John Roedel Delivers Keynote Speech at Inventor of the Year Banquet

Senniger Powers attorney John Roedel was the keynote speaker at the recently held 35th annual Inventor of the Year Awards banquet, sponsored by the Patent, Trademark & Copyright Section of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis.

The theme of Mr. Roedel's presentation was that the long-term difference between the standard of living enjoyed by Americans as compared to the rest of the world is an unstable equilibrium that can be sustained only by innovation, specifically a favorable differential in the rate of innovation as compared to the rest of the world. Mr. Roedel also discussed the importance of the patent system and how enterprises need to continually reinvent themselves to stay alive.

Mary Fernandes of St. Louis-based Monsanto was honored at the banquet as Inventor of the Year for her work on genetically modified drought-tolerant crop plants that can increase crop yields when water is limited.