IPO PTO Day

Last week, we reported that the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will be co-sponsoring the 18th Annual Conference on U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Law and Practice (PTO Day) on December 3, 2007 in Washington, D.C.  At the time, a program for the conference was not yet available.  The IPO has now released a program for the conference.  The patent portion of the conference will address the following topics (although it will be interesting to see whether some of the scheduled topics will change in view of the recent decision in the consolidated cases of Tafas v. Dudas and SmithKline Beecham Corp. v. Dudas):

• Introduction and State of Patent Operations
• Understanding the New Patent Rules on Continuations and Claims
• Strategies for Operating Under the New Patent Rules on Continuations and Claims
• USPTO Guidelines for Determining Obviousness in View of the Supreme Court Decision in KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc.
• Federal Circuit Opinions Affecting USPTO Patent Practice: Key Cases of the Past Year
• Current Intellectual Property Rights Developments (Luncheon Presentation by Commissioner for Patents John Doll)

Patent-related breakout sessions will address the following topics:

• Questions and Answers on the Continuations and Claims Rules
• Practicing Before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences
• Professional Responsibility for Intellectual Property Practitioners

The registration fee for the conference ranges from $200 (government/academic) to $600 (general registration).  Those interested in registering can do so here.  While the program indicates that there will be a live webcast of the conference, the online listing notes that the live webcast has been cancelled.