Posts in Interviews & Conversations

How the U.S. Chamber’s IP Principles Can Reset the IP Debate: A Conversation with Patrick Kilbride

Last month, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) announced that it had joined with 30 other signatories to publish a framework of intellectual property principles designed to reshape the narrative around intellectual property (IP) rights and maintain America’s global lead in innovation. Broadly speaking, the principles focus on five primary goals to be achieved by American lawmakers and policymakers: 1) national security, 2) technological leadership, 3) fostering creative expression, 4) enforcing the rule of law, and 5) ensuring full access to the innovation ecosystem for all.

Don’t Do That: Judges Share Their Courtroom Pet Peeves

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.

Vidal Stresses Importance of Transparency and Integrity in Agency Decision-Making on Final Day of IPWatchdog LIVE

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.

Mullets, Moves and How to Win at the PTAB: An Interview with Scott McKeown

Scott McKeown is one of the preeminent Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) practitioners in the country, founder and author of PatentsPostGrant.com, Co-Chair of the IPWatchdog PTAB Masters program, and a good friend. Recently, Scott decided to make a change, leaving Ropes & Gray and joining Wolf Greenfield & Sacks and becoming the first partner resident in Wolf’s new Washington, DC, offices. Given the news, I took the opportunity to invite Scott to IPWatchdog headquarters for an interview.

AI Inventorship: Will Our Patent Laws Stand Up? My Conversation with Dr. Stephen Thaler

The issue of AI inventorship in the United States remains at large following the Supreme Court’s denial of cert in Thaler v. Vidal, meaning that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) finding that AI cannot be considered a named inventor to a patent application remains the law of the land. Now that the agency is seeking public comments on the issue of AI inventorship, I reached out to Dr. Thaler to get his comments on the current AI inventorship debate within the patent space.

Webinar Panelists Say Vidal Should Have ‘Thrown a Thunderbolt’ at OpenSky Case

During an IPWatchdog-hosted webinar held today, panelists reflected on the impact that U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director Kathi Vidal has had on the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) so far and called her handling of the VLSI v. OpenSky case a “giant missed opportunity” to create a roadmap for how the Office will handle bad faith behavior.