Program

Many believed that litigation of patent matters in the Eastern District of Texas was going to come to an end when the Supreme Court decided TC Heartland. Some patent litigation that... Read More

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has been described as the most influential patent tribunal in the world. And as 2019 ended the very establishment of the PTAB was... Read More

The Federal Circuit disposes of 50% of its docket with one sentence decisions merely saying “Affirmed”. The Court also repeatedly says it is handcuffed on patent eligibility even when all... Read More

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) innovations are transforming industries. But AI and ML are a very broad terms, and development of the algorithms necessary to implement these innovations... Read More

The International Trade Commission has emerged as an important forum for patent owners because the ITC is not required to follow the Supreme Court’s precedent in eBay v. mercExchange when... Read More

Today, many high-flying Silicon Valley success stories have raced out with little or no organic patent protection in an attempt to be first to market, and to dominate by growing... Read More

Description forthcoming.

We are gazing into at a future where more groundbreaking and breathtaking medical innovations cannot be predictably and reliably protected in the United States. Just recently, in early January 2020,... Read More

In recent years, inter partes review (IPR) proceedings at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) have created an alternative path to challenge those same patents. Supporters of the Hatch-Waxman... Read More

Intellectual property and technology asset classes are highly valuable, but they often are illiquid and difficult to value. Although patents and other forms of intellectual property are often critical to... Read More

Law firms and businesses increasingly rely on alternative financial solutions including litigation finance for complex legal matters like patent litigation.  Varying combinations of cases, funders, attorneys and clients create the... Read More

Standard Setting Organizations (SSOs) exist to identify and select the best innovations entire industries will build upon. Those contributing patented technologies are asked to provide fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory assurances.... Read More

In 2017, there was an increase in cloud patent lawsuits filed by NPEs, and a trend of high-volume plaintiffs filing multiple lawsuits against cloud customers. Today, we see an increase... Read More

Patents have been and continue to be an important asset for innovators. Unfortunately, however, a patent is not an asset that typically possesses flexibility and adaptability. Given the evolution of... Read More

According to recent research from Baker McKenzie, 48% of ~400 senior executives consider Trade Secrets more important than their patents and trademarks, and 69% foresee trade secret protection becoming more... Read More

The number of women inventors has quintupled since the 1970s, yet fewer than 20% of issued U.S. patents have at least one woman inventor, fewer than 12% of U.S. patent... Read More

Description forthcoming.

Companies like Nike and Adidas, as well as professional sports leagues like the National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Hockey League and National Basketball Association are constantly fighting what... Read More

This two-hour MCLE approved ethics presentation will be divided into three segments. First, we will discuss challenging ethical issues for in-house intellectual property attorneys. We will begin this segment by... Read More

Description forthcoming.  

Design rights can be a useful tool in your arsenal, particularly when attempting to create overlapping protection. This panel will summarize the various design-related legal rights (i.e., design patents, trade... Read More

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 make sure that portfolio strength and... Read More

The patent policy landscape in the US has caused an uptick in interest in Europe and China in recent years. With the marketplace in flux many continue to take a... Read More

Description forthcoming.

A study of the IP positions of Unicorns (i.e., startups with valuations of over $1 Billion) conducted in 2015 revealed that 30% of US Unicorns have no US patent assets... Read More

The massive volume of filings at the Chinese Patent Office exceeds the filings of the next four most active patent offices combined. This filing surge in China signals a rapid shift to China as the center for the leading-edge technologies that will enable the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

WIPO’s World Intellectual Property Indicators report for 2019 is eye-opening. In 2018, the U.S. saw a 1.6% decline in the number of patent applications filed, which is the first decline... Read More