Audioconference on CD or Online Audiostream
Originally presented live on June 28, 2007
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U.S. patent law is undergoing critical change — some would say attack. Recent landmark Supreme Court rulings, legislative proposals, and USPTO rule changes have combined to create what amounts to a perfect storm for tech transfer professionals, intellectual property owners, and patent attorneys whose goal is to license yet protect their innovations.

In response to urgent requests from our worldwide readership for practical, how-to advice and guidance on how to best respond to these changes and their significant potential impact on tech transfer, Technology Transfer Tactics newsletter presents, The Rapidly Evolving Patent Law Landscape: Practical Impact for Tech Transfer Professionals, recorded from a live audioconference originally held on June 28, 2007. This dynamic, informative program features R. Polk Wagner, Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania and one of the country’s leading experts on intellectual property and patent law.

How does the rapidly evolving patent law landscape affect your licensing and commercialization efforts, and what should you do about it?

The recent avalanche of patent law rulings, proposals, and rule changes has sent shock waves through the tech transfer community. But after the initial head scratching, it’s time to find out where the new lines are drawn and how to adjust your patent and licensing practices. In this session, you’ll not only gain a fuller understanding of key decisions and changes, you’ll come away armed with an action plan to optimally protect your IP.

Here’s what you’ll learn as you listen:

• MedImmune v. Genentech — In this shocker, the Supreme Court held that a licensee can challenge the validity of your patent while still maintaining its license. How do you keep the patent scavengers at bay, and how should you alter your license agreements to prevent these costly challenges? Should this new risk be priced into royalty agreements, and should existing agreements be renegotiated?
• Teleflex v. KSR — Handed down April 30 and referred to in patent circles as the obviousness case, with this opinion the Supreme Court changed one of the key tests of patentability, making it substantially more difficult to both obtain and enforce patents. How should this alter your patent decision-making and patent prosecution, and how does it affect what you need from researchers before filing?
• eBay v Bidders Edge — This decision may have flown under your radar, but its impact could be far-reaching for tech transfer, making it much tougher to receive injunctive relief against alleged infringers. You’ll learn what it means in the real world of patent enforcement.
• Microsoft v. AT&T — You thought patented software was just like any other patented technology? Think again! Find out why this case affects the strength of your software patents, and what you can do to shore up that protection.
• PTO rulemaking — As if the courts weren’t making life hard enough, the PTO is heaping on more changes focused on reducing the number of claims per patent, and severely limiting the number of continuations you can file. You’ll gain critical insight into the PTO’s agenda, and how impending changes will impact prosecution efforts and costs.
• Legislative proposals — Add in a bevy of Congressional proposals, particularly the Patent Reform Act of 2007, and your perfect storm is complete. Among the Act’s provisions: switching to a “first to file” system for granting patents, changing the calculation of patent infringement damages, a stricter definition of “willful infringement,” and a new post-grant opposition procedure in the PTO.
• PLUS… THE ORIGINAL Q&A SESSION FROM THE END OF THE LIVE PROGRAM!

MEET YOUR SPEAKER

R. Polk Wagner, JD, is Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. Professor Wagner focuses his research and teaching in intellectual property law and policy, with a special interest in patent law. He is the author of over fifteen articles on topics ranging from an empirical analysis of judicial decision-making in patent law to the First Amendment status of software programs. His work has appeared in the Stanford Law Review, the Columbia Law Review, and the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, among several others. He is a frequent lecturer on intellectual property topics, presenting his research at both academic institutions (such as Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, University of California at Berkeley) and prominent industry groups (such as the Intellectual Property Owner’s Organization, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, and the Association of Corporate Patent Counsel). In 2002, Wagner founded the FedCir Project (www.fedcir.org), a major ongoing effort to study the performance of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. One of the project’s first areas of research, the Claim Construction Project (www.claimconstruction.com) has emerged as an important and influential resource for patent lawyers and judges alike.

WHO SHOULD LISTEN

Technology transfer managers and professionals, licensing specialists, patent and IP attorneys, patent holders, research managers, venture capitalists and other investors, university and corporate counsel, and other professionals with an interest in patent law and intellectual property protection.

PROGRAM MATERIALS

Program materials will be provided via internet links to downloadable pdf files.

Disclaimer: The legal comments contained in this audioconference are for general information only, do not constitute specific legal advice, and may not apply in all circumstances and jurisdictions. Consult competent legal counsel for your specific situation.

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