MEDIA ADVISORY Contact: Brigid Quinn (571) 272-8400 or brigid.quinn@uspto.gov

March 24, 2006 #06-20

U.S. GOVERNMENT TO ASSIST VIRGINIA SMALL BUSINESSES IN COMBATING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY THEFT Northern Virginia Event Part of National Crackdown on Counterfeiting, Piracy Washington, D.C. --U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property Jon Dudas and Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) will join hundreds of Virginia small-businessmen and -women during a conference on "Intellectual Property in the Global Marketplace" on March 27-28, 2006, in McLean, Virginia. The event is part of the federal Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy (STOP), a major United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and U.S. government effort to protect American businesses from falling victim to intellectual property theft, both at home and abroad. During the two-day seminar, patent, trademark and copyright experts from the USPTO will provide small- and medium-sized businesses, entrepreneurs and independent inventors with useful tips on protecting and enforcing their intellectual property rights in the United States and around the world. WHAT "Intellectual Property in the Global Marketplace" seminar Remarks on the global intellectual property marketplace and how small businesses, including those in Virginia, are increasingly at risk of intellectual property theft. WHO The Honorable Jon W. Dudas, under secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office U.S. Representative Frank Wolf (R-VA) Small- and medium-size business owners, entrepreneurs and independent inventors WHEN March 28, 2006 9:30 a.m. WHERE Ritz-Carlton Hotel Tyson's Corner 1700 Tyson's Boulevard McLean, Virginia Information about USPTO efforts to educate small businesses can be found at www.stopfakes.gov/smallbusiness . ###