From Engineering to Entrepreneurship: An Interview with Alisha Feustel

Alisha Feustel is a founding partner at Akona IP who focuses on all aspects of intellectual property law, especially patent prosecution (the writing, filing, and handling of patent applications with the US Patent and Trademark Office) and patent portfolio management (the strategic handling of one’s patent assets). She works closely with clients in a variety of technologies, including semiconductor device packaging, biomedical devices, computer memory and storage technologies, and many others.

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Taking a Tour of Intellectual Property at Loyola

Many students interested in intellectual property (IP) get asked a lot of the same questions. In my experience, the common questions have been:

“Why IP? Do you need to know if you’re interested in IP before law school? What about during law school? Do you need to have a science background for IP? What opportunities are there for students interested in IP at Loyola? How do you network in IP?”

I am sure prospective law students are wondering the answers to some of the questions posed above. As a former undergraduate tour guide, I love answering questions like these, so here’s the perspective of a current 1L (first-year law student) at Loyola.

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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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The Magic of the Unknown: Discovering IP at Loyola

For as long as I can remember, creative storytelling, imagination, and magic, have always captivated me. From, fascination with Disney at an early-age to getting a degree in theatre design in undergrad, I remain engaged with my creative side as much as I could. However, it was not until my first semester at Loyola University Chicago School of Law that I learned that the magic … Continue reading The Magic of the Unknown: Discovering IP at Loyola

Trade Dress: Can A Tampon Applicator Get Trademark Protection?

Before taking an intellectual property (IP) course this past fall, I assumed trademarks only applied to brand slogans. I did not realize that trademarks could apply to physical products, too.

Now that I have taken various IP courses and participated in the IP Moot Court team, I see trademark protection everywhere. This made me wonder: can a commonplace item, like an applicator for a tampon, receive trade dress protection?

Before jumping into that answer, let’s first explain what a trade dress is.

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In the Market for Affordable Medicines

Patents and pandemics.  At first, these two things might not seem too related.  Beyond patenting useful things for a pandemic – personal protective equipment, medicines, etc. – what do they have to do with one another?  Well, it turns out that the COVID-19 pandemic has put the spotlight on how to make patented medicines affordable.

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Reconsidering My Law School Decision: Why I (Finally) Chose Loyola

In April 2020, I was committed to attending a law school that was not Loyola. After making the tuition deposit, however, something didn’t feel right. I began rethinking whether that school would be the best place to spend the next three years. But where would I go?

My goal was to attend a school with a strong IP program. However, I wanted more than a curriculum. I wanted a community, a place that would make me happy when I walked through the doors every day. After making this realization, I scheduled calls with deans, professors, alumni, and students at other law schools to gain insights into their experiences.

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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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