IPWatchdog to Host Its First-Ever Annual Meeting and Conference Next March

IPWatchdog will host its first Annual Meeting and Conference from March 15-18, 2020. The event will take place at the Renaissance Dallas Richardson in Dallas, Texas.

Registration will begin on Sunday, March 15, followed by an opening General Session, and then an Opening Reception. We will begin Monday, March 16 and Tuesday, March 17 with breakfast. Each morning will feature two General Sessions, followed by lunch, and then a series of breakout panels in the afternoon. A Networking Cocktail Reception will be held both Monday night and Tuesday night. We hope everyone will stay and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with us on Tuesday evening, March 17.

We will conclude with an ethics breakfast on Wednesday, March 18, which will provide two hours of ethics credit for those attorneys in attendance.

What Makes This Conference Different?

There are many excellent IP and inventor conferences to choose from, but the IPWatchdog Annual Meeting and Conference will be truly one of a kind. Traditionally, there are separate conferences for intellectual property attorneys; for dealmakers and those on the monetization side of the business; for inventors; for technology transfer specialists who work at universities; and policy conferences that bring together political leaders and insiders. But there is not a single conference that brings all of these different segments within our industry together in one place at one time. That is what the IPWatchdog Annual Meeting will do.

IPWatchdog.com has always strived to be a place where everyone in the industry can find something useful, interesting, educational, and even entertaining. And that is what this Conference will be. It will bring together the disparate elements of our readership and industry—from politicos, to business executives, to attorneys, academics and inventors. This will be the Industry Conference.

Speakers, Moderators and Panels

Another thing that will separate the IPWatchdog Conference from so many other IP events is the programming. I realize that people will often choose to attend a conference for networking opportunities, and we will have plenty of those, but I fundamentally believe there is no reason content should suffer. My philosophy has always been that “content is King”, and that will show clearly at this Conference.

There are a variety of reasons content at some programs is lacking, in my opinion, and chief among them is the industry reality that partners and sponsors are able to buy their way into substantive speaking assignments, as panelists or moderators. In fact, many will assume that sponsorship comes with speaking roles, whether the speaker is willing to say anything interesting or not. Others are so afraid of the perception that speakers are chosen based on sponsorship that they will not sponsor events they are involved with, which is understandable. While we will be seeking sponsors for our Conference, we are not going to engage in pay-to-play, period. I will select the speakers, panelists, moderators and topics in close consultation with our Editor-in-Chief, Eileen McDermott, and my long-time advisors. Should invited speakers, panelists and/or moderators wish to sponsor the Conference, we will be most grateful, but content and speaker quality will be closely curated to ensure an exceptional program.

A Call for Panel Proposals

In order to cast our net wide, and to seek any and all good ideas, we will have an open call for Panel Proposals and Speakers. We are looking for topics relating to patent prosecution, patent litigation, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and the business of IP. If you would like to submit a topic for consideration please submit the following information via e-mail to [email protected] by August 16, 2019. Those selected will be notified by September 16, 2019.

Please submit:

1. Title: Proposed panel title.
2. Abstract: Not more than 150 words please.
3. Panelists: Names and bios of three or four substantive panelists, which a brief description of what content they would contribute.
4. Description of target audience.

Please indicate whether each of the proposed panelists identified have been notified that they have been included in the proposal and have indicated availability to attend the Conference in Dallas, TX.

See You in Dallas

IPWatchdog turns 20 on October 10, 2019. It is hard to believe we have been continuously online for nearly two decades already. But the best is yet to come, and this Conference is one of several things we have in store for our 20^th Anniversary year. We hope you all can join us!

If you are interested in sponsoring or partnering with us on this Conference, please contact us. Super Early Tickets will be available beginning in September.

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