Michelle Lee to Speak at US Patent Forum 2014

Michelle Lee, Deputy Director of the USPTO

On March 25, 2014, Managing IP will hold its annual US Patent Forum at the Willard InterContinental, in Washington, DC. I will be at the event, which should be quite interesting.

The Keynote Address will be given at 9:00 am by Michelle Lee, the new Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Deputy Director Lee joined the USPTO on January 13, 2014, but has yet to have much of a public schedule. Instead, Deputy Director Lee has largely been engaging in a series of one-on-one private meetings with various stakeholders. This will be one of her first public appearances, which in and of itself makes this even noteworthy.

The programming for the event is full of presentations by attorneys from major law firms and major corporations. Nevertheless, one other panel of particular note is the panel that will be lead by Todd Dickinson, the former Director of the USPTO who is now the Executive Director of the American Intellectual Property Law Association. Those familiar with AIPLA meetings and programs have no doubt seen Dickinson as moderator before, and in this role he engages in what you might call a round table discussion or interview of the top newsmakers in the industry. This program will be no exception. Dickinson will engage in something akin to a fireside chat with Judge Prost of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Also participating will be Blair Jacobs of McDermott, Will & Emery.

I reached out to Dickinson to see what he had in mind for his panel segment. Dickinson told me that he had spoken with Judge Prost and the ground rules were simple: “nothing other than current cases before the court is off the table.” Dickinson told me that some of the things he may raise during his time with Judge Prost include “what is the Court doing today, how does she see the future of the court, what does she think about patent reform as a former Hill staffer.”

To the extent there will be a theme weaving through Dickinson’s questions to Judge Prost he says it will this: “the Court is coming through a period of significant change, what is your view of that change both short term and long term?”

The event is free for in-house counsel at corporates, patent counsel, academics and R&D professionals.