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Editor’s Note: The following article, “From Sunbeam to In re Tempnology: Solving the Trademark Puzzle with a Burden-Shifting Framework” won the prize for second place in the Tenth Annual ABI Bankruptcy Law Student Writing Competition. Mr. Li is a recent graduate of  Cornell Law School in Ithaca, NY He will begin clerking at the SDNY Bankruptcy Court later this year. Thank you to Wolcott | Rivers | Gates for sponsoring this prize.

In the recent case of Mission Product Holdings Inc. v. Tempnology LLC,[1] the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit added to the already uncertain fate of trademark licenses in bankruptcy cases.

We are excited to announce that the Technology and IP Committee is broadening and redefining its scope. In connection with these efforts to remain progressive in an ever-changing innovative and technological world, the committee is now rebranded as the Emerging Industries and Technology Committee.

Lawyers, due to their risk-adverse nature, are commonly thought of as slow to adopt technology. Perhaps this perception has led to a slower development of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the legal industry when compared to other industries like the medical field, where AI is increasingly used for medical diagnostics and robotic surgical systems. Nonetheless, Moore’s law has taught us that the development of technology doubles approximately every two years.

I am Beverly A. Berneman, and I am pleased to take on the role of the editor of the ABI Technology and Intellectual Property Committee’s e-newsletter. By way of background, I am a partner with Golan Christie Taglia LLP in Chicago. I hold a J.D. from Chicago Kent School of Law, and my practice started in bankruptcy law. I have been named a “Leading Lawyer” by the Leading Lawyers Network.