MAY SVIPLA DINNER MEETING
Also see below for Inventor of the Year Nominations and Program Chair Nominations.
"Insights Into the PTO from an Ex-Examiner and Patent Prosecution Practitioners"
This presentation will explore options for effectively mediating between different sets of expectations, limiting prosecution history, and increasing the number of allowances in a decreased amount of time. In particular, this presentation will focus on the benefits of in-person interviewing and relationship building at the USPTO.
6:00-7:00 p.m. - Registration and no-host cocktails
7:00 p.m. - Dinner and program
Speakers:
Over the past 10 years Angel Lezak has gained experience as a former examiner, and as a practicing patent prosecutor. She focuses her practice on intellectual property law and technology at Jones Day. Her experience includes representing patent and trademark clients in the procurement of intellectual property rights before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Angel incorporates her experience as a former examiner to effectively and efficiently prosecute applications using telephonic and in-person interviewing techniques. Angel represents clients in a number of technological areas, and her experience includes the procurement of clients' intellectual property rights in the fields of 3D computer graphics, computer animation, 2D image processing, game systems, musical notation software, virtual machine architecture, business analytics software, audio technology, and Web-based technologies. Prior to practicing law, Angel taught music on the grammar school and university levels. Additionally, she has composed several small chamber and large-scale orchestral commissions, musical theater pieces, and other musical works for a variety of organizations and artists including Glenn Yarbrough, Jim Henson, and Phill Lewis.
Over the past 20 years Tom Hassing has gained experience as a practicing patent practitioner, and as in-house counsel. He is the Director of IP Strategy and Licensing for Immersion Corporation in San Jose, California. He received his degree in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota Institute of Technology in Minneapolis and worked as a software engineer and software engineering director for 12 years before joining the legal profession. He received his law degree from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, and has over 20 years of experience in IP law and business, including international assignments in Walldorf, Germany, and Bangalore, India. Mr. Hassing is a registered patent attorney with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and is admitted to practice law in the State of California, the State of Minnesota and the District of Columbia.
Over the past 5 years Ryan Elliott has gained experience as a practicing patent practitioner. Ryan recently experienced his first visit to the USPTO. Ryan is a member of the Patent Practice Group at Blakely Sokoloff Taylor & Zafman. He is a registered patent attorney whose practice focuses on intellectual property protection in software and hardware in a wide variety of technologies including: processors, memory, storage servers, data processing and management, communication and networking systems, home audio, medical devices, and internet transactions. He provides a broad range of patent related services including preparation and prosecution of domestic and foreign patent applications as well as support for patent litigation and IP transactions. Prior to becoming an attorney, Ryan worked as an engineer for an IC design company, with a focus on back-end design, place & route, and signal integrity.
If you have problems registering for the May meeting and want to make a reservation, please email Casey at svipla@yahoo.com.
DEADLINE FOR RESERVATION OR CANCELLATION:
Tuesday noon, May 15, 2012. Online registration automatically closes at that time - please make your reservation online by the deadline as there are only a few extra spaces allotted at the meeting for walk-ins. The venue may not be able to serve meals beyond the guaranteed number expected for the meeting.
SVIPLA Tax ID#-77-0491659
MCLE: This event will qualify for 1 hour of CLE credit. The Silicon Valley Intellectual Property Law Association is a State Bar of California approved MCLE provider.
SUBMIT YOUR INVENTOR OF THE YEAR NOMINATION
Please submit a brief description of the accomplishments of your nominee for Inventor of the Year along with appropriate patent information. You are welcome to submit sample patents. Email your nomination to David Tsai, Perkins Coie, dtsai@perkinscoie.com, by July 15. The presentation to the recipient will be made at SVIPLA's September dinner meeting.
NOMINATIONS FOR SVIPLA PROGRAM CHAIR
SVIPLA Board of Directors is taking nominations for SVIPLA program chair for 2012-2013. Please email your nomination by June 30 to David Aston, Peters Verny, djaston@petersverny,com, or Mark O'Boyle, Patterson & Sheridan, moboyle@pattersonsheridan.com.
JUNE SVIPLA DINNER MEETING: June 28, 2012, Hyatt Regency Santa Clara - Mark your calendar
Program: “The Juror’s Perspective on Patents and Patent Trials” – Patents are very difficult for jurors to understand and the outcome of patent jury trials is generally viewed as inherently unpredictable. Based on our experience having worked on over 20 patent jury trials in venues throughout the United States, we will provide a decision-making framework for how jurors make verdict determinations in patent trials and will identify the key issues that jurors use to decide these cases. The talk also will be of interest to patent prosecutors as the impact of patent language and figures will be discussed. We will offer our recommendations for communicating difficult concepts in writing patents and persuading a lay patent jury.
Speaker: Dr. Eric Rudich is a Senior Litigation Consultant at Magna Legal Services. As an expert in jury psychology, he specializes in identifying powerful themes and arguments, developing persuasive visual graphics, creating sophisticated juror profiles and preparing witnesses. For the past ten years, Dr. Rudich has consulted with both plaintiffs and defendants in cases throughout the United States on a wide range of litigation matters such as antitrust, contract, insurance coverage, intellectual property, product liability, securities fraud, white-collar crime and others. Dr. Rudich also has developed a unique niche of advising investment clients on jury trials that have market significance for publicly-traded litigants. As a litigation consultant, Dr. Rudich has a great deal of expertise in conducting focus groups and trial simulations, assisting with jury selection in high-profile cases, preparing demonstrative evidence and monitoring trials. Before joining Magna, Dr. Rudich was a principal at the NY-based jury research firm and was a jury consultant at a leading national litigation consulting firm. He has appeared as an invited guest on MSNBC, published several articles in leading legal publications, and conducted Continuing Legal Education seminars on jury behavior. Dr. Rudich earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Florida, Masters in Science degree in Experimental Psychology from Florida Atlantic University, and Ph.D. in Social Psychology from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Rudich is a member of the American Psychology-Law Society and the American Society of Trial Consultants.
