Katherine A. Helm Discusses COVID, Remote Working with Managing IP

Dechert IP and litigation partner Katherine A. (Kassie) Helm, Ph.D. was interviewed by Managing IP, alongside several senior intellectual property in house counsel at MasterCard, Veritas and NetApp, about the career challenges of navigating the COVID-19 pandemic amidst a demanding legal practice.

Dr. Helm spoke to the situation in New York City, stating that these difficulties have not been helped by the narrative in some media outlets that full-time home working has been a “godsend.” It’s important, she says, for everyone to talk about their experiences in an honest way, and not to try and gloss over the struggles of maintaining a good work-life balance during a pandemic.

Read the full article titled “Female IP Leaders Divulge COVID-created Career Challenges.”
 

Dr. Helm was also interviewed separately for a different article about the impact of new remote-working policies on intellectual property and IP lawyers, specifically how they affect district court litigation strategies.

Arguments on patent venue and convenience become more complex, as companies adopt more permanent remote-working policies even after the COVID-19 pandemic. In the article, she expands on the 100-mile rule and several venue statutes that explain how venue in patent cases are governed, as well as how motions to transfer venue in patent cases are governed. 

Read the full article titled “Virtual work could curtail convenience in district courts.”

In a third article, following her participation as a speaker at the Managing IP Life Sciences Forum, Dr. Helm, was quoted about the effects of COVID-19 on intellectual property litigation this year.

She started a conversation speaking about her experience of U.S. proceedings, explaining how well the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit responded to the pandemic crisis, as it had to close in March and also during Black Lives Matter protests in Washington, D.C. She shared about the challenges of socially-distanced jury trials and also the benefits of trials being conducted virtually, specifically mentioning the benefit of junior lawyers being more involved with cases through remote litigation.

Read the full article titled “How COVID has hit US and European litigation.”