Colleen Marshall was our inspiring speaker at the June luncheon meeting. Discussing her career from a beat reporter in the 1980’s to her position as lead anchor for WCMH news, she shared some of her award winning news segments with us.
Colleen painted the picture of when she first realized she needed a change in her life, most notably after covering September 11th from New York. After seeing so many people possitively affecting the lives of others around them, she felt she needed to fulfil her desire to do so, as well. She soon after enrolled in Capitol Law School, where she achieved her Juris Doctorate while working full-time at WCMH and raising her two children. Colleen now works at Porter Wright as well as continuing as lead anchor at WCMH.
She also discussed another new role which has begun to dominate a large part of her life: caregiver. Several years ago, Colleen’s mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and now she, along with her siblings, are caring for their mother as they have to deal with the emotional challenges of watching their mother’s mental deterioration.
Colleen provided an inspiring glimpse into how strength, determination, and desire can really change someone’s life, and she is truly a model example of someone who can “keep it all together.”
Melanie Martin-Jones, NAWBO Columbus second vice president and partner with Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, LLP, was our fantastic speaker for our May luncheon.
With a background in intellectual property law, Melanie provided a very thorough explanation of the different varieties of intellectual property protection, including patents, trade secrets, trade marks, and copyright.
What I found most useful for most businesses was the distinction between copyright and trademark. Copyrights pertain to items such as books, websites, and certain kinds of designs. Trademarks apply to things such as logos, and they must be used in conjunction with something being sold. Unfortunately, the lines can be somewhat fuzzy, and items can be eligible for more than one form of protection.
In the case of both copyright and trademark, registration is not required by US law; however it is heavily encouraged because it provides you with statutory rights.
After studying this topic a fair amount on my own, and now after hearing Melanie’s presentation, it’s a bit clearer to me; however if you were ever truly interested protecting something, call an attorney like Melanie!
Set goals, both long term and short term.