Before me, Atty Nep Bulilan, who is also a Mechanical Engineer talked about a case of two welding companies who had similar welding rods to demonstrate the "law of equivalents."
When it was my turn, Atty Sapalo introduced me as a priest belonging to the Salesians of Don Bosco. Naturally everyone was wondering what I was doing there. So Atty Sapalo had to add that the Apple vs Samsung technical differences was my expertise being a Microsoft Certified Systems "Engineer" and having an undergrad in Electronics. But then again the area we were discussing was "patent" and so to make them feel relaxed I had to tell them I teach Computer Ethics at UPOU Graduate School and that patents and intellectual properties were my bread and butter.
Many of them had iphones and galaxy S and as soon as they saw the slides of the presentation, they were engrossed in the subject matter especially as we discussed the novel principle of the "trade dress" (core of the legal issue). But most of all, the class was happy that I was able to present the 370 page document of the litigation in 14 slides and 45 minutes instead of assigning them the whole document to read. As to the two lawyers listening, they found new ideas for patent cases they could take up in the future. For law firms, more cases, more claims, more liabilities, more revenue.
From hindsight, I get to appreciate more my vow of poverty. I don't think I have the stomach for the "lawyer" job where I have to get the "truth" favorable to me across so that I would gain at the expense of the other side. But that is reality- it's a dog-eat-dog world out there. But thank God, there are also good and honest lawyers willing to fight for truth they believe in rather than truth favorable to their status.
