IPWatchdog celebrates its silver anniversary as the gold standard for patent advocacy and intellectual property news
BY REID CREAGER
On their second date 22 years ago, Gene Quinn cooked his future wife dinner, took her on a tour of Temple University, then visited the Philadelphia Museum of Art with her.
“And yes—we ran up the steps, just like Rocky did!” Renée Quinn remembers.
The Quinns took off running as a couple, then as a business, and haven’t looked back. As co-operators of intellectual property powerhouse IPWatchdog—which has grown prodigiously since 1999 with tens of millions of unique visitors to its website—there isn’t much time for that.
They made an exception on October 2 with a 25th anniversary celebration of the organization and its site that is seamlessly organized and crafted by editor-in-chief Eileen McDermott, a polished IP and legal journalist. Their dogged determination was much to celebrate, tinged with memories of those challenging early years when this business puppy was teething and even abandoned.
Ghosted but spirited beginning
IPWatchdog’s webinar, podcast guests and interviewees have included USPTO Director Kathi Vidal; former USPTO directors Andrei Iancu and David J. Kappos; and countless government officials, judges, industry CEOs and influencers in all things IP. Online discussions led by the Quinns from their homey Ashburn, Virginia, studio range from life sciences to patent trolls to women in IP to patent prosecution and more.
The site’s accomplished and knowledgeable reporters regularly outperform mainstream media in terms of speed, accuracy, detail and perspective. (IPWatchdog generously offers its news stories and analysis to Inventors Digest in our Eye On Washington section.) Frequent guest posters could form an IP all-star team. The organization has a swelling list of partners, contributors and followers.
It wasn’t always this way.
Not long before the turn of the millennium, Gene Quinn and a group of friends came up with the novel idea to “provide some information about the value of a company, based on the value of the company’s intellectual property portfolio,” he says.
Quinn certainly had the energy and the chops—having graduated from Franklin Pierce School of Law with a Juris Doctor degree in 1995 before joining a civil litigation firm. Then, seeing the exploding reach of internet news, he received his LLM from his alma mater in 1997 to prepare himself for numerous career opportunities in patent law.
He acquired IPWatchdog.com—“and then everyone else proceeded to move on to other opportunities.”
Quinn was left with the domain name and no idea what he would do with it. He began teaching as a law professor fulltime, so he posted articles he was writing and information for students.
Before long, it became obvious that more than students were reading. He envisioned turning that into a business.
“Initially, I wrote up case summaries for every IP case decided and posted them and sent them via email newsletter. This led to us growing a core audience, and to clients finding me who wanted legal work done.
“So, for many years, I would write to answer the types of basic questions clients would always ask, which did lead to a lot of legal work being generated. Then, when blogging platforms like WordPress became available, we transitioned to using those tools, which made maintenance of the site much easier.”
By 2009, people wanted to advertise on IPWatchdog.com and for Quinn to moderate webinars the site would promote to its audience. “That was when we really transitioned into the online journal that we are today, and away from just a blog useful for attracting legal work.”
Honored and honorable
The company’s founder/CEO has earned a presence and sterling reputation as a leading commentator on patent law and innovation policy. He twice has been named one of the top 50 influential people in IP by Managing IP magazine and for the last seven years has been recognized by IAM magazine as one of the top 300 IP strategists in the world.
IAM says Quinn “has reshaped the IP debate in the United States in a way that has forced policy makers to carefully consider the macroeconomic effects of IP law and its potential to drive innovation and economic activity.”
A patent attorney for nearly two decades, his expertise and impact are virtually unrivaled. He is regarded as an expert on software patentability—an issue of national importance in the landmark 2014 Alice v. CLS Bank Supreme Court ruling—and U.S. patent procedure. He has inventors, entrepreneurs and start-up businesses around the world. He’ll consult with attorneys facing peculiar procedural issues at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, advises investors and executives on patent law changes and pending litigation matters, and has represented patent practitioners before the Office of Enrollment & Discipline.
He has previously taught a variety of intellectual property courses at the law school level that include patent law, patent claim drafting, patent prosecution, copyright law, trademark law and introduction to intellectual property.
Quinn pulls no punches and doesn’t duck any, either.
He speaks out against perceived shortcomings or failures without playing favorites or mincing words. He is a registered patent attorney licensed to practice before the USPTO but does not shy away from criticism of its much-maligned Patent Trial and Appeal Board. He is also admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit—but in this very issue of Inventors Digest wonders if the federal circuit should be abolished.
At the end of the story about IPWatchdog’s 25th anniversary that was posted on the site, a commenter said it well in concise, metaphor-laden praise:
“You all provide the gnashing, grinding, growling, bulldog teeth our field desperately needs to shine the light of truth and justice in an often dark, anti-patent/IP world.”
A partner in every way
Renée and Gene Quinn married in September 2006. When they met four years earlier, he was teaching at Temple. She was a single mother, working full time in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, and going to graduate school.
Her contributions to the success of IPWatchdog pre-date the wedding. From April 2006 to November 2008, she was vice president; she is now chief operating officer.
With a Bachelor of Science degree from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA, she has put that knowledge to work by overseeing all day-to-day operations as well as the organization’s growing suite of programs. She “interfaces” with inventors, entrepreneurs and small businesses; has worked on developing marketing campaigns; is trained as a patent paralegal who worked with over 500 inventors on provisional patent applications, and has written business-related articles for the site.
When I visited the IPWatchdog office/studio in June, the Quinns and Vice President of Operations Kasia Kryca were setting up for an upcoming webinar. The way the couple complement one another while working together was on full display, with Renée’s attention to detail driving her to successfully find a way to hide all the control panel cords. Her logistical acumen and problem-solving skills are abundant.
This is not a support role. Renée Quinn is an indispensable partner.
“We have different strengths that overlap in some ways but complement each other very well,” her husband says.
“I don’t have to worry about the things Renée is handling getting done. She makes it happen. And I think she probably feels the same, which gives us each the ability to do what we need to do and the confidence that those things we are not handling directly will get done.
“It also helps that we really, really love each other. Our vision for the future is very much similar. We row in the same direction.”
Renée is fully on board: “Gene and I do love one another immensely and over the years have really come to respect the strengths the other has. We balance one another very well. We both have different strengths, and together we make an excellent team! …
“I am very good at planning and managing the different programs and events that we host, and handling any and all situations as they arise—while at the same time making our guests feel as if they were coming to our home, rather than just another event.”
Community constants
This is a noteworthy aspect of IPWatchdog’s one-floor office and studio: its comfort level.
An early Monopoly game, with pieces in view, sits on a shelf in the small lobby. The studio down the hall, with its black backdrop for participants, is cozy but professional. A large back room with tables, chairs and wall art exudes a family feel for large presentations.
Renée told me in June how the space is designed to “feel like community”—an observation repeated by many attendees.
Those who know the Quinns have made them feel like community for many years. That community is sizable and influential. Renee recalls IPWatchdog’s 20th anniversary celebration, when the organization did it up big:
“We rented the top two floors of the Park at 14th (a four-story restaurant and nightclub in Washington),” Renée said. “We had over 250 people attend the celebration and were blessed to have retired chief judge of the federal circuit Paul Michel, Andrei Iancu, and the late Q. Todd Dickinson, all speak about IPWatchdog and Gene and I specifically— and the impact we’ve had on the industry. It was such a monumental moment.”
Although this year’s anniversary celebration was more low-key, Gene Quinn says to look for a growing visible presence from the company.
“We are increasingly becoming a media company, and that will continue. We will continue to publish articles, but we will do more and more with video.
“Earlier this year, we started a podcast that is already in the top 25 percent of all podcasts available after just four months. So, look for us to produce more original video content and to grow the podcast from just doing interviews to being more of a ‘show,’ with headline industry news, comment, analysis—and, of course, some long-form interviews and conversations.”
Surprise of a Lifetime
A few weeks before IPWatchdog’s 25th anniversary celebration, University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law Dean and Professor Megan Carpenter contacted Renée Quinn and asked for permission to have a lifetime achievement award presented to Gene during the festivities.
“Absolutely!” was her immediate response.
In presenting the award, Carpenter explained that since Quinn created IPWatchdog two years after graduating with his LLM, it has evolved into much more than a media company: It is now also an IP education company, an events and conference company, an advocacy and policy engine and “more than anything else, it is also community.”
Quinn and IPWatchdog have made “such a mark on that mandate of promoting science and the useful arts,” Carpenter said. “We all love Gene because he says what he thinks, and true leadership entails, above all, authenticity.”
The head bulldog was temporarily and understandably tamed.
“Everyone who knows me knows that I really loved Franklin Pierce Law School, and I enjoyed all my time in New Hampshire,” he said. “So, getting recognized from where I came is truly a dream come true. It was a complete shock. I had no idea and wasn’t expecting anything.
“And while it is great to get a lifetime achievement award, I do not plan on letting up. It is still pedal to the metal, and shoulder to the grindstone!”
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Joyful Barks
Among the congratulations from the Quinns’ business partners, contacts and friends:
On IPWatchdog’s 25th anniversary:
“Congratulations to Gene and Renee on 25 remarkable years of running IPWatchdog. Your dedication to celebrating innovation and providing invaluable insights to the intellectual property community has made a lasting impact.”
Louis Foreman, Enventys Partners founder and CEO, Inventors Digest publisher
“I have been taking my news from IPWatchdog for close to 15 years by now. It has proven a great source of information and editorial content as well, which is rare. I always prepare my own newsletter (IP Market Updates) by going through the IPWatchdog stories to make sure I did not miss anything important.
“He has given a voice to many authors over the years, me included, to reach a large audience that cares about IP. To another 25 years!”
Louis Carbonneau, Tangible IP founder and CEO
“IPWatchdog’s 25th is special to all in the IP community and especially to me, personally. IPW 25 represents the endurance of clear, candid and readily accessible IP news and perspective. It was launched in the heyday of patent licensing and has taken us through the periods of challenge.
“IPW is a beacon of light in a sometimes dark ocean for inventors. I am pleased to have known Gene and Renee for more than 20 years and contributed more than 30 “Intangible Investor” columns and articles. Rock on, my friends!”
Bruce Berman, Center for Intellectual Property Understanding co-founder and chairman
“Gene, congrats to you and the entire IP Watchdog team on 25 years!”
Rachel Elsby, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld partner
“I champion Gene Quinn and his stellar team for their relentless efforts over the past 25 years in promoting and supporting U.S. patent rights.
“IPWatchdog’s timely, thought-provoking articles have consistently informed the IP community of important events and pressing issues.“
Julie E. Burke, PhD, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office expert witness, whistleblower
“Throughout my career, IPWatchdog has always been the No. 1 source for me to obtain relevant and timely intellectual property law developments and community news.”
Raymond Millien, legal executive, board advisor, IP and commercial law specialist
“IPWatchdog has been a game-changer for the IP industry. When I first embarked on my journey in the IP space, discovering IPWatchdog provided me with invaluable insights.
“Congratulations to Gene Quinn and his team for reaching such an amazing milestone! I’m excited for the next 25 years and the valuable insights and transformative changes it will continue to bring to the IP landscape.”
Marlene Valderrama, senior intellectual assets property manager, lead technology scout, MBA, patent agent
On Gene Quinn’s lifetime achievement award:
“This well-deserved award was a great capstone for the 25th anniversary conference. As always, IPWatchdog LIVE attracted the best and brightest and provided actionable insight to all attendees.”
James Carmichael, former administrative patent judge
“I can’t think of a better tribute to Gene—a true patriot—other than the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In due course …”
Judge Susan G. Braden (ret.)
“Congratulations. Thanks for your service to the Constitution.”
Stan Sansone, innovator, geophysicist, firefighter