How 911 Sent Me Code 3 To Law School

Imagine this: It’s 4 am and you’re working as an EMT running 911 calls. Dispatch notifies you that you need to respond to a call… now! You turn on the lights and sirens, also known as Code 3, and make your way to the call. You show up. It’s chaotic and you grab the gurney, nitroglycerin, and oxygen tubing amongst others. You save the patient, and everyone is happy. You clean the ambulance and sit down for a moment to relax. But dispatch rings and you’re off again.

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My Ride to IP at Loyola

My first exposure to intellectual property (IP) unexpectedly started with t-shirts. If you asked me five years ago if it is easy to get approval for a phrase on a t-shirt, I probably would’ve said yes. However, now I know it can sometimes be anything but easy. In college, I was the President of Notre Dame’s (ND) Equestrian Team. To raise funds for the club, my fellow officers and I wanted to stamp “Ride Like a Champion Today” on t-shirts and sell them. We based this slogan off the “Play Like a Champion Today” phrase commonly used for ND Football. Expecting it to be a simple and quick process like our other t-shirt fund-raising campaigns, we sent in our mock-up for approval, but the athletics department answered with a resounding NO. What!?

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Introductions to IP: An Interview with Kara Smith

Kara Smith is an associate attorney at Neal Gerber Eisenberg (NGE) in Chicago Illinois. She graduated from Purdue University in 2013 before attending Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She was first introduced to Intellectual Property (“IP”) Law in her first semester Property course.

Kara Smith.

While at Loyola she represented the school as a Student Member of the Richard Linn Inn of Court and as a Vis Moot International Commercial Arbitration Fellow. She was a Civil Procedure tutor for Professor Richard Michael and was the Chair of Professional Development for the National Security Law Association.

Kara joined NGE after graduating cum laude from Loyola in 2017. Her practice areas include trademark, copyright, and patent enforcement and litigation. She also works as an adjunct professor at Loyola, teaching Advanced Legal Writing in Intellectual Property and coaches the Vienna Vis Moot team.

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The Road To Loyola

Life in the Rear View

I spent six years working in broadcast journalism and nearly two years in digital marketing before coming to law school. Titles switched, duties expanded and employers changed, but intellectual property (“IP”), especially copyright, was always at the core. I existed in a constant state of media creation and consumption. Come along for the ride, and I’ll explain how. Continue reading “The Road To Loyola”

“Big Mac” Trademark Gets Burned In Europe

Chicago-based, fast-food powerhouse McDonald’s has locations in over 100 countries.  Accordingly, it is difficult nowadays to find people in the world that are not familiar with the Big Mac, a McDonald’s staple since 1967.  Regardless of which language a McDonald’s menu is displayed, consumers relate the word “Big Mac” to the burger’s signature structure: two all-beef patties, “special sauce,” American cheese, lettuce, pickles, and onion, all served in a three-part sesame seed bun.

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Alumni Spotlight: William Cassin, JD ‘06

IP Alumni Spotlight: William Cassin
Head of IP for North America at thyssenkrupp North America, Inc.

One day, as you diligently work through engineering design calculations, your manager puts a competitor’s product on your desk and says: “Our competitor’s have product X in the market and we need to make a similar product. Find out if they have a patent on this product, and if so, how can we design around it so we don’t infringe their patent.”  If this scenario sounds familiar, your self-guided exploration of the merger of technology and law may have you contemplating a transition into the exciting world of intellectual property legal practice.  Loyola’s Alumni Spotlight is pleased to share an interview with William Cassin (’06) about his journey to Loyola University Chicago School of Law and beyond.

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Alumni Spotlight: Daniel H. Shulman, JD ’99

Daniel H. Shulman is currently the Chief IP Counsel at Reynolds Group Holdings Ltd. and FRAM Auto Group and is a Loyola University Chicago School of Law alum. Dan has a math and science background from Northwestern University and had the intention of becoming a physicist. But throughout his schooling, including his 4th grade mock trial over Alice in Wonderland, Dan realized he had a knack for arguing and loved it. After reconsidering his interests, Dan decided that going to graduate school for physics was not his career path. Instead, he came to law school with the intention of becoming a patent lawyer. We recently had the opportunity to talk and ask Dan a few questions on his experience during and after law school in the field of IP.

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Alumni Spotlight: Heather Steinmeyer, JD ’90

IP Alumni Spotlight: Heather Steinmeyer
Managing Senio
r Associate General Counsel at Anthem, Inc.

You’re interested in Intellectual Property (IP) and you’ve decided you want to go to law school: now what? Law school is the first step down a pathway towards an engaging and rewarding career. However, simply choosing a law school can take a great deal of diligent research and once admitted, students may not know how to best navigate the system. But have no fear, Loyola’s Alumni Spotlight is here! This week, I spoke with Heather Steinmeyer (’90) about why she chose Loyola Law School, how she fell in love with IP, and where that intersection has taken her in her career.

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Alumni Spotlight: James “Jay” R. Nuttall

Jay Nuttall is the managing partner at Steptoe & Johnson LLP’s Chicago office.  He is an experienced patent litigator engaged in furthering client trust and delivering tailored legal solutions.  His professional excellence is nationally recognized in rankings by Chambers USAIAM Patent 1000Super Lawyers, and Law Bulletin Publishing Company.

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