During the annual meeting of the APAA held in Sydney, Australia in 1997, our managing partner, Mr. Myung-Shin Kim, invited volunteer musicians from each country represented in the APAA and formed the “APAA Band” (Asian Patent Attorneys Association). Mr. Kim managed the APAA Band as a public service, and the Band performed at each APAA convention three times a year for 5 years. Thereafter, the Organizing Committee in each country recognized the quality of music played by the APAA Band, and decided to bear rental charges for the performance venues and musical instruments. When the membership of the APAA Band reached 15 people, the Band divided into two groups, one for slow tempo music and another one for quick tempo music. This year, the Band played at Auckland, New Zealand in November and celebrated its 20th anniversary. Mr. Myung-Shin Kim playing drums, served as the first manager of the Band, Mr. Patrick Y.O. Kim (Now President of the APAA) playing saxophone served as the second manager and Mrs. Jeanne Wang playing keyboard is now serving as third manager of the Band. Only the APAA has a musical band composed of patent attorneys and attorneys at law, and is dedicated to creating a special atmosphere as a unique culture of the APAA and has become a benchmark for other international sister associations.
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