The Honorable Kara Farnandez Stoll has agreed to join GW Law’s prestigious Intellectual Property & Technology Law Advisory Council (IPAC). The IPAC provides counsel and support to ensure the IP Law program’s preeminence in all areas, including curriculum, research, extracurricular activities, career development, and alumni relations. Its members are leaders in the field of intellectual property law, including prominent practitioners and judges. Other Federal Circuit judges that have served on the IPAC include Judge Richard Linn, Chief Judge Paul Michel (ret.), and Chief Judge Randall Rader (ret.).
Judge Stoll has also agreed to teach a course at GW Law called The Federal Circuit. She will co-teach the course with two of her law clerks who are both GW Law alumni, Ashley Cade (JD ‘18) and Michael Wolfe (JD ‘16). Course topics will likely include: the unique nature of the court as the only federal appellate court organized on the basis of subject matter rather than geography; the creation of the Federal Circuit; an overview of the court’s varied jurisdiction (e.g., government contracts, constitutional takings, Vaccine Act claims, international trade disputes, veterans benefits, and federal employee claims); the Federal Circuit’s central role in the development of patent law; important procedural issues, such as jurisdiction, venue, and standing; and the court’s impact on the creation of specialized IP courts throughout the world.
“We are thrilled Judge Stoll has agreed to join our IPAC as well as teach a class for us on the Federal Circuit,” said Dean Dayna Bowen Matthew. “Judge Stoll has already established herself as an amazing Judge on the Federal Circuit and we are very fortunate that she is now willing to share her experience and insights both with our IPAC and our students.”
Judge Stoll is no stranger to GW: she co-taught the Patent Appellate Practice course (with Don Dunner before his unfortunate passing) and judged the final round of the 2021 Van Vleck Moot Court Competition, GW Law’s most prestigious moot court competition. Judge Stoll has also had a number of GW Law students as externs and hired several alumni as law clerks.
Judge Stoll was nominated to the Federal Circuit by President Barack Obama and confirmed in 2015, and she is the first Latina (and the first woman of color) to serve on the court. Prior to her appointment, Judge Stoll practiced patent law for 17 years with Finnegan and she has taught patent courses at the George Mason University School of Law (now Antonin Scalia Law School) and at the Howard University School of Law. Shortly after law school, she clerked on the Federal Circuit for Judge Alvin Schall. Before and during law school, she worked at the USPTO in various capacities: as a patent examiner, for the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (now called the PTAB), and in the Solicitor’s Office (where she worked with then-Associate Solicitor John Whealan and was a member of office’s bowling team). Judge Stoll received her JD from Georgetown University Law Center, and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Michigan State University (and she is a big Spartans fan).
“I have known Judge Stoll for over 25 years, ever since we worked together in the Solicitor’s Office,” said Associate Dean Whealan, “and I am delighted by this great news. I have followed her career and watched its rapid rise ever since, and feel fortunate to consider her a friend. We are so lucky she has agreed to join us as an IPAC member and teacher.”