{"id":435,"date":"2019-03-24T08:00:53","date_gmt":"2019-03-24T08:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/?p=435"},"modified":"2024-07-16T03:40:18","modified_gmt":"2024-07-16T03:40:18","slug":"loyola-law-student-still-standing-at-final-bell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/loyola-law-student-still-standing-at-final-bell\/","title":{"rendered":"Loyola Law Student Still Standing at Final Bell\ufeff"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Ladies and Gentlemen\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

On March 14, 2019, the at-capacity crowd in the ceremonial Federal Courtroom<\/a> at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago, IL, buzzed with anticipatory excitement.\u00a0 The audience gathered for this evening\u2019s presentation of arguments was not the typical smattering of members of the public, interested parties, and news reporters.\u00a0 Rather, the audience sitting in the gallery consisted of attorney members of the Richard Linn American Inn of Court<\/a>, an organization committed to the principles of professionalism, civility, and ethics in the practice of intellectual property law.\u00a0 The attorney members and guests, such as myself, were in attendance for the Annual Oral Advocacy Challenge<\/a>.\u00a0 This event involves Inn participants in oral arguments regarding current IP issues for which there is no settled law before a panel of actual judges that simulates proceedings before appellate court judges.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Who is presiding?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The officiating judges amped up the event\u2019s tenor.\u00a0 The Honorable Richard Linn<\/a>, Circuit Judge of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit<\/a>, and namesake of the Inn, was a guest of honor who has attended every Oral Advocacy Challenge.\u00a0 Joining Judge Linn were The Honorable Thomas M. Durkin<\/a>, The Honorable Virginia M. Kendall<\/a>, and The Honorable Rebecca R. Pallmeyer<\/a>, U.S. District Court Judges for the Northern District of Illinois.\u00a0 \u00a0A distinguished bench of three federal district court judges and a judge from the sole federal appellate court for patent cases awaited the litigants.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Who is arguing before the judges?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

If you assumed that the litigants would be seasoned attorneys with extensive prior experience, you would be wrong.\u00a0 Rather, four law students argued a case on appeal.\u00a0 However, no jitters were on display.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What\u2019s the issue?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The problem centered on drilling rigs and questions of the extent to which U.S. patent laws should apply when some activity relevant to making the patented drill rig happened outside the US. \u00a0As opposed to a contest over a factual issue, the dispute was over what the law meant.\u00a0 \u00a0In particular, the legal issues related to whether a U.S.-based firm was liable for infringement of a patent where the rig was constructed outside of the United States, albeit based on instructions given in the US.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The hypothetical controversy allowed two pairs of Inn pupils to showcase their preparation.\u00a0 One of the purposes of the Linn Inn of Court<\/a> is mentoring.\u00a0 To achieve this developmental goal in part, the Linn Inn runs a mentor\/prot\u00e9g\u00e9 program organized around pupilage groups.\u00a0 The four student advocates worked with attorneys from their group to understand the problem, articulate pertinent legal concepts, and hone presentation skills.\u00a0 When the Linn Inn of Court was called to order, all attention turned to the representatives of Loyola University Chicago, John Marshall, Chicago-Kent, and Notre Dame law schools.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In this corner, hailing from Loyola University in Chicago\u2019s Gold Coast<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The oral arguments were organized in a standard format: the appellant\u2019s counsel presented argument on the first issue for nine minutes, the appellee\u2019s counsel countered for ten minutes, and the appellant delivered a one-minute rebuttal.\u00a0 The second issue followed the same format.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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The choreography of the legal pugilists, to lean on a favorite descriptive analogy for courtroom sparring, unfolded with deliberate steps.\u00a0 The apt comparison was most readily apparent when the judges delivered challenging questions on the second issue that felt like an unexpected left hook.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Molly Hunsinger, a third-year law student and Linn Inn pupil, represented the appellee on the second issue.\u00a0 As written, the facts of the problem were undisputed.\u00a0 All parties agreed that her client provided written instructions for building the drill rig, software, and an engineer.\u00a0 The legal question focused on whether this was enough for her client to directly infringe given that the rig was built entirely outside the United States.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Hunsinger presented two arguments.\u00a0 First, she argued that there was no sale, or offer to sell, in the United States under 35 U.S.C. \u00a7 271(a)<\/a>.\u00a0 This argument was that the law explicitly applied to acts in the United States, such that the extraterritorial nature of the dispute created an impermissible conflict between U.S. patent policy and the laws of foreign nations.\u00a0 Her second argument was that the relevant statute for infringement based on supply of items to be combined in a product that would infringe abroad (35 U.S.C. \u00a7 271(f)<\/a>) requires the supplying of components<\/em>.\u00a0 Her position was that the written instructions provided were not components<\/em>.\u00a0 She proceeded to erect a logical argument that this particular statute was a unique carve- out in patent infringement cases, as it related to extraterritorial liability (patent infringement outside of the United States).\u00a0 As she articulately explained, there is a general US presumption against extraterritoriality, such that a narrow interpretation of the meaning of the term component <\/em>is warranted.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Judge Pallmeyer delivered a series of crisp inquiries, probing the extraterritorial aspect and addressing counsel\u2019s characterization of the statute as a loophole.\u00a0 Nearly at the same moment, Judge Durkin asked for the applicable standard of review. \u00a0Hunsinger steadied herself, took a deep breath, and delivered clear responses.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The Final Bell<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The panel of judges did not deliver its opinion in regard to the matter before it, humorously opting to provide its written determination at a later time.\u00a0 The clear result is that all in attendance won.\u00a0 How?\u00a0 Let\u2019s hear from Molly herself:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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\u201cIt was a rewarding experience and such a confidence boost to know that even though I was a music major not a science major in undergrad, I was able to sufficiently learn about patents and successfully give an oral argument in front of a large portion of the IP Chicago community. It can be nerve-racking, but the key is to keep thinking, continue answering the questions using facts and law, and to never stop fighting.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The 2019 Richard Linn American Inn of Court Annual Advocacy Challenge exemplified the American Inn of Court\u2019s commitment to improving legal skills, professionalism, and ethics<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In his closing remarks summarizing the evening\u2019s event, Judge Linn employed the boxing metaphor himself, commending the students for taking hits, getting knocked down, and pressing forward with poise.\u00a0 I was fortunate to have a ringside seat and observe IP advocacy excellence by one of Loyola<\/a>\u2019s finest.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Ted Mahan<\/em>
Associate Blogger<\/em>
Loyola University Chicago School of Law, J.D. 2020<\/em><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ladies and Gentlemen\u2026 On March 14, 2019, the at-capacity crowd in the ceremonial Federal Courtroom at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago, IL, buzzed with anticipatory excitement.\u00a0 The audience gathered for this evening\u2019s presentation of arguments was not the typical smattering of members of the public, interested parties, and news reporters.\u00a0 Rather, the audience sitting in the gallery consisted of attorney members of the Richard … Continue reading Loyola Law Student Still Standing at Final Bell\ufeff<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":3559,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[60,153,176,232],"class_list":["post-435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fun-facts","tag-chicago","tag-ip-law","tag-linn-inn","tag-patents"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4383,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435\/revisions\/4383"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.luc.edu\/ipbytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}