Nadia Akaweih Awarded Sidney B. Williams Jr. Intellectual Property Law Scholarship

SAN DIEGO, CA, 1/20/17 –Thomas Jefferson School of Law is proud to announce that Thomas Jefferson School of Law student Nadia Akaweih (3L) has been awarded the Sidney B. Williams, Jr. Intellectual Property Law Scholarship for Spring 2017.

The Sidney B. Williams, Jr. Scholarship is developed and funded by the American Intellectual Property Law Education Foundation (AIPLA). This scholarship addresses the need of intellectual property groups in law firms and intellectual property law departments in corporations to improve their diversity profiles by increasing the number of minority candidates.

The scholarship was named after Sidney B. Williams, Jr., a corporate and law firm intellectual property attorney for over 30 years, was the first African American attorney to chair a committee of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). In addition, Mr. Williams was the first minority attorney to become a member of the Board of Directors of the AIPLA (1982-1987), serve as Secretary of the AIPLA (1982-1983), Chair the National Council of Intellectual Property Law Associations (1988-1989), to serve as a council member and financial officer of the American Bar Association (ABA) Patent, Trademark and Copyright (PTC) section (now the Intellectual Property (IP) section), and chair the ABA/PTC Plant Variety Protection Committee. While on the AIPLA Board of Directors, Mr. Williams involved the AIPLA in various programs at historically Black colleges and universities in an effort to encourage minority science and engineering students, as well as minority law student, to seek careers in intellectual property law. He has been a friend and mentor to many other minority attorneys who are currently active members of the AIPLA.

"One of the best decisions I ever made was attending Thomas Jefferson School of Law to take part in the Intellectual Property (IP) Fellowship Program. Through the program, I have drafted patents for low-income inventors in the Small Business Law Center, worked as a student patent examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and am currently a paid legal intern at Maxwell Technologies working in conjunction with a leading national patent law firm, Knobbe Martens," says Nadia Akaweih. "Being awarded the American Intellectual Property Law Association's Sidney B. Williams Jr. Intellectual Property Law Scholarship for $10,000 was a great honor. Without the guidance, encouragement, and support of the IP faculty and staff at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, none of this would have been possible."

The mission of Thomas Jefferson School of Law is to provide an outstanding legal education for a nationally-based, diverse student body in a collegial and supportive environment with attention to newly emerging areas of law, particularly those related to technological development, globalization and the quest for social justice. Located in Downtown San Diego, Thomas Jefferson School of Law has evolved into an innovative, cutting-edge law school, devoted to the individual needs and success of its students. More information is available at www.tjsl.edu.

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CONTACT: Thomas Jefferson School of Law Director of Marketing and Communications Edgar Hopida, 619-961-4314 or 619-913-0719, ehopida@tjsl.edu