John Hardaway Attends FICPI Council Meeting in Amsterdam

Columbia, SC  – August 24, 2007 — John B. Hardaway, III, a Member (partner) in Nexsen Pruet’s Greenville office, was one of only two U.S. delegates to attend the Federation Internationale Des Conseils en Propriete Industrialle (FIPCI) Executive Council Meeting in Amsterdam.

Topics discussed at the event, which included representatives of more than 24 associations globally, included establishment of a grace period for worldwide harmonization and the European community novelty provisions, which appear to discriminate against non-European inventors.

FICPI works for the interests of patent and trademark professionals worldwide. It consists solely of intellectual property professionals in private practice and has members in 80 countries. The organization offers a prestigious network of foreign associates while maintaining professional standards worldwide.

Hardaway, who concentrates his practice in IP and international law, is chairman-elect of the FICPI’s U.S. Section. Additionally, he served as president of the Patent, Trademark and Copyright Law Association of the Carolinas; chaired the Japanese Patent Office Liaison Council of the U.S. Bar; and chaired the American International Property Law Association’s IP Practice in Japan Committee.

He earned his undergraduate degree from Clemson, a Master of Science degree in ceramic engineering from Iowa State University, and his law degree from the University of Tennessee.

Nexsen Pruet, LLC is one of the largest law firms in the Carolinas, with more than 180 attorneys and offices in Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, Hilton Head, and Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Charlotte and Greensboro, N.C.  Founded in 1945, Nexsen Pruet provides a broad range of legal services to the business community and represents companies and other entities in local, state, national, and international venues. 

For further information, see www.nexsenpruet.com.