The IP Legends Award will be awarded yearly, recognizing individuals who have made significant contributions in the area of intellectual property, both in the business and legal arenas. For example, the individuals may have made contributions as an attorney, inventor, entrepreneur, legislator, professor, judge, educator, intellectual property manager, executive, and/or business owner. In addition, IP Legends Award recipients are individuals who have served as role models for their peers, subordinates, and future members of the intellectual property community, have displayed the highest level of ethics in their careers, and have had a positive impact on their communities.

“In the U.S. and around the world, our rapidly evolving, knowledge-based economy is dependent on intellectual capital and driven by ideas and innovation,” explained Scott Frank, President of AT&T Intellectual Property and a founding member and chair of the Georgia State College of Law Intellectual Property Advisory Board. “Intellectual property is one of the primary components of the intangible, conceptual assets in business, which today account for approximately 75 percent of the value of most publicly traded companies. So naturally, there is a strong connection between IP law and success in business.”

The first recipients to be honored with IP Legends Awards included Miles Alexander, partner at Kilpatrick Stockton LLP; S. Truett Cathy, founder and CEO of Chick-fil-A; and Sandy Evans, former chief IP counsel for BellSouth.

Sponsors of the event included AT&T, Reeder Foundation, Georgia Tech Venture Lab, Georgia Research Alliance, State Bar of Georgia IP Section, and Atlanta Bar Association IP Section.

For information on how to submit nominations for or how to become a sponsor for the 2008 IP Legends Award, please contact Kathryn Wade (404.853.8031 or kathryn.wade@sablaw.com) or Natasha Moffitt (404.572.2783 or nmoffitt@kslaw.com). Information on the 2008 IP Legends Awards Luncheon will be available soon at this site.

Selection criteria include:

• An individual who has had a significant impact on the field of intellectual property, for example, as an inventor, attorney, entrepreneur, legislator, professor, judge, educator, intellectual property manager, executive, and/or business owner.
• An individual who has recently and/or continuously made outstanding accomplishments in the field of intellectual property.
• An individual who has served as a role model for his or her peers, subordinates, and future members of the intellectual property community.
• An individual who has displayed the highest level of ethics in his or her career.
• An individual who has had a positive impact on his or her community.