DePaul College of Law Professor Roberta Rosenthal Kwall Named to Endowed Professorship

A gift of $250,000 by nationally renowned intellectual property attorney Raymond P. Niro Sr. has endowed the Raymond P. Niro Professorship in Intellectual Property Law at the DePaul University College of Law. Roberta Rosenthal Kwall, a College of Law professor and the architect of DePaul’s Intellectual Property Program, will fill the professorship.

"Invention, innovation and the protection offered by intellectual property really act as a fuel for our entire economy," Niro said. "I hope that my gift to the DePaul College of Law will stimulate others to study and perhaps forge a career in one of the most exciting fields available."

Niro is the senior partner at Niro, Scavone, Haller & Niro, a Chicago law firm that specializes in intellectual property cases involving patents, trademarks, copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition and related business tort issues. His cases include a successful enforcement of Black & Decker’s patent rights on the "Snakelight" flashlight and a $57 million jury verdict for an inventor in a trade secret lawsuit against Polaris and Fuji Heavy Industries. A graduate of George Washington University law school, Niro is familiar with the caliber of DePaul’s College of Law programs because his brother and two sons are alumni and attorneys with his firm.

"I am honored to bear a designation with Ray's name," Kwall said. "Not only is he a phenomenal attorney, but his generous gift to the DePaul Intellectual Property Program underscores his willingness to share his resources for the benefit of DePaul and the legal profession."

A nationally recognized authority on intellectual property issues, Kwall has practiced intellectual property law at the Chicago firm Sidley & Austin and is chair of the Intellectual Property Section of the American Association of Law Schools. Kwall and New York University Law Professor Rochelle Dreyfuss have co-authored a casebook on intellectual property that is used at many law schools throughout the country. She also has written many highly regarded law review articles about facets of intellectual property that have appeared in prestigious law reviews such as Texas, Southern California and Vanderbilt. One area of her expertise is the right of publicity, a legal doctrine designed to prevent the unauthorized commercial exploitation of celebrity personas. She currently serves as an advisor to the Screen Actors Guild on the promulgation of a uniform right of publicity statute.

Kwall has been instrumental in building DePaul's vigorous intellectual property program, which is taught by four full-time professors and several adjunct professors. DePaul places more than thirty students in intellectual property jobs each year. Courses in trademarks, copyrights, patents, telecommunications, cyberlaw, cultural property and entertainment law are the core of the program.

The program also boasts a first-year legal writing section that concentrates on intellectual property. This year, most first-year students from the section and other qualifying students have been placed in paying summer associateships and internships in intellectual property. The program sponsors an array of events for students, faculty and the Intellectual Property Bar of Chicago, including monthly brownbag lunches and an annual lecture sponsored by Niro’s law firm. Next year’s Niro lecturer will be University of San Francisco Law Professor J. Thomas McCarthy, a noted trademark expert.

"Ray Niro’s generous contribution will assist DePaul in shaping its dynamic intellectual property program into one of the most unique and prestigious in the nation," said Teree Foster, DePaul College of Law dean.

DePaul law alumnus and prominent patent attorney Gerald Hosier said: "I am proud that my long-time friend and business associate, Ray Niro, generously has chosen to support the intellectual property program of my alma mater. His endowment will make an enormous difference in the program’s national visibility and prestige."