W|N Focus

Professionalism in the Sense of Giving Back

by Rick Nydegger & Vernon Rice

At W|N our mission is to achieve a level of professionalism of the highest quality in serving our clients, our community and our profession, and to create an environment that allows us to realize professional and personal satisfaction. We believe that realization of our mission entails developing a culture which fosters not only a willingness and desire to strive for excellence in the quality of our substantive legal skills at all levels, but also a sense of professionalism which embraces a spirit of service that extends to our relationships with our profession and our community.

We are fortunate to be located in a community that provides an unparalleled quality of life. To us, this means that we have a responsibility as a corporate citizen to play a constructive role in the health and well being of our community in areas such as education, culture, economic development, and to lend a helping hand to the disadvantaged. W|N has had and continues to have a strong history of supporting our community’s educational, cultural, and economic development activities, and in activities to help and support those in need.

We also recognize at W|N that intellectual property is a major economic driver which helps to attract investment in new technologies which serve to improve our quality of life in many areas. As such, we also feel a responsibility to be actively engaged in efforts to promote sound intellectual property policy, a robust and effective patent system, and in the education and training of the next generation of intellectual property lawyers.

At W|N we are proud of the efforts of our attorneys and staff to give back to both our profession and our community, as exemplified by the following kinds of activities and involvement.

Support for Those in Need

In a letter of thanks recently received from Travis L. Bradburn, Director of the Primary Children’s Medical Center, Mr. Bradburn noted that “There is a Greek Proverb which reads, ‘A civilization flourishes when people plant trees under which they will never sit.’ Your support meets the spirit of that sentiment, and I can promise it makes a difference in the lives of children in our care.” W|N is proud of its tradition of giving back to our community to assist those in need. Organizations which have benefitted from this tradition of giving include:

  • American Heart Association
  • Arthritis Foundation
  • The Children's Center (more information)
  • Habitat for Humanity
  • The Hope Alliance
  • The Make-A-Wish-Foundation’s Wishing Place (more information)
  • Muscular Dystrophy Association
  • Primary Children's Medical Center
  • Shriners Hospital
  • Sub for Santa
  • United Way
  • United Way Victims of Katrina Relief Fund

Educational Support

For over two decades the attorneys at W|N have actively supported the educational goals of both the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law and Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School. Many of our attorneys have served as adjunct professors of intellectual property law courses at both schools, including intellectual property overview courses, patent law, patent drafting, prosecution and client counseling, trademark law, copyright law, patent litigation, biotechnology and law and ethics, antitrust and moot court activities. Reflecting this tradition of service, W|N’s founding shareholder, Rick Nydegger, was recognized by the S.J. Quinney College of Law as the Honorary Alumnus for 2004, and was recognized in 2005 as the BYU Law School’s Alumnus of the Year. Charles Roberts was presented in 2007 with the Distinguished Service Award for his work and service as president of the Brigham Young University Law School Alumni Association.

In addition to our work with both law schools, we are also justifiably proud of the strong partnerships forged with many of our state’s major universities in other ways, as exemplified by the following

  • W|N has been a major sponsor of the Utah Entrepreneurial Challenge program for several years. Organized by the Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah, the UEC is a state-wide competition in which teams of budding entrepreneurs from virtually all of the state’s higher educational institutions compete for a $40,000 cash prize to advance their entrepreneurial projects.
  • W|N is also a “Founder” level sponsor of the BYU Marriott School of Management’s Center for Entrepreneurship and its Business Plan Competition. 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. The Center for Entrepreneurship was established in 1989 to educate, encourage, and support students in the understanding of how to successfully start, operate, and advance new business ventures both domestically and internationally.

W|N also supports each year a variety of symposia. Examples include:

  • The Brain Institute at the University of Utah, where researchers led by Dr. Thomas Park met to discuss issues related to brain health, including avoiding and coping with conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and stroke
  • The University of Utah College of Science’s “Science at Breakfast” lecture series
  • The University of Utah College of Science “Frontiers of Science” program featuring presentations such as its April 2007 program presented by Dr. Lucy Shapiro, director of the Beckman Center for Molecular and Genetic Medicine at Stanford University, entitled “Emerging Infectious Diseases: A Clear and Present Danger!”
  • W|N has for several years served as a major sponsor of the Utah Science Olympiad, hosted by Weber State University. The Olympiad is a twenty-six event, statewide junior high and high school competition that covers three broad goals: science concepts and knowledge, science processes and thinking skills, and science and technology applications.
  • A number of our attorneys donate time as reviewers for the Governor’s Center of Excellence Program, which seeks to identify promising research activities from universities in the State which then receive grant money to launch businesses based on the research.

Giving Back to Our Profession

At W|N we are proud to be part of a profession which has a long history and tradition of protecting the rights of individuals and the freedoms which serve as the underpinnings of our constitution and our system of federalism. We believe that being part of this profession means that we have an obligation to invest in that profession, strengthen it and give something back. This belief is reflected in our efforts in a variety of ways, including:

  • W|N has for a number of years supported the Equal Justice and the And Justice for All legal aid campaigns. The campaign is used to raise funds for a number of free legal aid service providers including Utah Legal Services, the Legal Aid Society of Salt Lake, and the Disability Law Center. In a joint letter of thanks from these organizations, they stated that “We are honored to have the commitment of W|N in a continued effort to keep a promise of access to justice alive to those who face barriers due to economic status, disability, ethnicity, or age.”
  • In 2007 we were pleased to serve as a major sponsor of the annual awards dinner of Equal Justice Works, a fund-raising event which honors the contributions of lawyers, law professors and students for providing leadership and commitment to social justice. Equal Justice Works is a national leader in creating summer and post-graduate interest in public career opportunities, as well as in advocating for more public interest programming at law schools. Equal Justice Works has had a significant impact in many communities on issues such as domestic violence, lack of affordable housing, education for homeless and disabled children, and legal obstacles faced by victims of Hurricane Katrina.
  • Since the inception of its Loan Assistance Repayment Program at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law, W|N has served as one of its major sponsors. Through donations to others, the program creates loan forgiveness opportunities for law students in return for donating their time to pro bono causes following law school graduation.
  • In 2007 W|N was honored to serve as a sponsor of the 25th anniversary of the annual Trilateral Conference between the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the European Patent Office, and the Japanese Patent Office. The conference was hosted in November by the United States Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, D.C. Since 1983 the trilateral offices have met annually to discuss global patent issues, particularly as they relate to the coordination, cooperation and harmonization of patent examination practices and procedures.
  • W|N has been a major sponsor for many years of the National Inventors Hall of Fame. In addition to its primary mission of honoring and inducting inventors and scientists who have made significant contributions to our way of life with their innovations and technological advances, the NIHF also promotes the development of innovative and creative problem solving skills among the nation’s young people by conducting every year thousands of Camp Invention programs for children from grades K through 12, and by conducting an annual Collegiate Inventors Competition. W|N is proud to have been a supporter of the NIHF and these programs.

Many of W|N’s attorneys have contributed significant time and energy to the betterment of our profession. Our attorneys have served as officers, board members, or trustees of such notable institutions as:

  • the American Intellectual Property Law Association
  • the Supreme Court Historical Society
  • the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation
  • the National Council of Intellectual Property Law Associations
  • the United States Patent and Trademark Office Patent Public Advisory Committee
  • the Patent, Trademark and Copyright Section of the Utah State Bar

Cultural and Other Community Support Activities

In a recent letter of thank from the Utah Symphony and Opera, Melissa Adams, Director, Institutional Gifts, noted “We are honored by your commitment to sharing the gift of music. With the assistance of friends like you our symphony concerts, opera productions, and educational outreach programs continue to enrich communities throughout Utah and the Intermountain West.” At W|N we continue to build on a tradition of supporting the arts and other community activities such as the Pioneer Theater Company.