2016-2017 Center Events

Distinguished Professorial Lecture: Professor David L. Schwartz, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law

“Predicting Settlement and Adjudication: Empirical Evidence from Patent Litigation”
August 31, 2016 | 4 p.m.

Like all civil litigation, most patent cases settle. But what factors explain how lawsuits progress, which cases settle, and how long they pend before settlement or trial? We empirically examine the evolution of patent disputes starting from the complaint using benchmarks drawn from the rules of civil litigation and accounting for a range of dispositions including settlement, summary judgment, and trial. Our model accounts for a large number of relevant predictors, including the types of litigants, their respective counsel, the judicial districts and judges, and the underlying patents.

CLE credit is available for this event.

18th Annual Entertainment Law Initiative Writing Competition Workshop

Co-sponsored by the GRAMMY Foundation
September 20, 2016 | Noon

The GRAMMY Foundation established the Entertainment Law Initiative to promote discussion and debate about the most compelling legal issues facing the music industry today. The ELI Writing Competition invites law students to write a 3,000-word essay proposing a solution to an issue currently facing the music industry. The winning essays can win prizes, including a ticket to the 59th Annual GRAMMY Awards telecast and other GRAMMY Week events.

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IP Lecture Series: Professor Tyler Ochoa, Santa Clara University School of Law

“Copyrightable Subject Matter: What Bikram Yoga, Cheerleading Uniforms, the Batmobile, and a Chicken Sandwich Have in Common”
October 7, 2016 | Noon

Professor Ochoa will discuss numerous recent cases that shed light on the meaning of copyright law’s basic provision for protecting any “original work of authorship” and on the meaning of its exclusion of protection for “any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle or discovery.”

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CLE credit is available for this event.

Patent Cooperative Treaty (PCT) Seminar

w/ Matthias Reichle, WIPO & Carl Oppedahl, Oppedahl Patent Law Firm LLC
October 20-21, 2016

This two-day seminar, co-sponsored by WIPO and Bloomberg, BNA, offers an examination of current practice with regard to the PCT system for patent professionals. The half-day session will focus on an overview of the PCT system, the most recent and future developments in the PCT system, as well as some of the most important strategic decisions that need to be taken when using the PCT system. This will be followed by a day and a half looking at a detailed analysis of the PCT system, covering best practices and sophisticated tips about the procedural aspects of the PCT. It will cover the process from start to finish, including the filing of the applications, preparing the international search, the preliminary examination, and eventually entering the national phase before designated offices. This course will also offer a platform for the participants to discuss more complex and unusual scenarios and to discuss particularly interesting real-life cases put forth by the instructors or by the attendees’ own experience. Speakers include Matthias Reichle, Duputy Director, PCT Legal Division, WIPO, and Carl Oppedahl, Oppedahl Patent Law Firm LLC.

CLE credit is available for this event.

European Intellectual Property Seminar

w/ Detlef von Ahsen, Michael Zeitler & Dr. James Forstner, Kuhnen & Wacker
November 1-2, 2016

This year’s two-day seminar on Eurpean patent practices, co-sponsored by Kuhnen & Wacker, will be presented by Kuhnen & Wacker attorneys Michael Zeitler, Detlef von Ahsen, and James Forstner. Presentation topics include European patent claim-drafting specialties, opposition procedures, unitary patent, patent infringement litigation, the Unified Patent Court, patent filing strategies, and more. Speakers include Detlef von Ahsen, Partner, Kuhnen & Wacker; Michael Zeitler, Partner, Kuhnen & Wacker; and Dr. James Forstner, Of Counsel, Kuhnen & Wacker

CLE credit is available for this event.

IP Lecture Series: Associate Professor Saurabh Vishnubhakat, Texas A&M University School of Law

“Patent Mistakes in the Administrative State”
January 31, 2017 | Noon

Professor Vishnubhakat will discuss how to differentiate among the various types of mistakes that arise in the patent system and will share empirical insights about how the means for correcting those mistakes is changing. He will draw in particular on his own ongoing research into patent examination and both judicial and administrative review of patent validity.

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CLE credit is available for this event.

Classes Without Quizzes: Professor Emeritus Doris Estelle Long

“Broadening the Normative Inputs for 21st Century Copyright Reform: Isn’t it Time to Add Privacy Into the Mix?”
February 24, 2017 | 4 p.m.

From the heightened surveillance possibilities of drone photography, bot searches, and filtering technologies to the rapid unauthorized dissemination of personal information through posting of digital documents and images, privacy protection has become inextricably linked with copyright protection. In her presentation, Emeritus Professor Doris Long, former Director of the Center for Intellectual Property, Information & Privacy Law, will consider the impact on privacy and copyright norms of a broad array of issues, including the boundaries of the author’s control and the scope of copyright subject matter itself. In addition, she will examine the ever-controversial issues concerning the scope of fair use and the role and value of notice and takedown (NTD) regimes.

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CLE credit is available for this event.

IP PLI Patent Bar Review

w/ Raymond Millien, GE Oil & Gas; Eugene Quinn, IP Watchdog & John White, Practising Law Institute
March 15-19, 2017

The PLI Patent Bar Review will cover all material in the current patent examination (i.e., the same current MPEP and Supplementary Materials), but will additionally cover the materials set forth in the 35 USC 101-related “Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance and Training Materials” for PTO Examiners. Since 2010, the law related to patent-eligible subject matter has undergone a significant revision by virtue of various Supreme Court decisions. The PTO Exam will now test that revision as reflected in the guidance and training materials that the PTO has provided its examiners. We already cover those cases in this review, so there’s no new law or cases really being added to the exam, but we are updating our materials and lectures, and adding new questions, to incorporate this new testable material. Speakers include Eugene R. Quinn, Jr., President and Founder, IP Watchdog, Inc., and John M. White, Director, Soryn IP Group; Chair, Practising Law Institute; Berenato & White, LLC

IP Lecture Series: Dr. Radka MacGregor Pelikánová, Ministry of Agriculture, Czech Republic

“IP and Unfair Competition: The Overlap in the European Union”
March 20, 2017 | 4 p.m.

European integration is closely tied to having a single internal market in the European Union. To this end, laws and policies have been enacted to combat undue restrictions on competition while respecting IP rights. Virtually all EU member states follow the continental law tradition and have national laws that protect against unfair competition; these laws are sometimes complementary to, and sometimes at odds with, IP and competition laws at the EU level. In her presentation, Dr. MacGregor Pelikánová explores this tension and the impact on stakeholders in the EU and the U.S.

CLE credit is available for this event.

IP Lecture Series: Christopher V. Carani, McAndrews, Held & Malloy, Ltd

“Industrial (Design) Revolution: From Spoons to Smartphones – Strategic Considerations for Design IP Protection and Enforcement”
April 11, 2017 | 4 p.m.

In the world-wide battle royale between consumer tech titans Apple and Samsung, design patents have taken center stage. Indeed, the highly publicized case made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which marks the first such occasion in over 120 years. In view of this on-going high profile case, companies and practitioners the world over are taking a second, hard look at design rights. Design patents are being secured and enforced at record rates, outpacing other IP rights. In this session, Chicago’s own Christopher V. Carani, a well-known IP attorney in the field of design rights, will provide a lively and visually stimulating discussion on the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1871 design patent case Gorham v. White (spoons) and also the on-going battle of Apple v. Samsung (smartphones). Carani will discuss recent developments in design patent jurisprudence, including how to treat the concept of “functionality” in design patent law. He will offer insights on how to effectively protect not only traditional industrial designs, but also graphic user interfaces and icons.

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CLE credit is available for this event.

IP Lecture Series: Dina Kallay, Director of Intellectual Property & Competition, Ericsson

“Current IP-Antitrust Trends in ICT Licensing”
June 14, 2017 | 4 p.m.

Today’s information and communication technology industries develop and use cutting-edge innovations that are often protected by intellectual property. As a result, questions related to antitrust aspects of licensing have attracted increased attention over the past few years, especially in the area of the cellular standards that have transformed our world. This presentation will offer a glimpse into both market developments and legal developments in this area in Asia, Europe, and the U.S.

CLE credit is available for this event.

Additional spring 2017 events currently in the planning stage will include IP Lecture Series presentations, IT Companies in Europe: Issues in Antitrust, Privacy & the Digital Single Market, and a Roundtable on the Intersection Between IP, Competition, Standards & Trade. As well, be on the lookout for information on the 61st Intellectual Property Conference coming in November 2017. Stay tuned for details.