Patently-O Bits & Bytes by Lawrence Higgins

Chisum Patent Academy

  • The Chisum Patent Academy will hold its next Advanced Patent Law seminar February 20-22, 2013, in New York City (Midtown Manhattan). Because each three-day Chisum Patent Academy seminar is uniquely limited to ten (10) participants, they offer an unparalleled opportunity for interactive roundtable discussion and debate. Each seminar is led by patent law educators and treatise authors Donald Chisum and Janice Mueller. The New York seminar will focus in great depth on two timely and controversial patent law topics: patent claim interpretation and active inducement. They will also cover America Invents Act developments including the USPTO's final rules on first inventor to file (taking effect three weeks after the New York seminar); preliminary injunctions and design patents; and inequitable conduct decisions post-Therasense. A more detailed description of the topics to be covered and registration details are available on the Academy's website. [Link]

New start-up company (Evtron)

  • Evtron is a new start-up company that specializes in data storage. The company made a storage device (Evtron CELL) that can fit 120 hard disk drives into a storage platform. The design created by Evtron will supposedly make it 60% more efficient in data density, when compared to similar data storage products currently available on the market. NetApp and EMC are the two leading companies in this technology market, with annual revenue between $7 billion and $22 billion. Evtron may be able to compete with these companies but only if they are granted their pending patent and the patent cannot be worked around. The patent application to my knowledge is not currently public. There have been rumors that Facebook may be interested in the technology. This should be a very interesting company to watch, in terms of the patent application, lawsuits that may arise, and the change of the data storage space.

Patent Jobs:

  • Fenwick & West is seeking patent associates with 1-4 years of experience and an EE, CS, CE, or physics background, or equivalent experience to work at their Silicon Valley office. [Link]
  • Armstrong Teasdale is looking for an experienced trademark associate to work at their St. Louis office. [Link]
  • Harrington & Smith is seeking a patent associate with a degree in EE or physics and at least 2 years of experience to work at their Shelton, Connecticut office. [Link]
  • Krieg DeVault is looking for an IP associate with 3-7 years of experience to work at their Indianapolis office. [Link]
  • Harrity & Harrity is searching for patent attorneys/agents with a background in EE, computer science, or physics and a minimum of 2 years of experience to work at their Fairfax, VA office. [Link]
  • Honigman is seeking a patent attorney/agent with a degree in EE or computer science to work at their Oakland Count, Michigan office. [Link]
  • Byrne Poh is looking for a patent attorney/agent with a degree in EE or computer science to work at their New York office. [Link]
  • The Ollila Law Group is seeking a patent attorney with an EE and at least 2 years of experience to work at their Boulder office. [Link]
  • Abel Law Group is seeking a chemical practitioner with 2+ years of experience to work at their Austin office. [Link]
  • Klarquist Sparkman is seeking an IP Litigation Associate with 1-2 years of experience to work at their Portland office. [Link]

Upcoming Events:

  • Santa Clara Law will be hosting its conference Solutions to the Patent Problem this Friday, November 16, featuring industry and government folks such as Kent Walker (Google), Brad Burnham (USVentures), Ben Lee (Twitter), Edith Ramirez (FTC), and Paul Grewal (N.D. Cal) in addition to about 20 academics. The event will be streamed and Wired is running opeds from the conference as part of its Patent Fix series.
  • IBC Legal's 6th Annual Standards and Patents Conference 2012 will be held on November 27-28 in London. The dynamics of the relationship between standards and patents poses a plethora of challenges for patentees, licensees, standard setting organizations, innovators, commercial users and implementers. Guest speakers include Mr. Justice Ford (Jude, Patent Court) and Richard Vary. [Link] (PatentlyO readers save 10% by quoting VIP code: FKW82336PTOL)
  • ACI's 14th Advanced Forum on Biotech Patents will be held on November 28-29, in Boston. ACI's 14th Advanced Forum on Biotech Patents brings together another top-notch faculty of expert biotech patent practitioners who will share their experience and knowledge to help you avoid pitfalls and maximize the value of your intellectual property. [Link] (PatentlyO readers register for with PO 200 for a discount)
  • The ACI's Orphan Drugs and Rare Diseases conference will take place on November 28-29 in Boston. There are an estimated 6,000 rare diseases currently recognized in the U.S. alone; European authorities recognize as many as 8,000 rare diseases. With only approximately 150 treatments for these diseases approved so far according to the FDA's orphan designation database, there is a unique opportunity for companies of all sizes to invest in research and development to try to capture this lucrative market share. Indeed, according to a leading industry report, the orphan disease therapeutics market will continue to see a marked increase in value through the decade, increasing from 2010's $2.3 billion to an estimated $6 billion in 2018. [Link] (PatentlyO readers register for with PO 200 for a discount)
  • ACI's Paragraph IV Disputes conference will be held on December 4-5 in San Francisco. An experienced faculty of renowned litigators and judges will guide you through every stage of a Paragraph IV challenge. Additionally, in the wake of major developments in pay-for –delay, learn what the FTC deems foul and fair in the settlements of Paragraph IV disputes in order to draft and structure settlements that will receive FTC approval. [Link] (PatentlyO readers use code PO 200 a discount)
  • C5's 5th Annual Forum on Biotech and Pharma Patent Litigation is scheduled for January 29-30 in Amsterdam. [Link] (PatentlyO readers use code PO10 for a 10% discount)

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