Biotech Committee

by Wen Xie – Global IP Counselors LLP

The Biotech Committee has several Biotech Webinars planned for the Spring and Summer:

§ April 28: Biosimilars Around the World: Europe

Gareth Morgan (Olswang LLP)

Holger Tostmann (WALLINGER RICKER SCHLOTTER TOSTMANN)

Moderator: Carla Mouta (Finnegan)

§ May 25: Subject Matter Eligibility Around the World: Europe and Australia

Simon Wright (J A Kemp, CIPA)

Hazel Ford (Finnegan)

Trevor J Davies (Allens)

Moderator: Debora Plehn-Dujowich (Prismatic Law Group, PLLC)

§ July 27 (CLE): Building a Global Portfolio: Double Patenting and Unity of Invention Pitfalls in US, Europe, and Asia

TBD

§ August 25: Emerging Technologies in Biotech: patent eligibility, licensing and regulatory issues

Heather Bakalyar (Henry Jackson Foundation for Advanced Military Medicine)

Albine Martin (Johns Hopkins University)

Ron Kamis (Prismatic Law Group, PLLC)

Gretchen Temeles (Duane Morris)

Moderator: Vicki Norton (Duane Morris)

§ September 27 (CLE): Should You Be Losing Sleep? Key Practice Tips in View of Recent Patent Exhaustion Court Decisions

Ron Kamis (Prismatic Law Group, PLLC)

TBD

The dates and list of speakers for these Webinars is still being finalized. We welcome volunteers who would like to help organize upcoming webinars. Please contact Carla Mouta at the e-mail noted below. Nothing herein should be construed as legal advice or legal representation. http://www.finnegan.com/CarlaMouta/ .

AIPLA Spring Meeting Social Gathering - Thursday, May 19, 2016-Karaoke Night

If you are attending the Spring Meeting in Minneapolis, MN, please join us for Karaoke Night on Thursday May 19th at 8:00 pm. If you RSVP by email, details where to meet will be provided that week. You may also check for notice at the meeting. Refreshments will be available. For those who can’t/won’t sing, cheering and applauding are always welcome, so no excuses for not joining us.

Industrial Designs Committee

by James J. Aquilina – Design IP

The Industrial Designs Committee is currently drafting a letter to the USPTO on behalf of the AIPLA regarding the USPTO’s recent guidance set forth in the Federal Register regarding the application of the written description requirement of 35 USC §112 to continuing or amended design applications. Written comments on the USPTO’s guidelines are due to the USPTO by June 14, 2016.

The ID Committee is also in the process of preparing an amicus brief to be filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Samsung v. Apple, which relates to the interpretation of the “total profits” damages award set forth in 35 USC §289.

Licensing and Management of IP Assets Committee

by David Gosse - Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP

The Licensing and Management of IP Assets Committee will host a joint educational session at the upcoming Spring Meeting, titled “Open Source Is Here to Stay: How Your Client Can Leverage Open Source Software and the Open Source Community Without Losing IP Rights.” Please stop in to get more information and volunteer for upcoming committee events. The committee is also preparing content for the 2017 Mid-Winter Institute, for a presentation that will cover five separate topics related to licensing and valuation of patent assets.

The committee has two subcommittees, which are both working to generate content. The Case Law Review subcommittee, chaired by Michael Fluhler from Fishman Stewart PLLC, is tracking cases and preparing summaries relevant to the committee’s focus. Recent summaries cover the Federal Circuit’s en banc Lexmark International. v. Impression Products decision on exhaustion, and the Ninth Circuit’s Microsoft Corp. v. Motorola RAND decision. The subcommittee is looking for volunteers and also soliciting case suggestions. Please e-mail if you would like more information.

The Forms subcommittee, chaired by Michele Herman from Intellectual Ventures, is developing a collection of annotated sample agreements that will cover a variety of IP-related transactions. For example, agreements will include licenses for patents and trademarks, and covenants not to sue. Please e-mail if you would like more information.

The Licensing and Management of IP Assets Committee exists to address the laws, regulations, and judicial decisions that affect the ownership, transfer and sharing of intellectual property rights and technology. It also addresses matters relating to taxation and other financial issues insofar as they relate to intellectual property in any form.

To find out more about the committee’s activities, join the committee to get emails.

Patent Law Committee

by Joshua Kresh- Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP

The Patent Law committee provides an open community for the exchange of ideas and concerns on U.S. patent law and underlying policy, disseminates information on recent developments in patent law, develops educational programming on patent law for the membership and policy leaders, assists other committees with developing educational and other programming, identifies to the membership and AIPLA important issues of patent law, and assists with developing positions on issues of patent law to be advocated by the AIPLA. The committee will do so without regard to any particular technology.

The Patent Exhaustion Subcommittee is looking for volunteers to help monitor and analyze developments relating to exhaustion of patent rights. The Subcommittee will lead a Committee-wide teleconference discussing these issues.

The PTAB Subcommittee will discuss developments relating to ex parte proceedings before the PTAB and will periodically lead teleconferences discussing these issues.

The recently formed §112 Subcommittee monitors and reports on developments relating to §112. The subcommittee is currently looking for additional members.

At the 2016 Annual Meeting the committee will be hosting a CLE covering PTAB rules and regulations. Speakers will include James R. Myers, Ropes & Gray, LLP, Brandon M. White, Perkins Coie, LLP, and Sally C. Medley, Joni Y. Chang and Howard B. Blankenship from the USPTO.

One of the committee’s primary objectives is to assist the AIPLA in its advocacy by monitoring issues that arise concerning the substantive aspects of U.S. patent law and bringing those issues to the attention of the membership and the AIPLA. The committee gathers input from its members on issues involving patent law, and recommends positions to be taken by the AIPLA. It also drafts, on behalf of the AIPLA, resolutions, and comments in response to requests from governmental agencies concerning patent law. The Advocacy Subcommittee assists the committee in these efforts. The Advocacy Subcommittee also monitors case law, PTO publications and NPRMs for issues that may need to be addressed by AIPLA and where appropriate makes recommendations to the Amicus Committee or prepares a draft resolution for the board.

The Committees first quarterly newsletter was issued on August 5, 2013, each issue contains articles covering activities of the committee and important developments relating to the patent system.

The Mechanical practice subcommittee has begun the process of establishing an ongoing partnership with the mechanical technology centers at the USPTO. The purpose of the partnership is to exchange information and ideas, to provide feedback, and to address concerns of practitioners and examiners relating to examination of patent applications in the mechanical arts. Like similar “partners in patenting” programs run by the Electronic and Computer Law Committee and the Biotech and Chemical Practice Committees, our goal is to improve the examination process, and to use the information that we learn to inform our educational and advocacy efforts. The subcommittee plans to hold regular conference calls and meetings with representatives of the mechanical technology centers, and then brief the Patent Law Committee on what it learns.

Trademark Internet

by Missy Sikorski

There are current volunteer needs; please contact Missy at if interested. Monthly conference calls are open to all members and occur on the third Wednesday of every month. Agendas are circulated via email to all committee members prior to the call. This is a great way to hear about recent developments with ICANN, the new gTLDs, and related laws, which are discussed in addition to committee activities and volunteer needs. You can add Trademark Internet to your AIPLA committee selections to receive regular committee listserv emails. Please be sure to check out the regularly updated content on the committee microsite, and join the new LinkedIn subgroup!

Trademark Law

by Missy Sikorski

We hope to see you at the Spring Meeting! Be sure to check out all the trademark programming scheduled. There will be a trademark roundtable at the USPTO on June 1 with Commissioner Dennison and TTAB Judge Richey. The Annual Trademark Bootcamp is being held in Alexandria June 9th-10th. Don't forget, the Committee is always interested in hearing your meeting topic ideas. If you have any questions, please contact Missy at .

Trade Secret Law

by Missy Sikorski

During the 2016 Spring Meeting, the Committee is holding a trade secret track on Thursday morning, and a joint session with the Corporate Practice Committee on Thursday afternoon. Please consult the meeting program for details. Planning is underway for the 2016 Trade Secret Summit in Atlanta in mid-November. The Committee holds monthly calls to brief members on recent developments in the law, committee announcements, and to seek volunteers for various projects. The Committee encourages members interested in speaking on Trade Secrets topics at meetings to get involved. Please contact Missy at for more information.