Purpose
The San Francisco Intellectual Property Law Association (SFIPLA) is the leading professional organization for IP in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our members include a diverse group of in-house counsel, law firm lawyers and paralegals, government attorneys, non-profit counsel, academics, and law students.
SFIPLA organizes monthly educational programs and an Annual Seminar covering a broad range of intellectual property topics including patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, and more.
SFIPLA also organizes a Job Fair each year connecting legal employers with law students interested in pursuing intellectual property law. Through our events, SFIPLA supports and creates community among professionals and students with an interest in intellectual property law.
History
The San Francisco Intellectual Property Law Association (SFIPLA ) is one of the oldest and largest intellectual property law associations in the United States. The SFIPLA was founded in 1927 and originally named the San Francisco Patent and Trademark Law Association. In 1995, the name of the organization was changed to SFIPLA.
Edward J. Baba
BOZICEVIC, FIELD & FRANCIS LLP
Marc N. Bernstein
THE BUSINESS LITIGATION GROUP, PC
Ian K. Boyd
SIDEMAN BANCROFT LLP
Brent A. Hawkins
MORGAN LEWIS & BOCKIUS LLP
Neil A. Smith
2024-2025 OFFICERS
Byron Chin, President
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP
bchin@kilpatricktownsend.com
Barrington Dyer, Vice President
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
bdyer@willkie.com
Austin Phillips, Secretary
Sheila Martinez-Lemke, Treasurer
Weaver Austin Villeneuve & Sampson LLP
SMartinez-Lemke@wavsip.com
2025 ADVISORY BOARD
ANNUAL MEETING
Alper Ertas, Chair
Thermo Fisher
alper.ertas@thermofisher.com
Jordan Jaffe
Wilson Sonsini
jjaffe@wsgr.com
Sophy Manes
s.j.tabandeh@gmail.com
MONTHLY MEETINGS
Samuel Berrin, Chair
Sideman & Bancroft LLP
sberrin@sideman.com
Brennan Gamwell
bgamwell@gmail.com
JOB FAIR
Calla Yee
Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton LLP
cyee@kilpatricktownsend.com
LOGISTICS
Ta-Tanisha (“Tay”) Henry
DLA Piper LLP (US)
ta.henry@us.dlapiper.com
COPYRIGHTS
Raisa Dyadkina
Spreadshirt, Inc.
raisa.dyadkina@spreadgroup.com
TRADE SECRETS
Raghav Krishnapriyan
Morrison Forester LLP
RKrishnapriyan@mofo.com
IP LITIGATION
Nathan Sabri
Perkins Coie
nsabri@perkinscoie.com
CHARLES E. TOWNSEND 1927-1928
GEORGE HENRY 1928-1929
A.W. BOYKEN 1929-1930
ARTHUR L. SLEE 1930-1931
WILLIAM S. GRAHAM 1931-1932
BALDWIN VALE 1932-1933
PERCY S. WEBSTER 1933-1934
DONALD K. LIPPINCOTT 1934-1935
JAMES M. NAYLOR 1935-1936
WILLIAM A. DOBLE, SR. 1936-1937
THEODORE H. LASSAGNE 1937-1938
MARCUS LOTHROP 1938-1939
MARK MOHLER 1939-1940
LEROY HANSCOM 1940-1941
ROBERT H. ECKHOFF 1941-1942
ARTHUR B. BAKALAR 1942-1943
HENRY GIFFORD HARDY 1943-1944
STANLEY SHARP 1944-1945
JOHN F. SWAIN 1945-1946
WILLIAM H. ATKINSON 1946-1947
PAUL D. FLEHR 1947-1948
OLIVER S. LOUD 1948-1949
W. BRUCE BECKLEY 1949-1950
HERBERT L. SHEPARD 1950-1951
STEPHEN S. TOWNSEND 1951-1952
H. MIAL DUSTIN 1952-1953
EDWARD B. GREGG 1953-1954
C. SAMUEL B. SMITH 1954-1955
JOHN N. ADAMS 1955-1956
A.L. SNOW 1956-1957
A. DONHAM OWEN 1957-1958
MANFRED M. WARREN 1958-1959
CHARLES E. TOWNSEND, JR. 1959-1960
GORDON WOOD 1960-1961
FRANK E. JOHNSTON 1961-1962
JOHN W. RALLS 1962
JULIAN CAPLAN 1962-1963
FRANK A. NEAL 1963-1964
JAMES E. TOOMEY 1964-1965
DIRKS B. FOSTER 1965-1966
ROBERT E. WICKERSHAM 1966-1967
WILLIAM T. NYE 1967-1968
MILTON W. SCHLEMMER 1968-1969
RALPH L. FREELAND, JR. 1969-1970
KARL A. LIMBACH 1970-1971
THOMAS O. HERBERT 1971-1972
GEORGE W. WASSON 1972-1973
THOMAS F. SMEGAL, JR. 1973-1974
JOHN K. UILKEMA 1974-1975
BRUCE W. SCHWAB 1975-1976
JOHN P. SUTTON 1976-1977
CORWIN R. HORTON 1977-1978
THOMAS E. CIOTTI 1978-1979
BERTRAM I. ROWLAND 1979-1980
RICHARD E. BACKUS 1980-1981
THOMAS G. DEJONGHE 1981-1982
PAUL W. VAPNEK 1982-1983
DAVID J. BREZNER 1983-1984
NEIL A. SMITH 1984-1985
WILLIAM H. BENZ 1985-1986
REGINALD J. SUYAT 1986-1987
HARRY A. PACINI 1987-1988
M. HENRY HEINES 1988-1989
VERONICA COLBY DEVITT 1989-1990
BERTRAM BRADLEY 1990-1991
JAMES A. SHERIDAN 1991-1992
VIRGINIA H. MEYER 1992-1993
MICHAEL E. DERGOSITS 1993-1994
ANNE HIARING 1994-1995
GREGORY N. OWEN 1995-1996
RICHARD P. DOYLE, JR. 1996-1997
DEBORAH BAILEY-WELLS 1997-1998
LAURA L. KULHANJIAN 1998-1999
MARK K. DICKSON 1999-2000
KATHERINE C. SPELMAN 2000-2001
CATHERINE T. DOYLE 2001-2002
KUNI OH 2002-2003
TIMOTHY J. HADLOCK 2003-2004
INGRID C. MACKAY 2004-2005
IAN K. BOYD 2005-2006
VAN MAHAMEDI 2006-2007
HOANG-CHI TRUONG 2007-2008
DOUGLAS C. LIMBACH 2008-2009
ANDREW B. SCHWAAB 2009-2010
EDWARD J. BABA 2010-2011
JUDITH S.H. HOM 2011-2012
GARGI TALUKDER 2012-2013
HEATH HOGLUND 2013-2014
MICHAEL CARLSON 2014-2015
ALICA DEL VALLE 2015-2016
SIMONE KATZ-O’NEILL 2016-2017
DAN STODDARD 2017-2018
ERIC GELWICKS 2018-2019
ALEX FEERST 2019-2020
ROBERT MCFARLANE 2020-2021
WILL FITTON 2021-2022
CRISTINA RUBKE 2022-2023
TIMOTHY YIP 2023-2024
Members may request a copy of the 2024 Annual Report by emailing info@sfipla.com.