ABOUT KAIPBA
KAIPBA \kaɪbɑː\
KAIPBA (Korean-American Intellectual Property Bar Association, pronounced \kaɪbɑː\), formerly known as KAIPLA, was founded in March, 2007. KAIPBA is the first organization representing intellectual property attorneys of Korean heritage in the United States. KAIPBA was organized to:
(1) represent and serve the members for their professional needs;
(2) provide a nation-wide network of Korean American IP lawyers and bar members in the United States; and
(3) serve as a liaison to Korea-based counterpart IP organizations including Korean Patent Attorneys Association and Korean Intellectual Property Office. KAIPBA has been slowly but surely gaining a reputation as an “up and coming” IP organization in the area and on the national IP map and international IP map. Although KAIPBA was launched in the Washington DC area, one of its goals is to serve all Korean American IP professionals in the US, e.g., by installing regional chapters in major cities.
WHAT WE DO
KAIPBA has grown over hundred active members (as of February, 2016) of IP attorneys, patent agents, USPTO (United States Patent & Trademark Office) professionals, and Korean corporate IP delegates. The services of KAIPBA include providing educational programs for the members and a venue for networking among the members and IP professionals in the U.S. KAIPBA has held a series of seminars, attracting such notable speakers as Randall Rader (former Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit), John Doll (former Acting Under Secretary of Commerce and Acting Director of USPTO), Alan Kasper (former President of American Intellectual Property Law Association), David Kappos (former Under Secretary of Commerce and Director of USPTO), and Lead Judge Michael W. Kim & Judge Chung K. Pak (of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of USPTO). More particularly, in the seminar of November, 2009, Director Kappos spoke about cooperation between KIPO (Korean Intellectual Property Office) and USPTO, and the Patent Reform Act of 2009. Information on the previous KAIPBA seminars can be found here (please link “here” to http://www.kaipba.org/ publication link address). KAIPBA also has held the first Roadshow in Korea in September, 2014, and DC Korean-American Attorneys’ Gala in April, 2015, co-hosted by KABA-DC. KAIPBA holds golf tournaments and family picnics as well, at least once a year together with regular networking dinners to build and solidify the relationships among members and their families.