Freedom to Operate: Best Practices for Modern Patent Risk Management

Freedom to Operate: Best Practices for Modern Patent Risk Management

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Patent infringement risk can cost companies hundreds of millions of dollars and carries with it the threat of triple damages in cases of willfulness. And while in recent history the possibility of large verdicts seemed unlikely, over the past year the industry has seen a sudden increase in billion-dollar mega-verdicts, some with willfulness enhancements.

With an overabundance of data, new and numerous communication channels, and an increasingly transient and remote workforce, how do counsel for modern innovators manage freedom-to-operate investigations? How are communications kept privileged while facilitating collaboration between legal and R&D teams? What is the appropriate balance between unfettered product innovation and managing patent risk?

This panel will discuss:

1. Are FTO investigations necessary for risk mitigation today? If so, when?

2. How should in-house and law firm counsel be performing FTO investigations given the changing patent damages climate?

3. What rules and protocols need to be put in place to ensure to the greatest extent possible that FTO investigations and communications remain privileged?

4. How can the relationship between in-house counsel, outside counsel, and the R&D department best foster an agile, collaborative process?