The law school was thrilled to present the 11thAnnual Peter A. Jaszi Distinguished Lecture on Intellectual Property on November 10th featuring longtime clinic client Peter Decherney’s reflections on his odyssey seeking exemptions for educators. Peter Decherney is a Professor of Cinema & Media Studies and Faculty Director of the Online Learning Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania. DeCherney discussed his 17 year collaboration with the Washington College of Law’s Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic. Among other joint endeavors, he and the clinic have successfully petitioned for a series of expanding educational exemptions to the anticircumvention provisions of 1998 Digital Millenium Copyright Act. In his talk, Professor Decherney described the clash of world views revealed in the exemption process, and why he and the clinic may have been fighting the wrong battle all along.
Professors Phillips and Grossman appeared on lucky Episode 13 of the USPTO’s Inventor Hour to talk about the IP Clinic, its patent work and pro bono IP with PTAB Judge (and ’04 IP clinic alum) Chris Paulraj. Inventor Hour is a great new outreach initiative of the USPTO geared toward educating independent inventors about the agency, the PTAB and patent issues.
Article authored by Andrew Erickson, Illustration by Jaylene Arnold for American University Magazine. (Link Below)
Pursuing Purpose: Securing Our Cyber Ecosystem
Our nation’s digital capabilities have grown, but so have the threats against them.
As the new deputy director of technology and ecosystem security at the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD), Camille Stewart Gloster, WCL/JD ’11, takes a two-pronged approach to tackling that problem. She works to ensure both that the technologies of today and tomorrow are secure and resilient, and that education and training strategies are in place to prepare the cyber workforce for the challenges those technologies bring.
“We do a lot of work in cybersecurity focusing on securing the technology, but cybersecurity is technology, people, and doctrine all against the backdrop of an adversary,” Stewart Gloster says. “We’re not thinking about the people as much as we should.”
More than a decade of experience at the nexus of law, privacy, and cybersecurity has prepared Stewart Gloster for a brand-new role within a two-year-old office where she strives to stay ahead of a threat landscape that evolves by the day.
1990: Took her first programming class in BASIC. “My dad’s a computer scientist, so I was always on computers and tinkering around with technology.”
1995: Gathered witnesses and signatures to finalize her and her younger sister’s first contract: an allowance in exchange for good grades. “I knew I wanted to be a lawyer, so I started making my parents sign contracts for every promise.”
2003: Traveled to DC for the first time on a trip to visit her cousin. “I thought it was an interesting mix of history and activity. I got to see that there was life happening here, that it’s not just a work town.”
2004: Became a student court justice at Miami University (Ohio).
2006: Joined the Miami chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first intercollegiate sorority established by African American women.
Took an antitrust class at Miami that featured a technology case, reinforcing her desire to pursue law school. “I quickly realized that I could work on or around technology as a lawyer, but I had to figure out the path for myself because there were no cyber law classes at the time.”
2010: Participated in the Washington College of Law’s Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic, one of the reasons she initially chose WCL. “It was exciting and affirming to actually do legal work rather than just learn about the law.”
Became a legal fellow on Capitol Hill, where she worked on policy for Representative Marcia Fudge (D-OH) and then Congressional Black Caucus chair Emmanuel Cleaver II (D-MO). “I got kicked off my parents’ insurance while working on the Affordable Care Act, and I had ongoing [health issues] that needed to be taken care of. Watching that law come to fruition was impactful for my career and probably one of the things that pushed me into being so connected to public service.”
2011: Graduated from WCL.
Recruited by Cyveillance, a Northern Virginia–based cybersecurity firm, where she focused on its online intellectual property service before delving into cybersecurity law. “The startup environment and the breadth of the work going on at Cyveillance showed me that the complex challenges I was looking to solve as a lawyer could be coupled with my technical acumen in a way that not many people were doing.”
2012: Launched consultancy MarqueLaw PLLC to help small businesses that lacked access to legal expertise—many of them women-owned—configure their intellectual property, privacy policies, and security policies.
2015: Appointed to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Cyber, Infrastructure, Risk, and Resilience Policy as a senior policy advisor. “I got to come back and work for [President Obama]—who I saw make meaningful change from a healthcare perspective—on the issue that I was most passionate about. And I helped stand up a new office, which I like to do, apparently.”
2016: Received a letter of recognition from President Obama for her service at DHS, including her efforts to advance the United States’ cybersecurity relationship with Israel. Also received an award for exemplary service from DHS.
2018: Landed a cybersecurity policy fellowship with New America and also began leading a project with the Transformative Cyber Innovation Lab exploring sensitive technology leakage through the courts—all while working as a cyber risk manager at Deloitte. Stewart Gloster partnered with George Mason University to develop training for federal bankruptcy judges based on her research, which is still foundational to their training. “You can’t often get everything from one job. There were issues that I wanted to work on that I could not explore in my day job. Fellowships gave me an opportunity to keep that lifelong learner mentality.”
2019: Started a new job at Google—head of security policy and election integrity for Google Play and Android—and led projects involving misinformation policy, privacy, cybersecurity, and election integrity.
2020: Began a cybersecurity fellowship at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
Cofounded #ShareTheMicInCyber, a movement that enlists allies to amplify the voices and expertise of Black cybersecurity practitioners. “There was a conversation that needed to be had, and it wasn’t just about DEI for DEI’s sake. DEI is essential in cybersecurity and national security because to understand the risk we need to understand people and the context in which they operate. #ShareTheMicInCyber showed people that they individually have a role to play and that that can catalyze broader action.”
2021: Named Microsoft’s Security Industry Changemaker of the Year.
Promoted to global head of product security strategy at Google.
2022: Named to Washingtonian’slist of the “500 most influential people” in DC.
Received a call while working from home about joining ONCD. “To be frank, I was not looking to go back into public service at the time, but when they described the scope of the role and the opportunity to help cement an office that’s vitally important to how the federal government organizes itself around the cyber mission, I couldn’t pass it up. . . . I had not seen another opportunity to advance the technology security and workforce pieces of the mission in this way.”
Began hiring to fill out her two ONCD directorates. “I need the smart people to help me do this work.”
IP Clinic student and artist Murphy Chen was selected by the National Homelessness Law Center to exhibit her work at their annual National Forum on the Human Right to Housing. Murphy also was asked to design this year’s Human Right to Housing Award. For 23 years, the NHLC has hosted the award ceremony to honor organizations, leaders, and change makers that work to bring awareness to and advance the solutions to homelessness and poverty. The exhibit and awards ceremony was held at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld on November 16th.
On November 8, 2022, in celebration and honor of Native American Heritage month, NALSA hosted WCL Professors Vicki Phillips (Director, Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic) and Ezra Rosser (Federal Indian Law, Poverty Law, Property Law) for a conversation on the impacts of intellectual property law and Native American traditional art and cultural expressions.
Glushko-Samuelson IP Clinic Students presented a 6th annual IP Tips and Tricks program for startups on March 25th via Zoom for the AU Center for Innovation (AUCI) Incubator at American University’s Kogod School of Business. The AUCI entrepreneurs are either … Continue reading →
In January 2020, Kiara Ortiz ‘20 and Valérie Cambronne ‘20 started an organization called LegallyBlack. LegallyBlack’s mission is to create a more informed public by empowering and educating minority communities of color on the value of intellectual property protection.
As a Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic alumna, Kiara Ortiz ‘20, emphasizes how her experience in clinic inspired her to become an IP attorney and develop her organization. Ortiz states, “When Valérie and I graduated from WCL, we knew we wanted to figure out a way to use our degrees and passion for Intellectual Property law to empower creative artists, entrepreneurs, and inventors in minority communities. As a 2019-2020 student attorney in the IP Clinic, I experienced first-hand the value that intellectual property protection can bring to creative artists, entrepreneurs, and inventors, and through LegallyBlack, we hope to bridge the gap between intellectual property resources and minority communities of color.”
Since its founding, two additional IP Clinic students have since followed Ortiz and Cambronne into leadership positions in LegallyBlack: Raina Barbee ’21 (Associate Director) and Lashana Calloway ’22 (Community Outreach Coordinator). LegallyBlack launched its website in January 2022. You can also follow them on Instagram (@legallyblackip) to see the amazing work they’ve already done with middle school students in Miami, Florida.
Ben Kessler is an intellectual property lawyer with ten years of federal government advocacy experience and a passion for live music. After graduating from Amherst College in 2007, Ben worked in the office of oversight and investigations in the United States Senate Committee on Aging. Following his time on the Hill, Ben joined Heather Podesta + Partners, now Invariant Government Relations. Ben then spent over six years at the Pew Charitable Trusts working on food safety policy.
With an eye towards combining his love for music and the arts with his expertise in advocacy, Ben enrolled at the American University Washington College of Law. There, Ben focused on intellectual property law and was a member of the Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic. While in school, Ben fortified his passion for protecting creators and spent his summers working for the Future of Music Coalition and Copyright Alliance.
Almost immediately following graduation, Ben joined the Biden for President campaign. During his nearly nine months with the campaign, among other work, Ben managed a team of intellectual property law volunteers, reviewed campaign-produced content for copyright, trademark, and right of publicity concerns, and enforced the campaign’s intellectual property rights online.
As the Fall semester starts, it’s time to give applause to IP Clinic students who continued their hard work on behalf of their clients long past the end of Spring semester and into the summer. In these hot summer months, our students continued to fight trademark bullying, help documentarians evaluate fair use of photographs and videos, and assist entrepreneurs and local nonprofits seek trademarks for their valuable products and services.
A special applause deserved goes to four students who continued a difficult task into the summer. Michael Blumenthal, Harrison Neidish, Clemence Kim and Adam Wasinger spent the year representing musician Dr. Lydia Warren, an award-winning blues singer and bandleader, and now blues historian, in seeking the return of her domain name, lydiawarren.com, from a registrant in Asia.
When the registrant refused to response to their communication, the students engaged in extensive research of Ms. Warren’s many festivals, awards, interviews and her tours overseas. They learned the technical and dispute policies of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and filed a Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) complaint seeking return of the domain name.
The Forum in Minneapolis agreed with the student’s concerns and transferred the domain name to Ms. Warren. Congratulations Adam, Clemence, Harrison and Mike for filing the Clinic’s first UDRP case, and for the Clinic’s first UDRP win!
Congratulations to IP Clinic student Jesse Spiegel for testifying before the Copyright Office on April 21st in the Eighth Triennial Proceeding on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) proceeding. Jesse brought some special concerns before the Copyright Office and fielded some fascinating questions.
For months, Jesse and his Clinic partners Chelsea Kaminsky, Keyana Pusey and Hector Contreras, Jesse interviewed, researched and wrote extensive comments and reply comments asking the Copyright Office to allow educators working on online learning platforms to be able to use clips of movies and TV shows in their course materials. The team wrote these comments on behalf of the “Joint Educators” headed by Professor Peter Decherney and Dr. Rebecca Stein of the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Katherine Sender of Cornell University.
Jesse chose to testify due to his concerns. He wanted the Copyright Office to share his observation that young people today communicate by video: “Our society relies on video for everything – we communicate through video – we FaceTime, we send gifs… younger people send snapchat videos… which often completely replace even speaking at all. When we want to learn how to do something, let’s say like cooking a meal or fixing an electronic, most people don’t open a recipe book anymore, or an instruction manual. We go on YouTube.” He added: “now we have grown accustomed to working, socializing, and learning – online, using videos. So clearly effective education must use more videos than ever to match how we now function in society.”
Jesse voiced his deep concern that the Copyright Office’s current exemptions only allow traditional educators to use clips within the four walls of K-12, college and university classrooms, but exclude the growing number of non-traditional educators working on online learning platforms. He noted that the current exemption “includes only a sliver of the educational experiences we are having online.”
Jesse’s clear call to the Copyright Office stated: “we should be expanding access to education, not limiting it.” He noted that there is nothing to fear from online learning platforms as they offer an array of protections for educational materials and any clips they may include. Specifically, Jesse outlined that they work only with “registered learners,” feature “sophisticated digital protection measures” and limit access to “students currently enrolled in courses.”
Jesse closed with an appeal to educational equity:
“Let’s celebrate this expansion of educational access, this very real opportunity in front of us to address inequities that exist in our educational system, even by simply chipping away at them through this exemption, and provide learners outside the box of K-12 and accredited schooling means to have the same chance of commentary and critical thinking skills that comes from analysis of short clips of movies and tv shows.”
Jesse then expertly fielded questions from senior Copyright Office attorneys about distinctions between entertainment and dedicated online learning platforms.
Congratulations, Jesse, on your expert testimony and taking client representation to a new level!
WCL Glushko-Samuelson IP Clinic 
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