Five W|N attorneys have been listed among the Mountain States Super Lawyers. for 2008. Super Lawyers identifies the top five percent of attorneys in each state, as chosen by their peers and through the independent research of Law & Politics.
Eighteen W|N attorneys were listed in the January 2008 issue of Utah Business magazine in its annual listing of "Legal Elite" under the category of "Intellectual Property." The W|N attorneys who made the 2008 listing are: Robert E. Aycock, Sterling A. Brennan, David B. Dellenbach, John M. Guynn, R. Burns Israelsen, Jens C. Jenkins, Larry R. Laycock, Brent P. Lorimer, Eric L. Maschoff, Rick D. Nydegger, Robyn L. Phillips, Jonathan W. Richards, Charles L. Roberts, John C. Stringham, Dana L. Tangren, David R. Todd, Thomas R. Vuksinick, and David R. Wright.
W|N is pleased to serve as a sponsor for Invented in Utah, which provides an opportunity for local inventors to showcase their invention and product ideas. The event also provides an opportunity for independent inventors to receive constructive feedback that encourages and guides them in further development, as well as generally providing community awareness of the inventive and entrepreneurial spirit of Utah inventors.
W|N was pleased to host the local competition of this year’s participants in the Giles Rich Moot Court Competition, a nationally recognized moot court program sponsored by the American Intellectual Property Law Association.
W|N continues for its fourth consecutive year sponsorship of the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge (UEC) organized by the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. The Utah Entrepreneur Challenge is a competition of business plans submitted by teams of students from the various colleges and universities in Utah. As in previous years, W|N will be awarding the Patent Technology Award.
W|N was pleased to participate as a sponsor for the first annual U-Bridge Event, an invitation only event designed to create an expanded relationship between the University of Utah and the life science research and business communities. U-Bridge was developed by the Technology Commercialization Office of the University of Utah to drive new innovations for its corporate members by providing them access to unique resources and initiatives created at the University.
As one of its Founder Level sponsors, W|N is again supporting this year’s Business Plan Competition at the BYU Marriott School of Management’s Center for Entrepreneurship. The annual Business Plan Competition is a highly successful program that brings students together with entrepreneur founders and successful business people in a mentoring atmosphere where they can build relationships and hone entrepreneurial skills.
W|N will serve as one of the 2008 sponsors of the Mountain West Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel. The ACC is a nationwide association which addresses the professional and practice needs of in-house counsel, serving over 20,000 members from some 10,000 organizations located in over 70 countries.
In January the American Intellectual Property Law Association hosted a nationwide Women in IP Dinner. The AIPLA is a diverse association of over 17,000 IP lawyers from private, corporate, government and academic fields. Women in over a dozen cities gathered from coast-to-coast to participate in the event.
WN announced in January of 2008 that it would serve as a Premier Partner for the Women Technology Council. Formed in 2007, the Women Technology Council was founded by some three dozen of Utah’s leading women in the technology industry. The Women Technology Council provides leadership, resources, mentoring and networking opportunities for women who work for or own technology companies.
Rick D. Nydegger, Brent P. Lorimer, Larry R. Laycock and Eric L. Maschoff were included in the 14th Edition of The Best Lawyers in America, which is one of the oldest and most respected peer-review publications in the legal profession. Best Lawyers has been providing peer review for over a quarter century by compiling lists of outstanding attorneys by conducting thousands confidential evaluations by leading lawyers of their peers. The Best Lawyers listing is widely regarded within the legal profession as a singular honor, conferred on a lawyer by his or her peers.
Jonathan W. Richards, a senior shareholder and director of W|N, was recently nominated to serve as Secretary of the American Intellectual Property Law Association. Mr. Richards previously served as Chair of the AIPLA’s Trademark Treaties and International Law Committee (2003 – 2007) and is currently Chair of the Trademark Law Committee. His appointment as Secretary will become effective next October at the AIPLA’s annual meeting.
W|N was recently recognized as one of the top trademark firms in the country by Intellectual Property Today, a trade journal focused on legal issues in patent, trademark and copyright law. Intellectual Property Today ranked W|N 82nd in its list of 2008 Top Trademark Firms. Of the total list of 328 law firms and individuals, W|N was the only Salt Lake City-based firm to break the top 100.
W|N was recently recognized as one of the top patent firms in the country by Intellectual Property Today, a trade journal focused on legal issues in patent, trademark and copyright law. Intellectual Property Today ranked W|N 32nd in its list of 2008 Top Patent Firms. Of the total list of 352 law firms and individuals, W|N is the only Utah-based firm to break the top 100.
In the recently released Chambers USA 2008 guide, W|N received a “Band 1” ranking in the area of Intellectual Property. W|N was the only Utah firm to receive the prestigious “Band 1” designation.
Working with Innovative Thought Every Day™ Media Campaign
From innovation comes progress, ideas born from a new way of thinking, from people bold enough to think differently. In an effort to increase community awareness of Utah’s tradition as one of the nation’s top states in terms of technology innovation, W|N recently launched a media campaign which highlights W|N's support of innovative thinkers in our community.
Track 1 = Interview with Nate Alder of Klymit
Track 2 = Interview with Dr. Jeff Muhs at Utah State University
Track 3= Interview with Dr. Brian McPherson at the University of Utah
W|N is pleased to be one of the principal sponsors of the first annual Women Tech Awards, presented by the Women Technology Council and MountainWest Capital Network. The Women Tech Awards are designed to recognize women who are driving innovation, leading technology companies, and are key contributors to the community. Finalists and winners will be honored at a special Awards Luncheon on Thursday, September 18, 2008 at the Little America in Salt Lake City, Utah.
W|N’s Managing Director, Rick Nydegger, was recently invited to join the Board of Trustees of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCUtah). Started in 1987, EDCUtah is a public/private partnership, working with state and local government and private industry to attract and grow competitive, high-value companies and spur the development and expansion of Utah businesses.
W|N recently served as one of the major sponsors for the Annual Arthritis Foundation Gala Dinner. The Dinner recognized philanthropist and entrepreneur Gary L. Crocker for his support of the Foundation, awarding him the Doris S. Melich Founders’ Award, and Scott C. Ulbrich, who received the Norman and Barbara Tanner Spirit of Service Award.
W|N recently sponsored the Utah Minority Bar Association (UMBA) Annual Scholarship Banquet. The UMBA’s keynote speaker at the Banquet was President Michael K. Young of the University of Utah.
Joining with Zions Bank, the Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR) initiative, Grow Utah Ventures, Johnson & Company and SnappConner PR, W|N helped sponsor the Utah Global Entrepreneurship Conference. Centered on “Unleashing Ideas: Igniting High-Growth Entrepreneurship in Utah,” the Conference brought together entrepreneurs, angel investors, venture capitalists and experts in numerous core service industries to exchange ideas and experience in launching new business ventures.
