Section Celebrates Ten-Year Anniversary
ASB group reflects on decade of service, growth and success
The Intellectual Property, Entertainment and Sports Law Section of the Alabama State Bar celebrated its tenth anniversary November 6, 2008 in Birmingham. The event was hosted by Balch & Bingham LLP. Numerous section members and honorees from across the state attended and were joined by local celebrity Fabian Sanchez of the hit ABC television show "Dancing with the Stars." Recently retired Alabama Supreme Court Justice Harold See provided keynote remarks. His role in the ten-year anniversary itself reflected the history of the section, as Justice See addressed the section at its first meeting in 1998 at the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
A $5 trillion stimulus
The anniversary also celebrated the recent integration of the ASB's Entertainment and Sports Task Force into the section. The addition of the task force brings the section's membership to nearly 150 lawyers, all active throughout state in the representation of their clients' patent, trademark, trade secret, entertainment, and sports needs. Recognizing how pervasive intellectual property had become in the daily lives of all individuals, Justice See explained that the value of such intellectual property to today's national economy easily exceeds $5 trillion.
The event honored a number of key contributors to the success of the section and the advancements generally made in the field during the past decade. Following a welcome by current section Chair Kimberly Till Powell, ASB President Mark White recognized the past section chairs, including section founder Will Hill Tankersley ('98-'01), David Vance Lucas ('01-'03), Timothy A. Bush ('03-'05) and Frank M. Caprio ('05-'07).
New award created
Tuscaloosa native Bruce B. Siegal, senior vice president and general counsel of IMG College/The Collegiate Licensing Company, was honored with a newly-created award named for him, the Bruce B. Siegal Award for Excellence in Advancing Intellectual Property, Entertainment and Sports in Alabama. The section bestowed it on Siegal in recognition of his many contributions to the intellectual property field, locally and nationally. Among other accomplishments, he has helped colleges and universities throughout the country gain legal control over the use of their images and likenesses. Future individual or corporate recipients of the award will be chosen annually, based upon their outstanding efforts in the fields of intellectual property. A plaque honoring their designation (as well as Siegal's) will be placed at the Alabama State Bar.
The anniversary celebration closed with a jazz cocktail reception, also at Balch & Bingham.
—Scott B. Grover, partner, Balch & Bingham
