The SCU High Tech Law Institute and the Duke Law Center for Innovation Policy invite you to attend a pair of jointly-hosted conferences on Patent Quality, to discuss and support engagement in the USPTO’s Enhanced Patent Quality Initiative and other levers for improving patent quality. These conferences will convene academics and stakeholders to reflect, as a community, on existing initiatives and future directions. The first conference will be held on September 9, 2016 at Santa Clara University. A second conference, which will be co-hosted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, will be held on December 13, 2016 at USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, VA.
Register Online Now for Sept. 9th at SCU!
Over the past 7 years, the PTO has made patent quality a major priority, launching initiatives and taking executive action to reduce application pendency, enhance prior art search capabilities, bolster examiner training, increase clarity of the record, enhance transparency, and calibrate examiner incentives, among other steps. As the PTO continues to implement a number of ongoing programs and roll out new ones, these conferences will convene policy-makers, academics, and stakeholders to reflect as a community on what has gone well, what has been learned, and what potential next steps, policies and procedures the PTO might consider for ensuring that U.S. patents are of the highest quality.
Schedule
(Subject to change)
| Time | Topic |
| 8:45am – 8:50am | Welcome/Introduction Colleen Chien, Santa Clara Law Arti Rai, Duke Law School |
| 8:50am – 9:05am |
Claim Clarity Initiatives |
| 9:10am – 10:10am |
Claim Clarity, Consistency |
| 10:10am – 10:30am |
Break |
| 10:30am – 10:45am |
How Examiner Time is Allocated |
| 10:50am – 11:05am |
Searching and Time Allocations Survey |
| 11:10am – 12:05pm |
Search and Time |
| 12:05pm – 1:05pm | Lunch |
| 1:05pm – 1:20pm | EPO Quality Initiatives and Differences Alfred Spigarelli, EPO |
| 1:25pm – 1:35pm | Data on USPTO v. EPO Colleen Chien, Santa Clara Law Jay Kesan, University of Illinois College of Law |
| 1:40pm – 2:35pm | Once and Done, Feedback Loops Moderator: Arti Rai, Duke Law School Alan Marco, USPTO Laura Sheridan, Google Sandy Swain, Microsoft Corporation Stephen Yelderman, University of Notre Dame Law School |
| 2:35pm – 2:50pm | Break |
| 2:50pm – 3:45pm | Applicant Incentives and Choices (including fees), Differentiating Between Patents Moderator: Melissa Wasserman, The University of Texas at Austin, School of Law Oskar Liivak, Cornell University Law School Brian Love, Santa Clara Law Josh Makower, New Enterprise Associates Robert Marek, GAO Arti Rai, Duke Law School |
| 3:50pm – 4:05pm | Where We’ve Been – Perspective Dave Kappos, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP |
| 4:10pm – 5:15pm | Reflections on Patent Quality – Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Going Moderator: Colleen Chien, Santa Clara Andy Faile, USPTO Alfred Spigarelli, EPO Valencia Wallace-Martin, USPTO |
For more Information and to Register Online visit the event page.
