Posts Tagged: "john calvert"

Many within the independent inventor community are well acquainted with John Calvert. Calvert started out working for the United States Patent and Trademark Office as a patent examiner, but by the time he retired twenty-four years later in he was in charge of the independent inventor outreach efforts of the USPTO. I have known him for a long time and he is a true friend and champion for the independent inventor community has had over the years. He is also the new Executive Director of the United Inventors Association, where he will continue to promote, assist and educate inventors for years to come.

Inventors who attend these USPTO sponsored inventor conferences will receive practical advice from successful inventors, experienced practitioners and USPTO officials. The registration fee is $80 per person ($70 for seniors or students) and includes all sessions and presentations, morning and afternoon refreshments, lunch both days and the networking reception. Having been involved several times with the conference when it is held in Alexandria, Virginia, I can say first hand that this event is excellent, informative and educational. I highly recommend it for inventors and business people who need to become more familiar with patents and trademarks.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Invent Now® and the National Academy of Inventors™ invite you to the Florida Regional Inventors Conference, a great chance to get practical advice from expert USPTO staff and to network with fellow creative entrepreneurs. The conference will be held April 27-28, 2012 at the Embassy Suites Hotel located on the campus of the University of South Florida.

If you are a serious inventor you need to go to this Conference. Last year there were inventors who came to the USPTO campus for the two-day event from all over the East Coast, and those that I talked to thought it was well worth their time and money. Where else are you going to be able to meet Senior USPTO officials and talk to them one-on-one? There will be patent examiners and trademark examining attorneys present to answer your questions. Local intellectual property attorneys will give their time to participate in teaching sessions, as well as giving free consultations to attendees to answer questions. Even if you have to travel to California and stay in a hotel for a couple nights you will get far more out of the Conference than you will spend. I understand money is tight, but serious inventors, whether they are newbies or old pros, will gain a tremendous amount of valuable information and personal connections by attending the Conference.

Today marks the 30th Anniversary of the most forward thinking patent legislation since Thomas Jefferson wrote the Patent Act in 1790, which was the third Act of Congress. Truthfully, the Bayh-Dole legislation is likely more forward thinking and inspired than even Jefferson’s work, given that the patent law written by Jefferson was merely an attempt to codify and improve upon the patent regime of Great Britain. The Bayh-Dole Act, which was enacted on December 12, 1980, has lead to the creation of 7,000 new businesses based on the research conducted at U.S. universities. As a direct result of the passage of Bayh-Dole countless technologies have been developed, including life saving cures and treatments for a variety of diseases and afflictions.

On Thursday, November 4, 2010, I attended the 15th Annual Inventors Conference at the USPTO.  In my article Reporting from the 15th Annual USPTO Inventors Conference I discussed the morning sessions and lunch speaker, for day one of the conference.  After lunch, and a panel discussion of the morning speakers, the attendees of the conference went into two sets of…

Similarly, inventors shouldn’t be rushing out to write their own patent applications and represent themselves pro se. In fact, representing yourself in a patent application is the patent equivalent of taking out your own appendix — a REALLY bad idea. Having said that, many inventors are faced with the situation where they simply cannot afford to hire anyone to assist them. It is either go it alone or do nothing at all. In that situation the inventor is faced with a terrible dilemma. If the inventor goes into the situation understanding they are not going to get the breadth, depth and scope of rights they otherwise could get, and that is acceptable, then they have made a knowing business decision. The Libertarian in me believes that we shouldn’t say don’t do it, but the Patent Attorney in me knows that we need to be realistic about the chances of success and provide that information in a realistic way without sugar coating the reality.

All of the morning sessions were open to all attendees followed by break out sessions later in the day where the attendees were able to choose the sessions they wanted to attend. Most of the sessions were repeated throughout the event, so that the attendees would not have to forego one topic session to attend another. There were speakers from both the IP community and the USPTO on topics pertinent to this audience, including the inventor of the Post It Note, Art Fry. The attendees were given the opportunity to attend different educational break out sessions that were meant to educate the independent inventor on the entire patent process.

I was pleasantly surprised to see inventors from all over the country, coming from New Jersey, Georgia, Florida and elsewhere. The Inventors Conference provides a truly unique opportunity for independent inventors to interface with patent examiners, high ranking USPTO officials and many industry experts. The two days are filled with programming that includes some “if I can do it, so can you” talks from successful inventors, even Hall of Fame Inventors, who share their stories of dedication and success. Also featured are substantive learning opportunities for inventors, such as how to write claims, why file a provisional patent application, patent searching, foreign filing and more. There is also ample networking opportunities for inventors, and time slots where inventors can receive free consultations with industry experts.

Like other years, the agenda is filled with great educational programs, such as commercializing intellectual property through licensing, claim drafting for beginners, advanced claim drafting, why file a provisional patent application, licensing vs. direct marketing, considerations for foreign filing, how to work with a patent practitioner and many other great sessions. There will be lunch presentations each day as well. On Thursday, November 4, 2010, the lunch speaker will be Arthur Fry, National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductee, Co-inventor of the Post It Notes. On Friday, November 5, 2010, the lunch speaker will be David Kappos, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.