黛布拉·布鲁诺
2017年10月2日
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A lawyer who chooses a career path inside a boxing gym might be seen as a bit pugilistic.
But 詹妮弗·梅塞尔, 29, an associate with the intellectual property firm Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck P.C., is actually a soft-spoken, careful IP attorney with a background in engineering and cyberspace.
事实上, 在康奈尔大学读本科的时候, 她最初的专业是运筹学工程, 这是, 用她的话来说, “an engineering approach to problem solving” using math modeling and statistics. “A lot of my classmates went on to become quants,她说。. (换句话说:定量分析师.)
“I’ve always been interested in computers and I saw the explosion of data and systems being used,麦瑟尔说.
Then she switched to a new major at Cornell – information science systems and 技术 – studying information systems and the flow of data through them. Cornell also introduced Maisel to another new arena: boxing. The school’s physical education requirement meant she needed to take an athletic course for credit. Plus, who doesn’t like to get in a few good punches every once in a while?
“我被迷住了，”她说. “It wasn’t necessarily the combative aspect,” but “about being able to push your body.” Also, she adds, boxing gets you in “really good shape really quickly.”
She joined Cornell’s boxing club and met a few law students there. One suggested that with her engineering background she look into patent law.
她的教授们对这个想法很感兴趣. 她探索得越多，发现的可能性就越多. “大四的时候，我发现了网络安全法，并开始思考, 嘿, there aren’t many people who can really bridge that gap between engineering, 技术, 和法律,她说。.
She went to The George Washington University Law School right after graduating from Cornell in 2009, 当经济衰退的时候. Even when she finished law school in 2012, job prospects were still bleak. 大约一半的毕业生得到了工作机会. “这是相当艰难的一年，”她说. “我是少数幸运儿之一.”
罗斯韦尔福格, which had given Maisel a summer internship between her second and third year in law school, 给了她一份工作, 从那以后她就一直待在那里. 如今，她称自己的工作为知识产权和专利, 主要是, 她说, 因为网络空间法律领域的定义并不明确. “这可能是事务性工作, 合并, 无形财产的转让, 一直到黑客和隐私法,她说。.
One of the first cases she was involved in for the firm was a patent troll lawsuit in the Eastern District of Texas, 一个地方, 直到最近, it was easy for virtual companies to set up shop and bring patent cases in court. (A patent troll is a company that uses patents to sue companies for copyright infringement.)
罗斯韦尔福格 represented three big media companies that had been sued by Personal Audio LLC over what was initially known as the “podcasting patent” that allowed episodes to run in a sequence.
尽管律所在法律上输了那场官司, 陪审团判的损害赔偿金很低, 这说明了我们案子的优点,麦瑟尔说. 自那次决定以来，美国一直在努力.S. 专利商标局认定该专利无效, which means that Personal Audio’s patent may still be ultimately ruled invalid.
麦瑟尔处理的另一组案子, 也在德州东区, involves 罗斯韦尔福格’s representation of 14 big media companies that had been sued by 酒吧tonfalls LLC over a software patent that allowed users to switch between TV channels and shows. 酒吧tonfalls argued that URLs or web addresses of online videos also were TV channels, and that any site that used software in which one video automatically appears when the first video is done used the same patent. 在那里, 罗斯韦尔福格 won the case on an early motion to dismiss because 酒吧tonfalls had no plausible basis for arguing that TV channels described in its patents cover URLs.
Maisel also has had a hand in another interesting case involving 澳门赌场官网week writer Kurt Eichenwald, who last December was sent a tweet with a strobe effect that sent him into an epileptic seizure. Eichenwald, who has written about his epilepsy, sued the man who allegedly sent the tweet. 罗斯韦尔福格 is handling the case on a pro bono basis through lead attorney Steven Lieberman. 民事诉讼指控殴打, 故意造成精神上的痛苦, 以及故意造成身体伤害.
艾肯瓦尔德引起了另类右翼人群的注意, 梅塞尔说, because he was “vocal during the presidential election in his criticism” of then-candidate Donald Trump. 民事诉讼被搁置了, 麦瑟尔说, so that the federal and state criminal case can go forward against John Rivello, 发第一条推特的马里兰州男子.
After the December tweet, some 90 others have also sent Eichenwald tweets with strobe effects.
“Mr. Eichenwald wants to raise awareness of these issues that people who have epilepsy face online,麦瑟尔说. “He also wanted to send the message that you can’t attack journalists.” It’s similar to sending someone anthrax through the mail, she adds.
When she’s not working on technical cases, Maisel continues to set herself personal challenges. 去年10月，她第一次跑了马拉松.
“这完全是一场灾难，”她说. 天气热得不合时宜.C. in the late fall, with a high of 80 degrees on the day of the race.
“我跑到了23英里, 有点不舒服, 不得不暂停一下,她说。, 走完最后几英里. 但这并没有让她完全放弃马拉松. 她正在训练, 她说, 参加11月的里士满马拉松比赛, 有时被称为“人民马拉松”.她认为天气会稍微凉爽一些.
