of Economics, Hokkaido University, Tel Aviv University, the University of Haifa, the University of Helsinki, the University of Hong Kong, the University of Strasbourg and Washington and Lee University. He also founded the nationally renowned Intellectual Property & Communications Law Program at Michigan State University, at which he held faculty appointments in law, communication arts and sciences, and Asian studies. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Professor Yu is a leading expert in international intellectual property and communications law. He also writes and lectures extensively on international trade, international and comparative law, and the transition of the legal systems in China and Hong Kong. A prolific scholar and an award-winning teacher, he is the author or editor of nine books and more than 200 law review articles and book chapters. He is Vice-President and Co-Director of Studies of the American Branch of the International Law Association and has served as the general editor of The WIPO Journal published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). He is an elected member of the American Law Institute and sits on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Germany.

​

Topic: Perspectives in Bankruptcy Law

Date: January 26, 2024, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

The symposium brought together prominent bankruptcy judges, practitioners, and academics to discuss topics including the causes of and trends in insolvency, historical development of bankruptcy law, and current and developing substantive and procedural bankruptcy issues. 

View the schedule     

Available CLE Credits:
• 5.5 general
• 5.5 business litigation

Featured Speakers

Professor Bruce A. Markell was appointed the professor of bankruptcy law and practice at Northwestern in 2015. From 2013 to 2015, he was the Jeffrey A. Stoops professor of law at Florida State University College of Law, and prior to that, he was a United States bankruptcy judge for the District of Nevada. After law school, Markell clerked for then-judge Anthony M. Kennedy on the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Before taking the bench, he practiced bankruptcy and business law in Los Angeles for ten years and was a law professor for fourteen years. He is the author of numerous articles on bankruptcy and commercial law, and a co-author of four law school casebooks. He has been a visiting professor at, among other schools, Peking University School of Law in Beijing and Harvard Law School. He contributes to Collier on Bankruptcy and is a member of Collier’s editorial advisory board. He is a conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference, a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, a charter member of the International Insolvency Institute, and a member of the American Law Institute. He is a founding member of the NITA-trained faculty of the Advanced Consumer Bankruptcy Practice Institute. Markell also consults with the International Monetary Fund on insolvency-related issues (having been part of the IMF’s missions to Ireland, Bosnia, Belarus, Montenegro, Serbia, Georgia, and Greece), and was the primary drafter of Kosovo’s current bankruptcy law. He is an associate editor of the Bankruptcy Law Letter and regularly contributes articles to that publication. In 2022, Markell received the Lawrence P. King Award from the Commercial Law League of America.

Professor Robert W. Miller is an assistant professor of law at the University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law. He was previously a partner in the corporate restructuring department of Manier & Herod, P.C. in Nashville, Tennessee. His practice focused on the representation of insurance companies in large national and international insolvency matters as well as chapter 11 trustees and unsecured creditors' committees in regional cases. He also taught the Business Associations class at the Nashville School of Law. Prior to practicing, Miller served as the law clerk for the Honorable William L. Stocks of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. He is a graduate of the Emory University School of Law. 

Professor Ralph Brubaker, considered a leading bankruptcy scholar, is the James H.M. Sprayregen professor of law at the Illinois College of Law. Brubaker rejoined the Illinois faculty in 2004, returning to his alma mater after serving as a member of the faculty at the Emory University School of Law for 10 years, where he was also the faculty adviser to the Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal. Brubaker previously clerked for Judge James K. Logan, of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Later, he practiced in the bankruptcy and corporate reorganization group of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey (now Squire Patton Boggs) in Cleveland, Ohio. Brubaker is co-author of "Bankruptcy Law: Principles, Policies, and Practice" (with Charles J. Tabb) and has written dozens of journal articles and essays exploring all facets of federal bankruptcy law, particularly Chapter 11 corporate reorganizations and the complex jurisdictional and procedural aspects of federal bankruptcy proceedings. He was awarded the 2003 Editors’ Prize from The American Bankruptcy Law Journal for his article, “Of State Sovereign Immunity and Prospective Remedies: The Bankruptcy Discharge as Statutory Ex parte Young Relief,” 76 American Bankruptcy Law Journal 461 (2002). Brubaker is the editor-in-chief and a contributing author for West’s Bankruptcy Law Letter, and he has served on the editorial advisory boards of The American Bankruptcy Law Journal and the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review. He is a member of the American Law Institute, a conferee of the National Bankruptcy Conference, and a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, for which he has served as the scholar-in-residence. Brubaker has been a member of the executive committee of the board of directors for the American Bankruptcy Institute, and he was a member of the advisory committee on 363 sales for the ABI’s 2014 Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11.

Professor Steve R. Johnson is the Dunbar Family Professor of Law at the Florida State University College of Law. Johnson has received numerous teaching awards. His courses include Taxation, Business Planning, Bankruptcy, Legislation, and Administrative Law. He also works with Florida State’s highly successful moot court program and has coached a national championship team and many other award-winning Florida State teams in moot court competitions around the country.
Johnson is the author of two casebooks and scores of articles and book chapters in leading U.S. and foreign publications. His work has been cited in many decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal and state tribunals. He has been quoted in hundreds of media reports, been a featured speaker at over 100 professional and academic conferences and has served as a consultant to Congress and federal courts and agencies. He has been a featured columnist for State Tax Notes and an associate editor of the American Bar Association Section of Taxation News Quarterly. Before teaching law, Johnson practiced law at a large New York City law firm, served as a senior attorney with the IRS Chief Counsel’s Office, and served as a special assistant United States attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Judge Karen K. Specie was appointed to the bench on July 25, 2012. She serves as the chief and only bankruptcy judge for the Northern District of Florida, presiding over cases in Tallahassee, Gainesville, Panama City, and Pensacola. Judge Specie began her legal career with a law firm on the 28th floor of the RCA building in mid-town Manhattan, New York, representing creditors in commercial litigation and bankruptcy. From there she relocated to Tampa, where she practiced with then Fowler, White, Boggs, et. al. She since has practiced solo and as a shareholder with firms in Gainesville; just prior to taking the bench, Judge Specie was of counsel to Akerman LLP as part of its Bankruptcy and Reorganization practice group in Jacksonville, Florida. While in private practice, Judge Specie focused on commercial litigation and commercial and consumer bankruptcy cases throughout Florida and the Southeast. Judge Specie has taught Bankruptcy and Secured Transactions as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where she still teaches Advanced Bankruptcy. She has served as a Chapter 7 Panel Trustee for the Northern District of Florida; is a founder of the Federal Bar Association for North Central Florida; and has been a member of the Bankruptcy/UCC Committee of the Business Law Section of The Florida Bar since the early 1990s. Judge Specie currently serves on the Executive Council of the Florida Bar Business Law Section, is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, and is a member of ABI, INSOL, IWIRC, and NCBJ. In 2018, Judge Specie chaired the committee that organized and presented the Bankruptcy Roundtable at the Eleventh Circuit Judicial Conference. In addition to traveling throughout the Northern District to perform her judicial duties, Judge Specie routinely speaks at CLE programs for various organizations such as The Florida Bar, the Alabama Bar Association, the Jacksonville Bankruptcy Bar Association, and the Northern District of Florida Bankruptcy Bar Association.

On Friday, February 10, 2023, we hosted scholars from around the nation for a symposium organized by our Florida State University Business Review. The thought-provoking inaugural symposium, entitled “New Frontiers in Organizational Law,” focused on the rapidly evolving law of organizations, particularly LLCs, and the impact changes in the law are having on businesses and industry professionals. Professors Christopher Bradley, University of Kentucky College of Law; Joan Heminway, University of Tennessee College of Law; Daniel Kleinberger, Mitchell Hamline School of Law; and Elizabeth Miller, Baylor University School of Law, presented their scholarly works-in-progress, and FSU Law professors and event attendees had opportunities to ask questions and provide meaningful feedback. The presenters’ finalized articles will be published in a symposium issue of the Business Review. The symposium agenda also included student note presentations by 3L Jake Balducci and 2L Maxwell Holleman and a lunch presentation by Shawn Bayern, FSU Law's Larry and Joyce Beltz professor of torts and associate dean for technology. We are very proud of the hard work of our Florida State University Business Review students who organized the symposium, especially 3Ls Natalie Alonso and Emily Wood. If you were unable to attend in person or virtually, a recording of the Stoops Colab’s livestream of the event is available online for viewing.