Public Symposium on AI and IP

Audrey Adu-Appiah is a litigator at Oppenheim + Zebrak, LLP, where her practice focuses on high-stakes copyright disputes involving the music and publishing industries. Before joining O+Z, Audrey represented and counseled entertainment, fashion, and technology companies and luxury consumer brands in copyright, trademark, trade secret, and design patent matters at a leading New York law firm. She also clerked for Judge Cornelia T.L. Pillard on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Judge Jed S. Rakoff on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Audrey earned a B.A. in English from Duke University and graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she worked as a student attorney at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society and served as a Notes Editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Sandra Aistars is a Clinical Professor at George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School and leads the law school’s Arts & Entertainment Program. She is also Senior Fellow for Copyright Research and Policy and a Senior Scholar at the Center for Intellectual Property x Innovation Policy (C-IP2). Professor Aistars has over twenty years of advocacy experience on behalf of copyright and other intellectual property owners. She has served on trade missions and been an industry advisor to the Department of Commerce on intellectual property implications for international trade negotiations; worked on legislative and regulatory matters worldwide; frequently testified before Congress and federal agencies regarding intellectual property matters; chaired cross-industry coalitions and technology standards efforts; and is regularly tapped by government agencies to lecture in U.S. government-sponsored study tours for visiting legislators, judges, prosecutors, and regulators.

Immediately prior to joining Scalia Law, Professor Aistars was the Chief Executive Officer of the Copyright Alliance – a nonprofit, public interest organization that represents the interests of artists and creators across the creative spectrum. While at Scalia Law, she continues to collaborate with the Copyright Alliance as a member of its Academic Advisory Board. Professor Aistars currently serves on the boards of the Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts (WALA) and the Howard Intellectual Property Program (HIPP), and she has previously served as trustee of the Copyright Society of the USA (CSUSA). Professor Aistars has also previously served as Vice President and Associate General Counsel at Time Warner Inc. She began her legal career in private practice at Weil, Gotshal and Manges LLP.

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland is the National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator of SAG-AFTRA. In this capacity, he oversees the world’s most influential union of actors and media artists, representing over 160,000 members worldwide who work in film, television, broadcast news, commercials, music, radio, video games, and more.

Crabtree-Ireland has played a critical role in SAG-AFTRA’s signature achievements over the past two decades. He was a key leader of the successful merger between SAG and AFTRA in 2012, was the principal architect of SAG-AFTRA’s landmark pandemic safety response and return-to-work initiatives and led the union’s historic 2023 TV/Theatrical Contract negotiations and strike. Crabtree-Ireland is a strategic and creative chief negotiator who has personally led or overseen contract negotiations for SAG-AFTRA’s Television/Film/Streaming, Video Games, Commercials, Music, Network Television, and Telemundo Spanish-language contracts, among others.

Crabtree-Ireland also leads the union’s technology and innovation team, with a particular focus on artificial intelligence and its impact on SAG-AFTRA members and the media and entertainment industry generally, and has presented on A.I. and worker topics in forums as varied as CES, the International Labor Organization, the World Economic Forum, the Council of Institutional Investors, and the U.S. Senate, among many others. He is a dedicated advocate for equity and inclusion in the entertainment industry and was honored with the AFL-CIO’s “At the River I Stand” award for his work in the intersection of labor and civil rights, as well as being named one of Out magazine’s 100 most influential LGBTQ+ individuals in 2023. He hosts SAG-AFTRA’s biweekly video streaming series, leading more than 100 episodes, and is the co-host of the SAG-AFTRA Podcast and the SAG-AFTRA Podcast en Español. He previously served as SAG-AFTRA’s longtime Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel.

Angela Dunning is a litigation partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP. She has over 20 years of experience litigating copyright, trademark, trade secrets, and unfair competition/false advertising cases, as well as complex commercial disputes, for major global companies. She has tried numerous cases to a jury verdict and has substantial experience in the federal appellate courts, including successful arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in high-profile, published cases such as Elliott v. Google (affirming that the famous GOOGLE trademark is not generic), Naruto v. Slater (affirming dismissal of the “Monkey Selfie” copyright case), and Close v. Sotheby’s et al. (affirming dismissal of claims against eBay under the California Resale Royalty Act on copyright pre-emption grounds). Angela is a leader in the bar on litigation issues relating to generative artificial intelligence. She is currently defending Midjourney and Meta Platforms in AI copyright class action lawsuits directed to the training and output of generative AI models, advises other leading companies on AI risk and strategy, and frequently speaks on cutting edge IP issues related to this area. World Trademark Review describes Angela as a “high-caliber trial lawyer,” as well as a “great writer and strategist who leaves no stone unturned in developing her positions.” She has been repeatedly named one of the “Top 100 Women Lawyers in California” by Daily Journal and a leading lawyer for commercial disputes by The Legal 500 U.S. Angela currently teaches trademark law at UC Berkeley School of Law. In 2008, she served as a “loaner” assistant district attorney for the City and County of San Francisco under then-District Attorney Kamala Harris.

As Regional Director of the USPTO’s Silicon Valley Regional Office, Mary Fuller carries out the strategic direction of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO and is responsible for leading the USPTO's Western regional office in San Jose, California. Focusing on the region and actively engaging with the community, Ms. Fuller ensures the USPTO’s initiatives and programs are tailored to the region's unique ecosystem of industries and stakeholders.

Ms. Fuller began her career in Silicon Valley as a patent attorney at law firms, including Pennie & Edmonds, Carr & Ferrell, and Bingham McCutchen. Later she joined Santa Clara-based Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. as a senior patent litigation attorney, rising to become Director and Managing Counsel for Litigation. She then served as Managing Director and Associate General Counsel at Maxim Integrated Products as the company’s first Chief IP Counsel. She later became General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Adaptive Spectrum and Signal Alignment, and after that, served as Vice President, Chief Policy Officer and Head of Legal at Kudelski Intellectual Property and Innovation.

In 2022, Ms. Fuller served as the first Head of Legal at Jupiter Intelligence. In 2018, with decades of experience as an engineer, patent attorney, general counsel and corporate advisor, Ms. Fuller founded Fuller Tech Law to provide intellectual property and fractional general counsel services for growth-minded technology companies.

Additionally, since 2018, Ms. Fuller has taught in the Entrepreneurs Law Clinic of Santa Clara University’s School of Law in roles including adjunct professor, and from 2020-2022, Senior Clinical Fellow.

Since 1998, Ms. Fuller has been a member of the San Francisco Bay Area IP Inn of Court. She served as an officer of the Inn from 2004-2012, and from 2010-2012 was elected as its first female president. Ms. Fuller has also been active in Upward (previously Hipower), ChIPs, and The Club Silicon Valley.

Additionally, Ms. Fuller received Watermark’s Emerging Leader Award in 2015, was recognized as one of Silicon Valley Business Journal’s 100 Women of Influence in 2020, and she received the Northern Arizona University President’s Alumni Award for the College of Engineering, Informatics, and Applied Sciences in 2022.

Ms. Fuller graduated from Northern Arizona University with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering in electrical engineering. After working at Hewlett-Packard as an engineer, she earned her Juris Doctor, graduating cum laude from the University of Notre Dame Law School.

Justin Hughes is the Honorable William Matthew Byrne Distinguished Professor of Law at Loyola Law School, Loyola Marymount University, where he teaches intellectual property and international trades courses. He is also a Visiting Professor of Law at Oxford University. In 2024, he is also serving as a Fulbright Distinguished Professor at Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki. From 2009 until 2013, Professor Hughes also served as Senior Advisor to the Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property. In that capacity, he was the U.S. chief negotiator for two multilateral treaties, the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances (2012) and the Marrakesh Treaty for the Blind (2013). Educated at Oberlin and Harvard, Professor Hughes practiced international arbitration in Paris, was a Mellon Fellow in the Humanities, and, as a Henry Luce Scholar, clerked for the Lord President of the Supreme Court of Malaysia. From 2006-2009, he was Chairman of the Technicolor/Thomson Foundation for Film and Television Heritage. Professor Hughes has also done volunteer democracy development work in Albania, Bosnia, El Salvador, Haiti, and Mali.

Russell Hollander is the National Executive Director of the Directors Guild of America (DGA), which protects and extends the creative and economic rights of its more than 19,000 members working in the U.S. and abroad. Responsible for the DGA’s activities and operations, Hollander also leads the Guild in all its labor negotiations. He directs a staff of 200 and develops the Guild’s policy and strategic agenda, working with the elected President and Board of Directors. He also oversees the Guild’s work with its members around the world.

Hollander came to the DGA in 2001 as Assistant Executive Director, was promoted to Eastern Executive Director in 2002, Associate National Executive Director/Eastern Executive Director in 2011, and became National Executive Director in 2017. Hollander served as the Guild’s chief negotiator in the 2020 and 2023 Negotiations with the Major Studios. During his tenure, Hollander has also served as the DGA’s chief negotiator in six Network Negotiations with ABC, CBS, and NBC; and four Commercial Negotiations with the Association of Independent Commercial Producers.

Prior to being hired at the DGA, he was a partner at top labor law firm Cohen, Weiss, and Simon LLP where he specialized in the representation of labor organizations and employee benefit plans. Hollander is a trustee of the Directors Guild-Producer Pension and Health Plans, Motion Picture and Television Fund, and the Franco-American Cultural Fund.

Hollander received his law degree from Harvard University and his undergraduate degree from Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Thomas Krause is the Director Review Executive within the Patent Trial and Appeal Board at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In that capacity, he oversees all aspects of the USPTO’s “Director Review” Process.  Prior to becoming Director Review Executive, Mr. Krause worked in the USPTO’s Solicitor’s Office for over 20 years, including serving as Solicitor from 2019 to 2023.  During that time, Mr. Krause was also the Solicitor's Office's leading copyright expert, having taught a course at Georgetown Law Center on Software Intellectual Property Rights and participating in numerous copyright cases in district court, the courts of appeals, and the Supreme Court. Mr. Krause has been part of the USPTO’s Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies team since 2022 and spends his free time watching YouTube videos on developments in AI.

Before joining the USPTO, Mr. Krause was in private practice at  Covington & Burling. Prior to that, he served as a judicial law clerk to Judge Alex Kozinski on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Prior to attending law school, Mr. Krause served as an officer with the U.S. Navy on a fast attack submarine, and qualified as a Naval Nuclear Engineer. He received his Juris Doctor, with honors, from Harvard Law School, where he was executive editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Jeffrey Martin joined the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 2021 as an attorney in the Office of Policy and International Affairs (OPIA).  Prior to OPIA, Jeff was a Director of IP and Innovation at the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), building on 13 years in Europe working as in-house IP counsel for a major luxury goods group as well as one of the world’s leading spirits companies.   Jeff has degrees in physics and engineering, is a registered U.S. patent attorney, and was an IP associate in the New York office of White and Case.

David Nimmer is of counsel to Irell & Manella LLP in Los Angeles, California. He also serves as Professor from Practice at UCLA School of Law and Distinguished Scholar at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology. In 2000, he was elected to the American Law Institute.

Since 1985, Professor Nimmer has authored and updated Nimmer on Copyright, the standard reference treatise in the field, first published in 1963 by his late father, Professor Melville B. Nimmer. The U.S. Supreme Court has cited Nimmer on Copyright on numerous occasions, as has every federal appellate court, countless district and state courts, as well as courts confronting copyright cases in countries across the globe.

Widely recognized as a foremost expert in copyright law, Professor Nimmer was named one of "The 25 Most Influential People in IP" by The American Lawyer. He has also been named the 2018 Copyright Law "Lawyer of the Year" and the 2013 Los Angeles Litigation Intellectual Property "Lawyer of the Year" by The Best Lawyers in America and one of California's "Top 10 Copyright Lawyers" by the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal.

Professor Nimmer represents clients in the entertainment, publishing and high-technology fields. He has twice served as co-counsel representing clients before the U.S. Supreme Court. On the first occasion, a unanimous decision in favor of his client drew the boundaries between copyright and trademark protection. In the second, another unanimous decision in favor of his client set the stage to compensate all freelance journalists in the country for their past articles.

He gave congressional testimony at the invitation of the House Judiciary Committee in 2014; on behalf of the United States Telephone Association in 1997; and on behalf of the National Association of Broadcasters in 1992; he also delivered Parliamentary testimony on behalf of the Combined Newspaper and Magazine Copyright Committee of Australia in Sydney in 1993.

He received an A.B. with distinction and honors in 1977 from Stanford University and his J.D. in 1980 from Yale Law School, where he served as editor of the Yale Law Journal.

Professor Nimmer also served as the Chairman on the Committee on Intellectual Properties Litigation for the American Bar Association from 1989-1992.

Linda Quigley is the Senior-Level Attorney and Team Lead of the Copyright Team in the Office of Policy and International Affairs (OPIA) at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) where she works on a variety of copyright policy and legal matters, including issues related to Artificial Intelligence. Prior to joining OPIA, Linda has held a variety of positions in the federal government, including on the Innovation and Intellectual Property team at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Before entering government, Linda worked in private practice focusing on intellectual property and technology issues. Additionally, Linda taught as an adjunct professor of law at William & Mary Law School and worked in the law school’s Center for Legal and Court Technology and Institute of Bill of Rights Law. She received her J.D. from William & Mary Law School and her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Notre Dame.

Xiyin Tang is an Assistant Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law. She has previously served as a lead counsel for Facebook and an associate at Mayer Brown LLP and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, where she worked on a variety of transactional and litigation matters in the technology, media, and entertainment sectors. Tang’s research focuses on the roles that technological evolution and new modes of dissemination play in the law of intellectual property. Her publications have appeared or are forthcoming in the Columbia Law Review, Michigan Law Review, and Yale Law Journal, among others. Tang received her B.A. from Columbia University and her J.D. from Yale Law School, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Journal of Law and Technology.

Tearra is an Associate General Counsel at Meta Platforms where she leads Artificial Intelligence (AI) across the Family of Apps and devices in addition to other technologies in the Patents, Licensing, and Open-Source Group. She is an experienced problem solver, leader, change agent, and attorney who has practiced law at global Am Law 100 firms where she advised domestic and global Fortune 500 companies regarding various matters including intellectual property strategy, portfolio strategy and asset management, patentability and clearance investigations, competitive subject matter identification, preparation and prosecution of patent applications, drafting and negotiating agreements, and IP due diligence in M&A transactions. 

The depth of her legal experience is multifaceted ranging across industries such as, but not limited to, computer architecture and software, AI, telecommunications, mobile devices and apps, Internet of Things (IOT) devices, touch technologies, telematics, radio frequency identification, electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, automotive systems, OEM, financial technology, healthcare devices and systems, sportswear, footwear, consumer goods, and e-commerce among others. 

Her credentials include a Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) from Indiana University-Bloomington, a Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) in Computer Engineering from Vanderbilt University, and a certification in business from Harvard University as well as admission to multiple state bars and the U.S. Patent and Trademark bar. She has trained other practitioners as a Practicing Law Institute (PLI) instructor and previously served as the Big Data Committee Editor of the American Bar Association’s Science & Technology Section. In addition to being an attorney, Tearra has extensive real-world experience as a systems analyst consultant, project manager, and business developer working with internal and external clients across multiple business units.

Kathi Vidal serves as the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) – America’s Innovation Agency.

As the chief executive of the USPTO, she leads one of the largest intellectual property (IP) offices in the world, with more than 13,000 public servants and an annual budget of more than $4 billion. She is the principal IP advisor to the President and the Administration, through the Secretary of Commerce, and is focused on incentivizing and protecting U.S. innovation, entrepreneurship, and creativity. Named one of Managing IP’s top 50 most influential people in IP in 2022, she leads an agency whose mission is to help American workers and businesses compete and collaborate, especially in ground-breaking technologies and across all demographics. As Director of the USPTO, Vidal is working to expand American innovation for and from all, and to bring more ideas to impact, including serving as the Vice Chair of the Council for Inclusive Innovation (CI²), alongside Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo and the Council members, , a Co-Chair of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE), and the Co-Founder, with the Secretary, of the Women’s Entrepreneurship (WE) initiative. 

Director Vidal grew up in a career military family and spent her childhood on military bases in the United States, Panama, Germany, and the Azorean Islands (Portugal). She learned the value of hard work, financial security, and education from her parents, who often held multiple jobs and attended classes at night and on weekends to earn their bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

Her interest in science led her to attend Binghamton University at the age of 16, where she received her bachelor’s in electrical engineering. Before graduating, she started her career at General Electric (GE) Aerospace (later Lockheed Martin). She was selected into the Edison Engineering Program and pursued her master’s in electrical engineering in Syracuse University’s night program. During her time at GE, she designed one of the first artificial intelligence systems for aircraft, as well as aircraft and engine-control systems that continue to keep our military safe today. 

Recognizing the value of innovation, Director Vidal pursued a career in IP. She put herself through law school and obtained a Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. After clerking for Judge Alvin Anthony Schall on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Director Vidal joined Fish & Richardson P.C., where she became a recognized expert on IP law, led a litigation group of 270 attorneys in 11 global offices, and served on the firm’s Management Committee. She later joined Winston & Strawn LLP, where she served on the firm’s Executive Committee and was Managing Partner of its Silicon Valley office. Throughout her career, Director Vidal has represented new innovators and startup companies with limited resources. She has also represented many of our country’s most successful and well-known companies. 

Director Vidal has helped harness and protect innovation at all levels. Prior to joining the USPTO, she represented both patent holders and defendants in U.S. district courts and the International Trade Commission. She has also been deeply involved in practice before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), argued numerous Federal Circuit appeals, and led amicus efforts on important cases before the Federal Circuit and the Supreme Court. She has received many awards as a top litigator and was inducted into the Litigation Counsel of America, a society of the leading American trial lawyers.

Director Vidal has spent her career championing the importance of mentoring and expanding opportunities to include more individuals from underserved communities. She has played an active role on the advisory board of Chiefs in Intellectual Property (ChIPs), a network of women leaders in technology, law, and policy, and on other boards and committees focused on diversity and inclusion, and has mentored diverse women across the globe as part of the Fortune-U.S. Department of State Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership program. She builds on that work today.

Director Vidal lives with her family and rescue dogs Oliver and Jack.

John Villasenor is a professor at UCLA, where he has faculty appointments in electrical engineering, law, public policy, and management. He founded and serves as a faculty co-director of the UCLA Institute for Technology, Law, and Policy. He is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Professor Villasenor's work addresses the intersection of technology and law in relation to artificial intelligence, digital communications, computing and networking, cybersecurity, and privacy. He has published extensively in technology and law academic journals, and has also published in broader interest venues including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Scientific American. Professor Villasenor has provided congressional testimony on multiple occasions, including on the topic of AI and inventorship.

Aaron Watson joined the Copyright Office in February 2009. He currently serves as an Attorney-Advisor for the Office of Registration Policy and Practice. He has also held Copyright Office positions as an examiner in the Performing Arts division, and as an Attorney-Advisor for Policy and International Affairs.

Maureen Weston is Professor of Law at Pepperdine University School of Law and Director of the Entertainment, Media and Sports Law Program. She received her JD from the University of Colorado, and BA in Economics/Political Science at the University of Denver. Professor Weston teaches courses on U.S. and international sports law, arbitration, mediation, negotiation, international dispute resolution, and legal ethics.

Prior to teaching, Weston practiced commercial law in Colorado. She serves on the ABA, Law School Division, Arbitration Competition and AALS Sports Law Executive Committee. She is actively involved in programs furthering opportunities for students to gain advocacy experience in sports law and dispute resolution. She is a member on the Boards of Directors for the Sports Lawyers Association (SLA), the National Sports Law Institute, and LawInSport Editorial Board. With the SLA, Weston’s serves on the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI), International, Outreach, and Content committees. Weston’s co-authored casebooks include Sports Law: Cases and Materials (with Yasser, McCurdy, Goplerud) (4th- 9th editions); Arbitration Law, Policy, & Practice (with K. Blankley and J. Gross) (2019); Understanding Dispute Resolution (with K. Blankley); Arbitration: Case and Materials (Lexis Pub. 2-3rd ed., with S. Huber). Weston is a frequent speaker at conferences and has written numerous articles in the area of Olympic and International Sports Arbitration, disability law, sports law, and dispute resolution. Weston is a volunteer for School on Wheels and Song for Charlie.