Yuliya Patlata ’19 Receives the 2019 Dolores K. Hanna Trademark Prize

Yuliya Patlata ’19 has won the Chicago-Kent College of Law 2019 Dolores K. Hanna Trademark Prize. The prize was established in 2006 by Bell, Boyd and Lloyd (now K&L Gates) to honor Dolores K. Hanna ’52, who served as the firm's special trademark counsel.

The prize is awarded to one or more Chicago-Kent students based on outstanding performance in an intellectual property course. Recipients are selected by faculty who teach in the law school's program in Intellectual Property Law.

“Yuliya is very thoughtful about new subjects and analyzes them in light of everything she has already learned,” says Associate Professor Mickie Piatt, who taught Patlata in Law of Trade Secrets. “She asks the difficult questions and does not assume a particular position is correct but decides for herself.  She was a pleasure to have in class because she is willing to ask the question or take the position that others are thinking but are unwilling to test. She is already an accomplished advocate and will be appreciated by her clients.”  

A cum laude graduate, Patlata earned CALI awards for the highest grades in Legal Writing I, Legal Writing II, Appellate Advocacy, Trademarks and Unfair Competition, and Law of Social Networks. She was a research assistant for Visiting Assistant Professor Michael Gentithes and a teaching assistant for Distinguished Professor Mark Rosen and Visiting Assistant Professor Emily Aleisa. 

“In her trademarks class, Yuliya demonstrated an expertise in the fundamentals, and yet challenged new principles,” says Adjunct Professor Ashly Boesche ’04, a partner at Pattishall McAuliffe. “She was always engaged and displayed creativity in problem solving.  She was collaborative and proved to not only work well independently but also as part of a team. “

Patlata worked in the C-K Law Group: The Law Offices of Chicago-Kent as an intern in the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic and as a social media coordinator for the C-K Law Group's social media channels. In summer 2017 she clerked at the law firm of Konicek & Dillon PC. 

“I am immensely grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in the Chicago-Kent program in Intellectual Property,” says Patlata. “Learning from accomplished and dedicated professors who taught theory with a focus on practice, and supplementing the knowledge I was gaining with hands-on opportunities through the C-K Law Group was a wonderful journey and an immeasurable benefit. The program ignited the passion and instilled the confidence necessary for success in practice.”

Patlata, a member of Chicago-Kent's Moot Court Honor Society, and her teammates finished as semifinalists in the ABA National Appellate Advocacy Competition's Chicago region tournament and earned the third-place Best Brief Award. She earned individual honors as the tournament's second-place Best Oral Advocate. 

A graduate of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities with a bachelor's degree in psychology, Patlata was born in Ukraine and grew up in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. 

Hanna practiced intellectual property law with distinction for more than 50 years before retiring from active practice in 2006. Prior to joining Bell, Boyd & Lloyd in 2000, she practiced at the law firm of Hill & Simpson and also served as trademark counsel for Kraft Foods Inc. From 1985 to 1987 she chaired the federal Trademark Review Commission and recommended changes that were enacted into the Trademark Law Revision Act of 1988, the first comprehensive update of trademark law since passage of the Lanham Act in 1946. Hanna served as president of the International Trademark Association, the Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago, the Women's Bar Association of Illinois, the Women's Bar Foundation, and the Cook County Court Watchers.

Chicago-Kent currently offers a J.D. certificate program in intellectual property law. In 2002 it became the first American law school to offer a one-year LL.M. degree in international intellectual property law.