Next on the stand, we have Anne St. Martin. Born and reared in Ottawa, Ontario, to a French Canadian father and a mother from Connecticut, for Anne her family always comes first and foremost, especially her parents who, she says have always been extremely supportive of her unorthodox educational endeavors.

After completing high school at St. Mark High School in Manotick, Ontario, Anne went on to complete a double major at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She earned a Bachelors of Science with High Distinction in Chemistry, as well as a degree in International Studies. Along the way she has studied abroad a great deal, including in Russia, Namibia, Germany, France, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, China, and other countries.

Anne enjoys hiking, running, and horse riding. When horse riding she concentrates on dressage which is a classical form of English riding in which the rider displays skill at controlling the horse. She is an active member of the Outdoors Club on campus at Pierce Law. She is on the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot team and also serves as the secretary of both SIPLA and the Licensing Executive Society and Vice President of International IP Organization.

Currently a student in the second year of the JD program, her main areas of interest focuses on organic chemistry and the affect of international IP rights on pharmaceutical development and access in the developing world. Anne chose to come to Pierce Law on th strength of the IP program here and the great faculty resources, she says. Though she loved chemistry, she says, did not want to remain restricted to the laboratory for the rest of her life. "With a career in IP, I can play a role with emerging discoveries without having to spend a lifetime in the lab developing them." The global nature of IP, Anne adds, provides a perfect combination of her interest in international relations and transactions and her love of chemistry.

Thoroughly enjoying her time at Pierce Law, Anne says she finds the faculty here most extraordinary, with the way they enjoy what they do and equally enthusiastically share their passion with everyone. She is also highly appreciative of Stan Kowalski and Professor Cavicchi’s work with international IP management and agricultural development. Anne says the IP Development Clinic is a completely revolutionary concept that could be highly beneficial to many developing nations if they are able to gain the right funding and support.

"Pierce does a good job training a fair amount of professionals each year to build capacity in these countries," Anne says, "but there is always more that can be done. Moreover, if American students during their time at Pierce Law are exposed to the needs of these countries as part of their studies, then they will be more likely to apply their knowledge in the future through pro bono initiatives such as PIPRA."

Anne plans to work for an IP firm and solidify IP prosecution skills after she graduates from law school. She says she would eventually like to do IP transactional work, get some experience with IP litigation, pursue the very narrow avenue of IP arbitration, and work her way into an international IP organization (or start her own) to work with developing countries.

Anne is particularly excited about the new International IP Organization that is bringing domestic and international students together to talk about IP issues with a global perspective. She invites students to participate by giving a brief presentation about an IP topic in the context of their home countries. To volunteer or get involved, email IIPO@piercelaw.edu.