Patently-O Bits & Bytes by Lawrence Higgins

Conference on Industry/Academic Collaborations: Lessons from the Trenches

• Innovation remains a major driver of economic growth in this country, and research universities provide a key reservoir of innovation. Increasingly, universities and industry have joined forces to translate that potential into jobs and commercial industries. Designing the complex legal and business frameworks for these collaborations is an evolving art, which will be discussed by those at the forefront of these transactions. On February 29, at UC Hastings College of Law, individuals from some of the biggest companies in the world will discuss their relationships with Universities. Google, Hoffman-LaRoche, Intel, Pfizer and BP will speak about their collaborations. The Keynote Speaker will be Chris Vein, The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Guest speakers include: Robin Feldman, Susan Capello, Paul Willems, Louisa Daniels, Jeff Walz, Laura Berner, and many others. This event will also be streamed online for individuals who are unable to attend. [Link]

Federal Court Dismisses OSGATA Lawsuit

• The OSGATA suit against Monsanto has been dismissed by the US District Court for the Southern District of NY. OSGATA claimed that they did not want or intend to grow crops containing Monsanto patented gene traits and they feared being sued by Monsanto. Judge Naomi Buchwald noted that, Monsanto averages about 13 patent infringement lawsuits targeted towards farmers per year, which is considered insignificant compared to the number of farms in the US. The court held that there was no case or controversy because Monsanto has yet to take action against any of the plaintiffs. [Link]

USPTO Detroit Office Update

• The Elijah J. McCoy United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will open in Detroit, Michigan in July 2012. The USPTO plans to hire for more than 100 positions, including patent examiners and Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences judges. The USPTO hopes to fill more than 50 percent of the positions by the end of the summer. Vacancy announcements for patent examiner positions and judges have been posted on the USA Jobs website.

Student Writing Contest

• The Pennsylvania Bar Association IP Law Section is accepting papers for its annual IP writing contest. The competition is open to all students enrolled in one of the Pennsylvania law schools and Pennsylvania residents enrolled at other law schools within the US. The first place winner will receive $2500 and the paper will be published. [Link]

Patent Jobs:

• Banner & Witcoff is seeking an International IP Manager with a minimum of 10 years of experience in management to work in their DC or Chicago office. [Link]
• Axiom is looking to hire patent attorneys with 7+ years of experience to work remotely. [Link]
• Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox is looking for electrical IP attorneys with 1-4 years of experience to work in their DC office. [Link]
• Hiscock & Barclay is seeking patent attorneys/agents with a minimum of 3-5 years of experience to work at their Syracuse & Rochester offices. [Link]
• The Coca-Cola Company is searching for a patent agent with 2-4 years of experience to work at their Atlanta location. [Link]
• The USPTO is looking for patent examiners with a BS degree in engineering to work at their Alexandra location. [Link]
• Steptoe & Johnson is seeking IP associates with a minimum of 4 years of experience in IP litigation to work in their DC office. [Link]
• Fish & Richardson is looking for technical advisors with a background in EE, physics, or CS to work at one of their several offices. [Link]
• Klemchuk Kubasta is searching for a patent associate with at least 4 years of experience to work in their Dallas office. [Link]
• Guntin Meles & Gust is seeking patent attorneys with 3+ years of experience and a degree in EE or Computer Engineering to work in their Chicago office. [Link]
• Levine Bagade Han is looking for a patent associate with 2-6 years of experience to work in their Palo Alto office. [Link]
• Myers Wolin is searching for a patent attorney with 3-5 years of experience and a degree in EE to work at their Morristown, NJ office. [Link]
• Young Basile is seeking a patent attorney with 2+ years of experience and a degree in ME, EE, or CS to work in their Ann Arbor office. [Link]

Upcoming Events:

• The Florida Bar 3^rd Annual IP Law Symposium will be held on March 1-2 on Orlando. The IP Symposium will address recent developments and important issues in IP law, including: Perspectives on the America Invents Act, Copyright Law and the First Sale Doctrine, Third Party Liability in IP, Enforcing IP on the Internet, Latest Developments in Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Law, and Recent Developments at the TTAB. Guest speakers include; Anne Gilson LaLonde, Scott Bain, John Welch, and many others. [Link]
• Section 101 Gatekeepers: Finding the Patentable Subject Matter Line in a Judicial Sandstorm, webinar will be hosted by AIPLA on March 7. The webinar will be presented by Professor Christopher Holman and attorney Robert H. Fischer. [Link]
• LES (USA & Canada) 2012 Winter Meeting will be held March 12-14 in Anaheim, CA. The meeting will focus on cutting-edge issues in the high tech space with overlapping content in related industries, including clean tech, nanotech, and medical devices. Featured speakers include Honorable Randall Rader, Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; Catherine Casserly, CEO, Creative Commons; and Patrick Ennis, Head of Global Technology, Intellectual Ventures. Patently-O readers save $100 with code PO1. [Link]
• The New Jersey Intellectual Property Law Association will hold a half-day Patent Litigation Seminar on Wednesday, March 14, 2012 11:45 am to 5:45 pm. Guest speakers include: Paul Berghoff, Kara Stoll, William McElwain, Richard Bress, Barbara Fiacco, and Lewis Ho. [Link]
• C5's 22 Forum on Biotech Patenting conference will take place March 14-15 in Munich, Germany. The conference brings together experienced in-house counsel from both innovator and generic pharma and biotech companies and their expert legal advisors from various jurisdictions across the globe. Session will cover the patentability of gene sequence patents in Europe and the US, current developments on biotech products and patent considerations for bio-deposits, and many other sessions. (Patently-O readers register with PO 10 for a discount). [Link]
• American Conference Institute's FDA Boot Camp conference is scheduled for March 20-21 in New York, NY. ACI's FDA Boot Camp has been designed to give products or patent litigators, as well as patent prosecutors, industry in-house counsel, and life sciences investment and securities experts, a strong working knowledge of core FDA competencies. (Patently-O readers register with PO 200 for a discount). [Link]
• American Conference Institute's PTO Procedures Under the America Invents Act conference is scheduled for March 26-27 in New York, NY. This conference will serve as a practical and tactical guide for PTO practice post-Patent Reform. (Patently-O readers register with PO 200 for a discount). [Link]
• The ABA Section of IP Law will hold its 27^th Annual IP Law Conference March 28-30 in Arlington, VA. The conference is recognized for its national and international scope and preeminent programming. It attracts IP practitioners from across the nation and around the world. Speakers and moderators include: Sharon Marsh, Keisha Hylton-Rodic, Alexander Wilson, Steven Emmert, Teresa Rea, James Bikoff, David Kappos, and many others. The discounted early registration deadline is March 14. [Link] [Link]
• The IP Section of the Atlanta Bar Association and Georgia State University Law School will hold its 8^th annual SpringPosium at the Barnsley Gardens resort on April 13 &14. Some example seminars will include: the new America Invents Act, Federal Court best practices, IP law and life practice management, and recent developments in damages law. Guest speakers include: Clerk of Court and Chief Deputy Clerk of the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Jan Horbaly and Pamela Twiford and Clerk of Court of the US District Court for the North District of Georgia, James Hatten.
• The European Generic Medicines Association is hosting the 10th EGA International Symposium regarding Biosimilar Medicines on April 19-20 in London. Greenblum & Bernstein is providing a pre-symposium workshop on April 19, 2012 titled: Biosimilars In America: IP Strategy and Due Diligence. The workshop will explore the mechanics of the Biologics Act with an emphasis on how the Act relates to the involved intellectual property and how the intellectual property may impact the biosimilar applicant's strategy for entering the market. [Link]
• ACI will hold its 6^th Annual Paragraph IV Disputes conference on April 24-25 in New York City. The conference will cover topics such as: the impact of the AIA on Hatch-Waxman litigation, claim construction, prior art obviousness and obvious-type double patenting, and many other topics. (Patently-O readers register with PO 200 for a discount). [Link]

Contact Lawrence.Higgins@patentlyo.com with leads for future Bits and Bytes.