This Week in Washington IP: Bridging the Global Internet Gap, Addressing Russian Counterspace Advances and Europe’s Place in U.S.-Chinese Tech Competition

This week in Washington IP news, both houses of Congress remain quiet during their regularly scheduled work periods. Among policy institutes, the Center for Strategic & International Studies hosts a pair of events exploring ways to address Russian and Chinese advances in anti-satellite capabilities, as well as efforts to leverage the use of remote conferencing technologies in vogue during the COVID-19 pandemic to address the broadband Internet gap in developing nations. The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation will host an event exploring policy recommendations from last October’s digital antitrust report from the House Antitrust Subcommittee, and the Hudson Institute will discuss Europe’s difficult position between the United States and China as those two countries compete for dominance in artificial intelligence and 5G networks. 

Monday, April 5 

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

The “Perfect” Oral Argument

At 1:00 PM on Monday, online video webinar.

This event, hosted in partnership with the Legal Experience and Advancement Program (LEAP) professional development organization for Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) practice, offers attending patent practitioners the chance to witness strong oral argument skills that can be employed during ex parte appeals before the Board. Presentation of the oral argument will be given by Todd R. Walters, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney.

Tuesday, April 6

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Trademark Basics Boot Camp, Module 1: Fundamentals

At 2:00 PM on Tuesday, online video webinar.

This workshop is the first module in the USPTO’s eight-part virtual Trademark Basics Boot Camp designed to teach beginner topics in trademark registration and enforcement to small business owners and entrepreneurs having little experience with trademarks. This first module will focus on types of trademarks, benefits of federal registration, selecting a trademark and how to file for trademark registration.

Wednesday, April 7

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office 

Attend the TC 2400 Cybersecurity Partnership Meeting

At 11:00 AM on Wednesday, online video webinar.

The Cybersecurity Partnership Meeting is a forum hosted by the USPTO that gives innovators in the cyber and network security sectors to collaborate with USPTO staff and provide insights and share ideas on security trends. Legal and technical topics to be discussed during this meeting include cybersecurity working group statistics, cybersecurity prior art searches, emerging technologies and the agency’s classification and patent prosecution initiatives.

New America 

Achieving Digital Equity in India, Pakistan, and Beyond

At 11:30 AM on Wednesday, online video webinar.

Despite the seemingly ubiquitous nature of the Internet, nearly half of the world suffers from what many consider to be inadequate network infrastructure to connect to the Internet. In September 2019, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) issued a report on worldwide broadband access showing that only 54.8 percent of households across the globe are connected to the Internet with traditional approaches to rolling out infrastructure failing to address issues of digital literacy keeping many populations from taking full advantage of their opportunity to access the Internet. This event, presented in partnership with New America’s Future Tense, Davos Lab, Global Shapers Bangalore Hub and the Open Technology Institute, will feature a discussion with a panel including Amrita Choudhury, Director, CCAOI; Shah Faraz Salim, General Manager, Dawood Hercules Corporation Ltd.; Sarah Morris, Director, Open Technology Institute; and moderated by Raashi Saxena, Global Shapers Community, Bangalore Hub, and Global Project Coordinator, Hatebase at The Sentinel Project. 

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office 

Patent Prosecution Boot Camp – Module One

At 4:00 PM on Wednesday, online video webinar.

The Patent Prosecution Boot Camp, hosted by the USPTO’s Elijah J. McCoy Midwest Regional Office, is a four-part interactive workshop designed for current law students who are interested in pursuing a career in intellectual property and patent prosecution. The first module in the boot camp covers an overview of patents, steps for filing provisional and non-provisional applications, and examination procedures laid out in the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP).

Thursday, April 8

Center for Strategic & International Studies 

The Dark Arts in Space: Developments in Counterspace Weapons

At 1:00 PM on Thursday, online video webinar.

Several policy institute reports released in recent months, including the Space Threat Assessment published by CSIS on April 1, indicate a growing need to develop counterspace weapons in order to address growing threats from foreign actors in space systems, especially in regards to anti-satellite capabilities in low Earth orbit being aggressively pursued by Russia. Similar concerns, including those posed by Chinese military improvements, are repeated in a Global Counterspace Capabilities assessment produced by the Secure World Foundation. Speakers at this event will include Victoria Samson, Washington Office Director, Secure World Foundation; Dr. Brian Weeden, Director of Program Planning, Secure World Foundation; Kaitlyn Johnson, Deputy Director and Fellow, Aerospace Security Project; Makena Young, Research Associate, Aerospace Security Project; and Joe Moye, Military Fellow, Aerospace Security Project.

Friday, April 9

Information Technology & Innovation Foundation 

Dynamic Antitrust Discussion Series: “House Report on Big Tech”

At 10:00 AM on Friday, online video webinar.

Last October’s House Report on Competition in the Digital Markets was the culmination of many months of investigation into the digital platforms owned by several large tech firms, including Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon, and alleged anticompetitive behaviors exhibited by those firms on their own platforms. The House Report includes several recommendations for antitrust policymakers, with the structural separation of many of these larger platforms into separate components, such as separating Android from other Google apps to counteract Google’s agreements with smartphone manufacturers to give preference to Google apps on Android phones. This event, the third in ITIF’s Dynamic Antitrust Discussion Series, explores the justification for proposals such as structural separation and the potential that they could be accomplished through legislation. A panel discussion at this event will include Aurelien Portuese, Director, Antitrust and Innovation Policy, ITIF; Mark Jamison, Director and Gunter Professor of the Public Utility Research Center, University of Florida; and moderated by Christine S. Wilson, Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission.

Center for Strategic & International Studies

Digital Technologies and the Post-Pandemic Development Challenge

At 10:00 AM on Friday, online video webinar.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the strain that it has put on traditional business and governmental networks has highlighted the need for many developing countries to increase their adoption of broadband Internet infrastructure to connect their citizens and business communities to necessary resources. With many educational and judicial activities moving to remote video-conferencing platforms, some policy and national development analysts have seen the pandemic as an opportunity to build on the momentum of remote work platforms to achieve sustainable development in this sector. This event exploring how digital transformation plans can positively impact developing nations will feature several speakers including Karan Bhatia, Global Vice President, Government Affairs & Public Policy, Google; Otaviano Canuto, Former Executive Director of the Board, International Monetary Fund; Cherise Dunn, Founder and Chief Operating Officer, South Africa Makes; and Daniel F. Runde, Senior Vice President, William A. Schreyer Chair and Director, Project on Prosperity and Development.

Hudson Institute

Sino-US Tech Competition: Where Does Europe Stand?

At 12:00 PM on Friday, online video webinar.

Technological competition between the U.S. and China is currently heated in several areas of innovation, especially areas involving artificial intelligence and 5G mobile wireless networks. The United States, for example, has taken several steps to frustrate Chinese activities in order to address U.S. national security concerns and recent news reports indicate that the United States’ ban on Huawei’s 5G network infrastructure has been having a sizable impact on that company’s sales. Standing in the middle of this dispute is Europe, which needs next-generation cellular networks to support several technological and innovative projects but must navigate diplomatic concerns with both the U.S. and China. This event will feature a discussion with a panel including Mathieu Duchâtel, Director, Asia Program, Institut Montaigne in Paris; Giulio Pugliese, Lecturer, Oxford School of Global and Area Studies, University of Oxford, and Part-Time Professor, Global Governance Programme, EU-Asia Project, European University Institute in Florence; Thomas Duesterberg, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute; and moderated by Liselotte Odgaard, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute.

 

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