AGENDA: Wednesday, April 25, 2018

The post-AIA defensive playbook is increasingly outdated: TC heartland just redrew the district court litigation map, while IPRs are no longer a sure bet with institution rates dropping from 87% to 67% for petitioners. Is your defensive strategy adapted to this changing landscape? How to move from reactive to proactive? What’s the potential impact on your budget and resources?

This panel will explore:

• Preparing your defense and aligning with organizational resources
• Scenario planning: What to do when approached?
• Anticipating enforcement strategies
• Considering the consequences - going beyond just the financials

Organizations are pushing for more quality in their patent portfolios in an effort to avoid invalidity challenges and mitigate the IPR threat. The recent procedural and judicial uncertainty at the PTAB and USPTO is now further complicating the patent landscape. To succeed, patent counsel must continue their drive for higher quality patents while navigating an ever more complex political and business landscape. Are your portfolio management and prosecution efforts ready for these challenges?

This panel will explore:

• Prosecution with an eye towards survivability
• Portfolio evaluation – what to keep and what to kill?
• Buy-in, communication & integration of business strategy
• Budget, cost, resource allocation & collaborating with outside counsel

The unfriendliness of the patent landscape has driven a long time shift towards using trade secrets. However, trade secrets theft – and litigation – have also been on the rise. And the stakes can be sky-high: $750 million in damages for the Oculus VR and Waymo cases alone. Are your protection policies adapted to today’s digital world? What’s the best response to a breach? What to expect if you litigate?

This panel will explore:

• Landscape overview since the DTSA
• There’s been a breach – what’s the first response?
• Trade secret litigation scenarios: domestic and international
• Best practices for safeguarding trade secrets
• Weakest link? Assessing in-house talent, vendors, partners and clients…

Three 20-minute roundtable discussions hosted by a topic expert.
(Attendance is for in-house counsel only – except moderators)

Roundtable 1: 'Selling Patent Rights for Revenue Generation in Today’s Environment'
Moderated by: Michael Turton, Partner, Kilpatrick Townsend

Roundtable 2: 'Unintended Consequences of Nautilus, Highmark, Octane & ALICE for Patent Owners'
Moderated by: Phil Colburn, Co-Managing Partner, Cantor Colburn LLP

Roundtable 3: 'Do I have a Story for You: The Role of In-House Counsel in Victorious Trial Preparation'
Moderated by: Vivek Ganti, Partner, Hill, Kertscher, Wharton LLP

Click here for more info.

The one constant in a changing IP environment: Your patents are one of your company’s most valued assets. While enforcing is necessary to protect your market share and innovation, success is not guaranteed. As in-house counsel, your role is to tie back the legal risks and opportunities into business scenarios for the management team. How strong is your case? Are your enforcement goals and resources aligned? What’s the broader picture for enforcing IP?     

This panel will explore:

• Enforcement trends and latest developments
• Goals and outcomes – what does a win look like?
• Buy-in, communication & managing stakeholder expectations
• Due-diligence & pre-trial preparation
• Resource allocation