Posts Tagged: "IPWatchdog LIVE 2023"

This year’s IPWatchdog LIVE meeting featured more than 30 panels and keynote or featured luncheon speakers, several of which we reported on here. But as the name implies, much of the action at IPWatchdog LIVE is meant only for the eyes and ears of those who attend in person, and that was the case with the judges’ panel, which included several high-profile retired and sitting judges responsible for hearing intellectual property cases across a range of venues. While their substantive discussion was off the record, some of the judges agreed to share their thoughts on the most irritating behaviors that parties have displayed in their courtrooms—along with their advice on how to avoid grinding their gears. Here is what they had to say.

We just concluded our Third Annual Meeting – IPWatchdog LIVE 2023, which I can proudly say was a great success. People often ask me what makes IPWatchdog LIVE different from other programs within the industry. The IPWatchdog LIVE 2023 line-up of speakers, as well as its attendees, is a who’s who of people within the industry. Here are just a few of the major highlights from the program.

Legal professionals making corporate IP portfolio management decisions must have the ability to cut costs from underperforming assets while also making significant investments to protect market share. On Day 3 of IPWatchdog LIVE 2023, top legal officers for several companies currently navigating global markets offered their insights during a panel titled “The Hallmarks of a Rational IP Strategy.” While the panel discussion revealed no one-size-fits-all template for legal professionals to follow when building valuable IP portfolios, it underscored the need for IP attorneys to firmly grasp their clients’ business needs when determining which IP rights to obtain and where they should be leveraged.

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) platforms are already reshaping work life for many professionals, including those in the legal industry. On Day 3 of IPWatchdog LIVE 2023, a panel discussion titled “Impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence on Law and Innovation” explored ways that in-house legal teams can advance their company’s use of generative AI to improve productivity while balancing the need to protect confidential data and intellectual property.

Clarity, transparency and integrity were themes consistently referenced by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director Kathi Vidal during a lunchtime fireside chat with IPWatchdog Founder and CEO Gene Quinn on Day 3 of IPWatchdog LIVE 2023. Throughout the discussion, which ran the gamut from the agency’s current rulemaking to potential issues with emerging technologies, Director Vidal strongly encouraged public participation from stakeholders to improve the functioning of the nation’s patent and trademark-granting agency.

The general consensus of attendees at a panel held during IPWatchdog LIVE 2023, day two, is that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) will never be eliminated. Open questions remain, however, on the effectiveness of PTAB reforms recently proposed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Those rule changes, and similar legislative efforts in Congress, were the subject of “Dissecting PTAB Rulemaking & Legislation: Will it Make Things Any Better?”

Judge Pauline Newman, who is currently in the midst of a very public fight with the Chief Judge of her court, received two lengthy standing ovations at IPWatchdog LIVE on Monday as she accepted her induction into the IPWatchdog Masters Hall of Fame, and also presented the inaugural Pauline Newman Award to Henry Hadad of Bristol-Myers Squibb. Newman had a message for those in attendance that hinted at the need for a possible “major upheaval” of the judicial system for IP rights.

On day two of IPWatchdog LIVE, J. John Lee, Chief Counsel for Intellectual Property for the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, told those who are skeptical of the chances for Senators’ Tillis and Coons’ Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (PERA) to move forward that a House version of the bill is likely to be introduced in the near future. Lee, who is principal advisor on IP issues and helms the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet, was speaking on a panel titled “Politics, Policy and Legislation at the Intersection of Intellectual Property,” which also featured David Jones of the High-Tech Inventors Alliance; Joe Matal of Haynes Boone, LLP and former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Acting Director and Acting Solicitor; and Eli Mazour of Harrity & Harrity.