USPTO to Host Roundtable on Deferred Examination

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will host a public roundtable discussion on the topic of deferred examination on Thursday, February 12, 2009. The agency frequently receives suggestions from the intellectual property (IP) community to adopt a new form of deferred examination procedure. The goal of the roundtable is to obtain public input on this procedure from diverse sources and differing viewpoints.

Who:    Members of the IP community and the public who have an interest in deferred examination. The roundtable will be moderated by John Whealan, Associate Dean for Intellectual Property Law Studies, The George Washington University Law School (bio).

Confirmed participants and their affiliations include:

Arti Rai – Duke University School of Law

Jay Thomas – Georgetown University School of Law

Jeff Kushan – Sidley Austin LLP

Steve Kunin - Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Newstadt

Q. Todd Dickinson – American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA)

Hans Sauer – Biotechnology Industry Assocation (BIO)

Gordon Arnold – American Bar Association (ABA)

Alan Hammond - Live Technologies Corporation

Herb Wamsley – Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO)

Brad Huther – U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Glen Katopish – Independent Inventor

Carl Gulbrandsen – University Technology Transfer

Manny Schecter – IBM

Ken Patel – Procter & Gamble

Dick Wilder – Microsoft

Robert Budens – Patent Office Professional Association (POPA)

Nancy Linck – IP attorney and former solicitor for the USPTO

Henry Hadad – Schering-Plough Co.

Nicholas Godici – Birch, Stewart, Kolasch & Birch, LLP

Peter Thurlow – New York IP Law Association (NYIPLA)

Ron D. Katznelson - Bi-Level Technologies

John Doll – USPTO

Margaret (Peggy) Focarino - USPTO

What:    A public roundtable discussion on whether the USPTO should adopt a new form of deferred examination procedure.

When:    Thursday, February 12, 2009 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

The planned agenda is as follows:

9-9:05 a.m. Opening remarks by Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Acting Director of the USPTO John Doll

9:05-9:15 a.m. Introductions by John Whealan (moderator) and roundtable participants

9:15-11:45 a.m. Moderated discussion among roundtable participants

9:15-9:45 a.m. Advantages/Disadvantages of deferred examination

9:45-10:15 a.m. Impact of deferred examination on applicants/the public/competitors

10:15-10:45 a.m. Impact of deferred examination on the USPTO’s pendency/workload

10:45-11:15 a.m. Global impacts of deferred examination/Experiences with deferred examination in other countries

11:15-11:45 a.m. How deferred examination might work in the United States

11:45 a.m.-12 Noon Break

12 Noon – 12:50 p.m. Questions and comments from the audience

12:50 – 1 p.m. Closing remarks by John Whealan and John Doll

Where:    USPTO Headquarters
                 600 Dulany Street
                 Madison North Auditorium
                 Alexandria, VA 22314

For directions to the USPTO: http://www.uspto.gov/main/directions_alex.htm

Why:    To obtain public input from diverse sources and differing viewpoints on deferred examination.

How:    Members of the public are encouraged to attend the event in person.

For those who are unable to do so, they may attend the event via webcast or a toll-free phone number (listen only):

Webcast:
URL: https://uspto.connectsolutions.com/thm021209/
Log on using your first name and last name
Phone (listen only):
Dial-In: 1-800-988-9629
Pass-Code: 5163535