Agenda

Registration

USPTO Practice Update: Exploring Recent Office Guidance & Rulemaking *

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has been quite busy in recent months, offering a series of guidance on a variety of issues, as well as the much anticipated Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) practice. This panel will review the meaning and importance of these USPTO pronouncements, specifically addressing: Guidance to examiners…

John Rogitz

Robert Bahr

Networking Break

Capturing Innovation: The Role of IP Managers & In-House Counsel *

While many companies see intellectual property merely as a shield, or even as a cost center that is only a drain on resources, a thoughtful and comprehensive IP strategy can be used to spark innovation and propel business growth. And the first critical step in any comprehensive IP strategy is to understand the technology developed and how it can and…

Sivon Kalminov

Anne McAleer

Dean Woodward

Networking Break

Achieving a Properly Balanced IP Portfolio: Patents vs. Trade Secrets *

Despite the fragility,  trade secrets are an important part of any intellectual property portfolio. This is because trade secrets are available to protect innovations for which a patent could never be obtained. Trade secrets are also preferred even in situations where a patent could be obtained if the innovation presents only marginal or incremental value, if the secret is unlikely…

Meghann Teague

Leo White

Cocktail Reception

Please join us at the end of Day 1 for beer, wine, cocktails and hors d’ oeuvres.

Breakfast & Registration

Best Practices for In-House and Outside Counsel Working Together

The relationship between in-house counsel and outside counsel can be quite interesting for a variety of reasons. There are many different models corporation clients use when hiring outside counsel, which leads to the complexity. For some corporate clients they prefer to hire outside counsel in more of a transactional manner, giving outside counsel discrete work with specific—sometimes limited—information. Others prefer…

Randy Canis

Carlo Cotrone

Derek Somogy

Networking Break

Establishing a Patent Strategy for the Innovation Lifecycle *

A sound strategy continues to be to organically grow a strong patent portfolio; maintain a true understanding of your portfolio’s strengths and weaknesses; and ensure portfolio strength and strategy aligns with overall business goals and objectives of the corporation. Easy to say and harder to do in the real world when faced with budget constraints, changing laws and evolving marketplaces.…

Cynthia Deal Mitchell

Megan McLoughlin

Jeroen Valensa

Networking Break

Patent Strategies for Critical and Emerging Technologies *

So-called critical and emerging technologies (CETs) are generally viewed as a subset of the advanced technologies that are potentially significant to national and economic security. The technologies that make up what is broadly considered to be critical and emerging technology is quite varied, but certainly includes advanced computing technologies. Technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, financial technologies, network…

Wen Xie

Robert Plotkin

Mark Vallone

Lunch

Global Patent Strategies: Where to File and Why? *

Determining where to seek patent rights is an important and expensive decision. For better or for worse, there is no such thing as a worldwide patent. Notwithstanding, there are global filing strategies that can be used to effectively lock in the possibility of obtaining patent protection across the globe. These including relying on the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), seeking a…

Benjamin Grau, Ph.D.

Carey Jordan

Networking Break

Prosecuting for Responsible & Continuous Portfolio Growth *

Ordinarily patent attorneys need to think about “prosecution laches”.  According to the Manual for Patent Examining Procedures (MPEP), prosecution laches “applies only in egregious cases of unreasonable and unexplained delay in prosecution”. MPEP 2190. And a finding of prosecution laches also requires that the accused infringer suffered prejudice as a result of the delay by proving that it “invested in, worked…

Blair Hoyt

Eric Foster

Dean Geibel

Networking Break

Responsible Patent Pruning: Should it Stay, or Should it Go? *

A sound patent strategy, and effective execution of such a strategy, are essential ingredients for a technology company’s road to success. Of course, the strategy of patenting everything and maintaining all your rights, while appealing, is unrealistic. Everyone has to triage which innovations to patent, and should triage which patents to keep once rights have been obtained. A patent portfolio…

Robert Brush

Thara Russell

Cocktail Reception

Please join us at the end of Day 2 for beer, wine, cocktails and hors d’ oeuvres.

Breakfast & Registration

Effectively Communicating with the C-Suite to Get the Budget You Need

Communications between the C-suite and IP counsel can be layered with misunderstanding and peril. How can IP teams get the resources they need to do the job they are tasked with doing if the C-suite doesn’t understand what it is that the IP department is actually delivering for the company, or even capable of delivering for the company? Too often…

Gillian Fenton

Networking Break

Patent Due Diligence: Knowing What You Have and Acquiring What You Need

Once upon a time industry professionals would consider it foolish for companies to largely ignore the patent system in a race to grow big bast, gain market share and dominance. Today, at least in some sectors, racing to be first to market and growing the largest customer base as quickly as possible seems to be a viable strategy. Of course,…

Krystyna Colantoni

Véronique Pagé

Networking Break

The Monetization of Underutilized Patent Portfolios *

Imagine you’ve invested millions to construct a shiny new office building at a prime location in downtown. On top of construction costs, you’re routinely paying for building maintenance, utilities, and even landscaping. But the building sits empty, and you’re not renting it out. This sounds a little puzzling, yet many companies treat their patent portfolios the same way. Too many…

Ben Herbert

Bryan Nese

Lunch