Section of Intellectual Property Law

... What IP Lawyers Need to Know

Welcome to the one annual conference that IP lawyers consistently and enthusiastically attend to get the latest updates on all aspects of IP law. Now in its 19th year, the Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law promises to provide a gathering of the foremost authorities on the state of intellectual property law. It is the one conference of the year that you as an IP law practitioner should not miss. The conference is recognized for its preeminence in covering IP law topics, both nationally and internationally, and in recent years has received over 600 attendees annually.

The past year has been marked by important changes and developments in many aspects of IP law and practice. In an area of the law already fraught with complexity, IP practitioners are faced with an array of new issues and areas of practice, with multi-faceted dimensions. The broad diversity of the practice, its accelerating rate of change, and its growing international importance place ever-increasing demands on the knowledge and skills of these practitioners.

To allow intellectual property law practitioners to maintain and update their professional skills, the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law is presenting its 19th Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference.

The conference will address recent developments, prosecution, litigation and licensing issues and observations by judges of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Speakers will include representatives from industry, practitioners from the U.S. and abroad, and key policymakers from the U.S. Copyright Office and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The program is organized to allow registrants to attend sessions tailored to specific areas of practice (patents, trademarks, and copyrights) and to attend sessions focusing on the problems and issues related to breaking areas of 21st century IP law and practice.

Special Interest Workshop Sessions

This year's Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference will incorporate seven narrowly-focused Special Interest Sessions in addition to the main program tracks. The Special Interest Sessions are developed for individuals who have an interest in the topic presented or whose practice has been involved in some way with the issues presented. These smaller group sessions will provide a setting with more interactivity and an opportunity to focus in on very specialized areas of IP law.

Special Interest Workshop Session topics will include What Every IP Lawyer Should Know When Handling Commercial Transactions (including the Impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on IP Practitioners); Latest Developments In Electronic Filing; Negotiating Technology Licensgin In Europe? Leave Your Pants At Home!; Pharmaceutical Balance of Powers: Do The Hatch-Waxman Reforms Restore Equilibrium?; Electronic Discovery: How To Obtain It, Contain Costs and Who's Responsible For Paying For It; Navigating The IP Minefields: Economic Aspects of IP Litigation; and a Science & Technology Law Special Session on Accessing Embedded Software: Competition, Infringement And The DMCA. See the program schedule for the days and times of these sessions, and sign up on the registration form.

Teleconference CLE Sessions Available

For those unable to attend the 19th Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference in person, selected sessions will be made available by live teleconference. This year the sessions will be "Antitrust/Unfair Competition" and "Recent Patent Developments". See the program schedule and conference information for details.

Guest Luncheon Speakers

Join fellow conference participants for lunch on Thursday and Friday from 12:00 noon - 1:30 p.m. in Atrium Hall at the International Trade Center. Special guest speakers will address the participants at each of the luncheons. (Tickets required-- $40)

On Thursday, April 1, the guest speaker will be Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX).

Congressman Smith serves as Chairman on the Subcommittee on Courts, the Interenet and Intellectual Property of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. He also sits on the Immigration Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee and the House Science Committee. He is second in seniority and continues as a member of the Science Committee's Space and Research Subcommittees. He has represented the residents of the 21st Congressional District in Texas since 1987.

Thursday's Luncheon is sponsored by Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, PC.

Friday's Luncheon speaker is Gary Kremen.

On Friday, April 2, Gary Kremen, will address participants on the topic of "What does Trover have to do with the Internet?" Mr. Kremen has over twenty years of experience with emerging growth companies and developing information technology. He has started several companies including Sex.Com, and Match.Com the world largest dating service. He holds an MBA from the Stanford University School of Business and degrees in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University. He is a frequent speaker on online intellectual property matters and has been extensively quoted in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Forbes.

Friday's Luncheon is sponsored by Howrey, Simon, Arnold & White, LLP.

Cyber Cafe
During the 19th Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference, a Cyber Cafe will be available to participants. This Cyber Cafe will be located in hte main registration area and will feature a number of laptop computers connected the Internet for those who wish to check e-mails or search for something on the Internet. High speed laser printers will also be available so participants will be able to print portions of the course materials on CD-Rom.

Sponsored by Pattishall, McAuliffe, Newbury, Hilliard & Geraldson LLP

Program Co-Chairs:

Amy J. Benjamin, Darby & Darby, PC, New York, NY
Monique Morneault, Wallenstein & Wagner, Ltd., Chicago, IL

Section Chairs:

Section of Intelllectual Property Law
Robert, W. Sacoff, Pattishall, McAuliffe, Newbury, Hilliard & Geraldson LLP, Chicago, IL

Section of Science & Technology Law
Heather D. Rafter, Digidesign, Daly City, CA

Special One-Day Program Preceding the 19th Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference:

A separate one-day program entitled Practical Tips on Intellectual Property Law, on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 will be held at the International Trade Center, and will precede this year's Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference. This program will provide a broad background of information to bring the new practitioner in IP law up to speed with the nuts and bolts of IP law practice in light of current developments in the field. This program will also offer CLE credit.