Posts Tagged: "IPWatchdog CON2020"

As IPWatchdog’s Virtual CON2020 continues, in a session on Day 7 titled “The Gender Gap: Stem Education, Funding & Inventorship,” a panel discussed the current underrepresentation of women and possible steps forward in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, patent professions and inventing. The panelists included Hope Shimabuku, the Director of the USPTO Texas Office; Megan Carpenter, Dean of the University of NH Franklin Pierce School of Law; Efrat Kasznik, President of Foresight Valuation Group; Delicia Clarke, Associate at WilmerHale; and Sandra Nowak, Assistant Chief IP Counsel at 3M.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director, Andrei Iancu, joined day one of Virtual CON2020 today to chat with IPWatchdog CEO and Founder Gene Quinn about topics including counterfeiting, Chinese IP theft, and the continued confusion in the courts and at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) around patent eligibility. On the topic of Section 101 and patent eligibility, Quinn lamented the recent American Axle decision, wondering if the holding that an invention involving a drive shaft could be considered directed to a law of nature represents a broader and growing disrespect for intellectual property. Iancu could not comment on the case itself, but said that with respect to the basic principle, “you’re absolutely right.

Experts speaking during IPWatchdog’s Virtual Patent Masters Symposium yesterday expressed concern over the state of the U.S. patent system, but also offered a number of solutions, and many took a cautiously optimistic outlook for the future. In one session, Patent Masters Q. Todd Dickinson of Polsinelli, Judge Theodore Essex of Hogan Lovells, Retired Chief Judge Paul Michel, and Robert Stoll of Drinker Biddle discussed the Supreme Court case eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, wherein the former bright line rule of issuing permanent injunctions was replaced by a four-factor test according to familiar rules of equity that apply to all areas of law. While the consensus among the Masters was that eBay has created a multitude of problems, Judge Michel pointed out that eBay has been misinterpreted by the district courts.

We have great news to share with all of our IPWatchdog CON2020 Speakers, Sponsors, Exhibitors and registrants. We have finally worked out an amicable resolution with the hotel. Although we will still hold a Virtual Program of some sort on Monday, March 16, IPWatchdog CON2020 is no longer canceled. We have rescheduled for Sunday, September 13 through Tuesday, September 15, to be held at the Renaissance Dallas Richardson. The program will be nearly identical to the live program we had scheduled for next week. More details to follow. 

We are in the final preparations for IPWatchdog CON2020, which is scheduled for March 15-18 in Dallas, Texas. We have been receiving inquiries regarding the latest coronavirus (named SARS-CoV-2) and the disease it causes (named “coronavirus disease 2019” abbreviated COVID-19).  These questions and concerns are understandable given that many events around the world have been canceled, and several major events inside the United States have been recently canceled as well. Unlike the several other major conferences canceled in the U.S., approximately 98% of those registered for IPWatchdog CON2020 are coming from within the Continental United States. We did have some early registrants from Asia, who were in communication with us as the virus was developing and decided it was unlikely they would be able to attend. We do suspect the virus is responsible for so few international registrations, but with over 300 people expected in Dallas for the event we will proceed as scheduled.