Patently-O Bits & Bytes by Lawrence Higgins

USPTO Patent Review Processing System Preview

• The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will preview the new electronic filing system for the trials established under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act. The preview will take place from 10 am – noon on Thursday, September 6, 2012. Representatives from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board will demonstrate the new Patent Review Processing System (PRPS) and show how to register to use the system, to file a petition seeking a trial, to pay petition fees, to join the proceeding as a patent owner and to file motions and other documents. The preview will be helpful for any practitioners or administrative personnel who anticipate filing documents in the new proceedings beginning September 16, 2012 (inter partes review, post-grant review, and the transitional program for covered business methods). There will also be an opportunity to ask questions. You may attend electronically or in person. [Link]

Patent Jobs:

• Stevens & Showalter is seeking a patent attorney/agent with at least 2 years of experience and a background in EE or CS to work at their Dayton, Ohio office. [Link]
• Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz is looking for patent attorneys with 3-5 years of experience to work at their Wilmington, DE office. [Link]
• Faegre Baker Daniels is searching for a patent associate with a Ph.D. in the life sciences and 2-4 years of experience to work at their Indianapolis office.[Link]
• Westerman, Hattor, Daniels & Adrian is seeking a electrical attorney/agent with 1-3 years of experience to work at their D.C. office. [Link]
• Maquet is looking for a patent attorney with a minimum of 3 years of patent prosecution experience to work at their Wayne, N.J. office. [Link]
• Drinker Biddle & Reath is searching for a patent agent with 3+ years of experience and a degree in EE to work at their Chicago or D.C. office. [Link]
• Hiscock & Barclay is seeking a patent attorneys/agents with 3-5 years of experience to work at in their upstate NY office. [Link]
• Bass, Berry & Sims is looking for IP associates with 1-4 years of experience to work at their Nashville office. [Link]
• Trop, Pruner & Hu is seeking associates with EE/CS backgrounds to work at their Austin or Houston office. [Link]

Upcoming Events:

• U.S. Patent Commissioner Speaks: Current Developments in Patents event/webinar will be held on September 13. U.S. Commissioner for Patents, Margaret Focarino, will comment on current developments in patents, especially those occurring at the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office, and participate in questions and answers. [Link] [Webinar]
• ACI's FDA Boot Camp conference is scheduled for September 20-21, in Boston. ACI's FDA Boot Camp has been designed to give products or patent litigators, as well as patent prosecutors, industry in-house counsel, and life sciences investment and securities experts, a strong working knowledge of core FDA competencies. [Link] (PatentlyO readers register for with PO 200 for a discount)
• C5s 3^rd EU Pharma Regulatory Law conference is scheduled for September 25-26 in Brussels, Belgium. 2012 is set to be a critical year for EU pharma regulation with the implementation of the pharmacovigilance rules, proposals to amend the data protection and clinical trials directives and the new falsified medicinal products directive. [Link] (PatentlyO readers register with PO 10 for a discount)
• The 13^th Annual Maximizing Pharmaceutical Patent Lifecycles is scheduled for October 10-11 in New York. The conference will feature, Presentations from key representatives from the USPTO who will provide you with direct insights and the logic of this agency on some of most pressing life cycle management strategies that the industry is facing today, Analyses of recent critical cases affecting patent life cycle planning including: Caraco (use codes); Prometheus (subject matter eligibility); Sun Pharma (double patenting); Ariad (patentability); and Therasense (inequitable conduct) – and strategies for using these cases to your advantage and many more topics. [Link] (PatentlyO readers register for with PO 200 for a discount)
• The University of Akron School of Law's Center for IP & Technology will host the 6^th Annual IP Scholars Forum on October 26, 2012, from 9:00AM – 2:00 PM. The Forum's purpose is to bring together a small group of prominent scholars for intensive, high-level discussions on cutting-edge issues of common interest. This year's Forum will discuss "The Impact of IP on Public Health." Guest include: Frank Pasquale, Andrew Torrance, Jim Chen Jay Dratler, Jr., Katherine Van Tassel, and many others. [Link]

Contact Lawrence.Higgins@patentlyo.com with leads for future Bits and Bytes.