Day 1
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Mark Lemley | Standford Law School Mark Lemley is the William H. Neukom Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and the Director of the Stanford Program in Law, Science and Technology. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and is affiliated faculty in the Symbolic Systems program. He teaches intellectual property, patent law, trademark law, antitrust, the law of robotics and AI, video game law, and remedies. He is the author of 11 books and 218 articles, including the two-volume treatise IP and Antitrust. His works have been cited 350 times by courts, including 19 times by the United States Supreme Court, and more than 45,000 times in books and academic articles, making him the most-cited scholar in IP law and one of the ten most cited legal scholars of all time. He has published 9 of the 100 most-cited law review articles of the last twenty years, more than any other scholar, and was the third most cited legal scholar in the world from 2016-2020. His articles have appeared in 24 of the top 25 law reviews and in top journals in other fields, including Nature Biotechnology, the American Economic Review, the Review of Economics and Statistics, and the Harvard Business Review, and in multiple peer- reviewed and specialty journals. They have been reprinted throughout the world and translated into Chinese, Danish, Japanese, Korean, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. He has taught IP law to judges at numerous Federal Judicial Center and ABA programs, has testified eight times before Congress, and has filed more than 75 amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court and other courts. |
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Will Melehani | Orrick Unencumbered by tradition and undaunted by technology, Will brings a fresh approach to IP litigation. Will uses this approach to defend cutting edge computer, Internet, software companies and life sciences companies with great success, having prevailed in numerous subject matter eligibility challenges. Will’s mastery of patent law also allows him to ensure his strategy will withstand appeal, where Will has frequently played a key role in writing and arguing the appellate briefs. Whether handling patent, trademark or trade secrets matters, Will’s creative methodology gives his clients a unique advantage. Will is also an enthusiastic participant in Orrick’s pro bono efforts, and has obtained successful results for several disadvantaged and low-income pro bono clients. |
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Timothy Chen Saulsbury | Morrison Foerster Tim Chen Saulsbury co-chairs the firm’s global IP Litigation Group and cross-disciplinary Intellectual Property Group. He represents many of the world’s leading technology companies in high-stakes patent and technology disputes and has served as lead counsel for the likes of VMware, Zoom, Atlassian, Pinterest, Wix.com, and Tonal. His experience spans all aspects of trial and appellate practice. Tim’s track record has resulted in recognition from leading publications. IAM Patent 1000 describes Tim as a “formidable lead trial attorney,” highlighting wins for Zoom and others. Bloomberg Law named Tim one of the top 40 lawyers in the country under 40, and the Daily Journal labeled him one of the “Top Intellectual Property Lawyers” in California. He also was recognized by the Daily Journal as one of California’s top 40 lawyers under the age of 40, on Benchmark Litigation’s 40 & Under Hot List, and by The Legal 500 (for Copyright, Patent Licensing, Patent Litigation, and Trade Secrets). |
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Robert Gerrity | Tensegrity Law Group Robert Gerrity has plaintiff and defense side experience in patent litigation matters in U.S. district court and the ITC, recently serving clients such as Amkor, Intellectual Ventures, Maxim Integrated Products, Solocron Media, and Limelight. His practice involves a wide range of technologies, including computer hardware, consumer electronics, semiconductor packaging, cellular communication standards, touch screen devices, imaging sensors, operating systems, mobile applications, networking software, e-commerce and mobile payment technologies, and medical devices. Prior to joining Tensegrity Law Group in 2011, he was an associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. |
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Sarah Guske | Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP Companies in the technology and telecommunications industries seek out Sarah for her decades of experience litigating patent disputes to develop robust litigation strategies, mitigate risk, and safeguard their innovations. Her strategic use of inter partes reviews (IPRs) and trial experience has helped clients avoid potential legal liabilities. Sarah recognizes that litigation can interfere with a client’s focus on its core business. Whether it is a client’s first litigation, first bet-the-company matter, or one of many legal battles the company is facing, Sarah takes the time to thoroughly understand each client’s short- and long-term goals to design strategies that support the client’s business strategy. |
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Michael Hendershot | Jones Day Mike Hendershot is an accomplished first-chair trial lawyer recognized repeatedly by the Daily Journal as one of California’s Top IP Lawyers and IP Lawyer of the Year by The Recorder at the 2024 California Legal Awards. Mike has focused on IP litigation for 25 years and has been at the heart of some of the world’s most significant IP matters throughout his career, including representing eBay from trial through its landmark Supreme Court victory in eBay v. MercExchange. |
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Karen Boyd | Turner Boyd Seraphine Karen Boyd is a founding partner of Turner Boyd Seraphine, representing clients in intellectual property disputes, focusing on patent disputes. Her clients have ranged from solo inventors and universities to Fortune 100 companies, in technologies from pharmaceuticals to consumer electronics to medical devices. She has significant trial experience, but always hopes to resolve disputes much more quickly for clients. She also serves as a mediator, early neutral evaluator, and an arbitrator in intellectual property disputes, serves on the mediation panel for the Northern District of California, and previously served on the mediation panels for the Federal Circuit and the International Trade Commission. |
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Kelly Hunsaker | Winston & Strawn Kelly is managing partner of Winston’s Silicon Valley office with over 30 years’ experience leading complex patent and intellectual property cases involving a wide range of technologies and industries, particularly in high-tech fields. With extensive courtroom experience, a talent for the quick mastery of technical information, and compelling communication skills that work well with judges and juries alike, Kelly is an outstanding advocate for her clients and a highly regarded legal strategist. She has been recognized among The Best Lawyers in America® for patent litigation, by the Silicon Valley Business Journal as one of the most influential women in Silicon Valley, and among The Recorder’s “Women Leaders in Technology Law.” |
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Brett Sanford | Latham & Watkins Brett Sandford represents clients in high-stakes intellectual property cases, with a focus on trial. Brett draws on experience — in more than a dozen trials and at every stage of the litigation process — to help clients pursue and defend a range of intellectual property claims, including patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation. Brett has had success representing both plaintiffs and defendants in all of the patent-heavy districts. He has a highly developed team ethos, informed by a prior career in professional baseball, and an ability to play the long game to achieve success for his clients. Brett has developed expertise in the trial phase and handling intellectual property damages. He has successfully led damages cases for clients on the plaintiff and defense side, including achieving a unique result of zero damages for established direct infringement that was affirmed by the Federal Circuit on appeal. |
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Kimberly Schmitt | Intel Corp. Kimberly Schmitt is a Vice President and the Director of Patent Litigation at Intel. Kim’s team manages and leads high-stakes patent litigations and negotiations for the company in countries around the world. Kim has over two decades of experience in patent and trade secret litigation and has arbitrated and litigated cases in multiple U.S. District Courts, the U.S. International Trade Commission, and courts internationally. Kim’s teams closely manage all aspects of litigation, including discovery, claim construction, depositions, summary judgment, trial, and appeal. Kim is a registered member of the patent bar and is a frequent speaker on patent issues at conferences. At Intel, Kim serves as a member of the Diversity and Inclusion team. Before joining Intel in 2012, Kim was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP and a prior to that, an associate at Weil Gotshal and Manges LLP, both in the San Francisco Bay Area. Kim has a physics degree from Dartmouth College and a law degree from Boston University School of Law. |
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Colleen Chien | Berkeley Law Professor Colleen Chien conducts cross-disciplinary research on innovation, intellectual property, artificial intelligence, and the criminal justice system, with a focus on how technology, data, and innovation can be harnessed to achieve their potential for social benefit. She is a Faculty Co-Director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, Faculty Advisor to the Berkeley Criminal Law & Justice Center, and has also had the honor of working part-time as a public servant, in the Obama White House as a Senior Advisor, Intellectual Property and Innovation and more recently on the Biden-Harris Transition Team and senior counselor to the Department of Commerce and Marian Coak distinguished scholar at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. |
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Paul Ehrlich | Tensegrity Law Group Paul Ehrlich has extensive experience trying complex patent cases in U.S. district courts and the ITC. He successfully litigates cases at all stages, including through trial and injunction enforcement. He has served as trial counsel in billion-dollar matters for industry-leading companies. Mr. Ehrlich’s practice touches diverse technology areas, including mobile phones and other consumer electronics; computer networking; operating systems; database software; VOIP; memory manufacture and packaging; medical devices; Wi-Fi and location services; and Nobel-Prize-winning biotechnology. |
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Mark Selwyn | WilmerHale Mark Selwyn is a partner in the Litigation/Controversy Department and co-chair of the Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Group. He joined the firm in 1994. Mr. Selwyn’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation. Major corporations have relied on him to litigate biomedical, electrical, chemical, mechanical, and business method patents involving a diverse array of technologies, including wireless communications, electronic commerce, digital cameras, solid state disk drives, location sensing, biosensors, water and wastewater filtration, integrated circuits and angioplasty catheters. He has represented clients in dozens of patent and other intellectual property cases in federal courts throughout the country and before the International Trade Commission (ITC). Mr. Selwyn counts among his clients many of Silicon Valley’s most prominent technology companies. |
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Lisa Ouellette | Stanford Law School Lisa Larrimore Ouellette is the Deane F. Johnson Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, as well as a Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. Her scholarship addresses empirical and theoretical problems in intellectual property and innovation law. She takes advantage of her training in physics to explore policy issues such as how scientists use the technical information in patents, how scientific expertise might improve patent examination, the patenting of publicly funded research under the Bayh–Dole Act, and the integration of IP with other levers of innovation policy. She has applied these ideas to biomedical innovation challenges including the opioid epidemic, the COVID-19 pandemic, and pharmaceutical prices. She has also written about multiple legal issues in trademark law, about the evidentiary value of online surveys, and about the potential for different standards of review to create what she terms “deference mistakes” in numerous areas of law. |
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Jane Qu | Van Pelt, Yi & James Jane Qu is a registered patent attorney with experience in preparing and prosecuting patent applications. She handles technology including computer software, search, applications, network security, user interfaces, and computer architecture. |
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Gargi Talukder | Orrick Gargi Talukder, Ph.D., serves as the leader of Orrick’s Life Sciences Patent Strategy and Prosecution Practice. Companies at all stages of development rely on Gargi’s advice for global patent portfolio management and prosecution and competitive landscape assessments. Gargi works with scientific leads and senior management of leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to develop strategies for patent procurement and product clearance across a range of life sciences technology sectors, such as protein therapeutics, gene therapy, and genomics and proteomics applications. |
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Ian Washburn | Irell & Manella Ian Washburn’s practice focuses on intellectual property and complex business litigation, including patent and trademark pre-grant and post-grant proceedings, as well as appellate work. He has represented clients in numerous federal courts as well as before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the ICC International Court of Arbitration and the Delaware Court of Chancery. In addition, he assists companies in developing and managing intellectual property portfolios and advises them during patent license negotiations. |
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Hon. Laurel Beeler | United States District Court for the Northern District of California United States Magistrate Judge Laurel D. Beeler was appointed in 2010 to the Northern District of California. She has presided as a trial and settlement judge over hundreds of civil cases, including intellectual property, employment, civil rights, and commercial disputes. |
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Hon. Beth Freeman | United States District Court for the Northern District of California Honorable Beth Freeman is a judge on the Federal Court in the Northern District of California, appointed by President Obama in 2014. Judge Freeman sits in the San Jose Division, hearing a broad array of cases including antitrust, civil rights, consumer class actions, commercial litigation, and technology cases including patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret. |
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Sasha Rao | Nixon Peabody Sasha Rao regularly leads intellectual property and commercial litigation for various clients, including cases involving patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, unfair competition, and complex commercial disputes. She advises clients, ranging from tech startups to the largest multinational companies, on a wide range of legal issues, including corporate, transactional, policy, regulatory, IP strategy, patent and trademark prosecution, and IP aspects of mergers and acquisitions. Rao has tried cases in district courts throughout the US. Her strong background in science has enabled her to develop effective courtroom strategies for cases involving technologies ranging from pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and biotechnology to computers, the Internet, Web 3.0, and software. In the technology realm, she has defended some of Silicon Valley’s most prominent companies in cases brought by competitors and non-practicing entities. In the life sciences space, she have extensive experience in Hatch-Waxman/ANDA litigation and have represented generic and branded pharmaceutical companies in numerous patent cases. |
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Hon. Lee Yaekel (ret.) | King & Spalding / United States District Court for the Western District of Texas Honorable Lee Yeakel joined King & Spalding as senior counsel after 20 years on the bench as a United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas. Lee offers clients a unique perspective across the arc of the dispute process as he is the only former Judge from the Western District of Texas ever to rejoin private practice. As federal judge, Lee presided over scores of critical and unprecedented civil and criminal matters involving the finance, technology, education, public health and many other sectors. A stalwart of the Austin community, Lee has devoted his 50-year legal career to the city and brings invaluable strategic insight from both sides of the aisle to assist clients with their most complex litigation needs. |
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Hon. Laurel Beeler | United States District Court for the Northern District of California United States Magistrate Judge Laurel D. Beeler was appointed in 2010 to the Northern District of California. She has presided as a trial and settlement judge over hundreds of civil cases, including intellectual property, employment, civil rights, and commercial disputes. |
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Hon. Beth Freeman | United States District Court for the Northern District of California Honorable Beth Freeman is a judge on the Federal Court in the Northern District of California, appointed by President Obama in 2014. Judge Freeman sits in the San Jose Division, hearing a broad array of cases including antitrust, civil rights, consumer class actions, commercial litigation, and technology cases including patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret. |
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Michael Jacobs | JAMS Michael A. Jacobs joins JAMS after establishing a reputation at the international law firm of Morrison Foerster as one the country’s leading trial attorneys for complex technology and life sciences litigation. Mr. Jacobs tried numerous high-profile cases to juries, judges and arbitrators, and co-founded and led his firm’s intellectual property litigation group. He has been recognized by Chambers USA as a Band 1 (California) and Band 2 (US) intellectual property trial attorney, and he won the California Lawyer of the Year (CLAY) award three times for his work in trailblazing cases. |
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Sonal Mehta | WilmerHale Sonal N. Mehta is a trial lawyer representing many of the world’s leading technology and life sciences companies in high-stakes patent and technology disputes across a wide range of industries. Ms. Mehta has nearly 20 years of experience across all aspects of trial and appellate practice, including federal jury trials, state court jury and bench trials, International Trade Commission investigations, international arbitrations, and appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the California appellate courts. Outside of the courtroom, Ms. Mehta is an Executive Committee and Board member—and past president—of the Federal Circuit Bar Association, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Northern District of California’s Practice Program and on the Northern District of California’s Patent Local Rules Attorney Advisory Committee. In 2019, she was selected for a three-year term as a lawyer representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Council. Ms. Mehta regularly presents programs on patent litigation at Federal Judicial Center workshops for federal district and magistrate judges, and is a frequent speaker on patent litigation topics. |
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Hon. Lee Yaekel (ret.) | King & Spalding / United States District Court for the Western District of Texas Honorable Lee Yeakel joined King & Spalding as senior counsel after 20 years on the bench as a United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas. Lee offers clients a unique perspective across the arc of the dispute process as he is the only former Judge from the Western District of Texas ever to rejoin private practice. As federal judge, Lee presided over scores of critical and unprecedented civil and criminal matters involving the finance, technology, education, public health and many other sectors. A stalwart of the Austin community, Lee has devoted his 50-year legal career to the city and brings invaluable strategic insight from both sides of the aisle to assist clients with their most complex litigation needs. |
Day 2 - Litigation Track
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Sharif Jacob | Keker, Van Nest & Peters Sharif E. Jacob serves as lead counsel in high-stakes litigation. He focuses on intellectual property litigation, complex business disputes, and the representation of individuals. Sharif has extensive experience with intellectual property litigation, including litigation between competitors. He has represented leading firms in video streaming, social networking, and the app economy in dozens of disputes before U.S. district courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the International Trade Commission, and the Patent and Trademark Office. He counts among his current and former clients Netflix, Instacart, Hulu, and Twitter. |
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Olivia Nguyen | Fish & Richardson Olivia Nguyen focuses her practice on intellectual property litigation, commercial litigation, and related counseling for clients primarily in the technology sector. She regularly works on significant IP infringement cases, handling issues relating to document discovery, fact and expert witness depositions and examinations, claim construction, noninfringement, invalidity, dispositive motions, and damages. She has practiced in U.S. District Courts, the U.S. International Trade Commission, and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Her practice also encompasses pre-litigation counseling, having advised her clients on product development, competitive intelligence, trade secret management, due diligence, and IP acquisition and licensing matters. |
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David Bloch | Greenberg Traurig David S. Bloch is a Shareholder in Greenberg Traurig’s San Francisco office. He is an intellectual property litigator. A prolific writer and frequent public speaker (more than 100 invited lectures and 50 published articles), David also is the co-author of IP and Technology in Government Contracts (now in its seventh edition). |
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Jeremy Elman | Duane Morris Jeremy T. Elman is a partner at Duane Morris, with a focus on intellectual property and technology-related commercial disputes. He regularly represents the world’s leading technology companies and brands. Jeremy has practiced for over a decade each in Silicon Valley and in Miami, allowing him a unique perspective both in the courtroom and in advising clients. Now residing in the Firm’s Silicon Valley office, he is known for his deep factual expertise and passionate advocacy, and is a leading authority on emerging technology patents, trade secrets, open source and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Jeremy has tried cases in a number of federal district courts, the International Trade Commission, the American Arbitration Association (AAA), and has argued before the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. |
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Pauline Debré | Linklaters Pauline heads the IP/TMT practice of Linklaters in Paris and has considerable experience in IP litigation and specifically patent litigation. She focuses on handling complex cross-border patent and trademark litigations, notably in the healthcare and telecommunications sectors. She assists major clients in all types of proceedings, including preliminary injunctions, seizures (saisie-contrefaçon), revocation and infringement actions, arbitration and mediation, often in a global context (parallel litigation in the US, pending oppositions before the EPO). |
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Leslie Spencer | Desmarais Leslie Spencer is a trial litigator with over 20 years of experience handling patent infringement disputes. She represents clients in federal court as well as the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Ms. Spencer is a registered patent attorney whose matters cover a range of technologies, including computer software (including artificial intelligence and blockchain), data encryption and security, network communications, semiconductor design and manufacturing, automotive systems, Fintech, medical devices and healthcare information technology. She also advises clients on intellectual property strategy, asset protection and transactions. |
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Bijal Vakil | A&O Shearman Bijal Vakil is an accomplished powerhouse in high-stakes technology litigation, wielding his extensive trial experience and a track record of over 500 patent, copyright, trade secret, and trademark disputes to secure unmatched results. As a strategic and indispensable business partner for companies at the forefront of technological innovation, he relentlessly drives success for both publicly traded and venture-backed companies. His expertise and aggressive approach make him an invaluable partner in the fiercely competitive tech industry. Bijal’s expertise covers a broad spectrum of technologies, such as computer software, AI, fintech, blockchain, semiconductors, drones, e-commerce, social media, payments, autonomous vehicles, consumer electronics, telecommunications, video games, medical devices, and blockchain technology in cryptocurrency. He has led teams in hundreds of contentious patent matters and major trade secrets disputes, as well as in complex technology transactions and cross-border deals. IAM has described his practice as “an IP boutique within a global firm,” attracting globally recognized clients seeking decisive results in large-scale mandates. |
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Joe Matal | Clear IP Joe has served as both the U.S. Patent and Trademark’s Acting Director and Acting Solicitor. As Acting Solicitor, he defended the agency in intellectual property cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court. In his role in the Solicitor’s Office, he participated in briefing almost every major case involving PTAB trials that has come before the Federal Circuit, including cases that have defined the Board’s powers and the evidence that it may consider, the content of final decisions, and the burdens and scope of motions to amend. Recent cases include Uniloc v. Hulu, Thryv v. Click-to-Call, and Aqua Products v. Matal. Previously, Joe served in senior legal roles for more than a decade for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. In that capacity, he negotiated and drafted many of the key provisions of the America Invents Act. |
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Hon. Melissa Haapala | USPTO Honorable Melissa A. Haapala was appointed as Vice Chief Administrative Patent Judge to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) on September 27, 2021. Judge Haapala was appointed as an Administrative Patent Judge on November 17, 2014 and has served as a Senior Lead Administrative Patent Judge and a Lead Administrative Patent Judge. In addition to her executive management and supervisory responsibilities, Judge Haapala has presided over numerous inter partes reviews under the America Invents Act (AIA) and heard hundreds of appeals from adverse decisions of examiners in patent applications. Prior to joining PTAB, she worked as a staff software engineer for Storage Technology, practiced at several law firms, served as Senior Counsel at Sun Microsystems, and as Assistant General Counsel at Ricoh. Vice Chief Administrative Patent Judge Haapala earned a law degree from the University of Denver College of Law, a Master of Science degree in Computer Information Systems, Management of Technology from Regis University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Colorado. |
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Christopher Marando | Perkins Coie Mike Hendershot is an accomplished first-chair trial lawyer recognized repeatedly by the Daily Journal as one of California’s Top IP Lawyers and IP Lawyer of the Year by The Recorder at the 2024 California Legal Awards. Mike has focused on IP litigation for 25 years and has been at the heart of some of the world’s most significant IP matters throughout his career, including representing eBay from trial through its landmark Supreme Court victory in eBay v. MercExchange. |
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David McCombs | Haynes & Boone David McCombs is primary counsel for many leading corporations in inter partes review (IPR) and is regularly identified as one of the most active attorneys appearing before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). His clients benefit from his 39 years of practice, which include appellate argument, patent litigation, and portfolio development. |
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Yar Chaikovsky | White & Case Yar R. Chaikovsky is widely recognized as a leading intellectual property trial lawyer. Based in Silicon Valley, Yar is Chair of the Firm’s Global Intellectual Property practice group and a partner in the Global Technology Industry Group. Yar focuses his practices on all forms of technology commercial litigation, including patent, trade secret, copyright, and other complex commercial disputes involving technology. |
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Chris de Mauny | Bird & Bird Chris de Mauny is a patent litigation specialist based in San Francisco. He advises clients from a range of industries including tech, life sciences and sustainable technologies. He is licensed to practice law in England & Wales and registered as a Foreign Legal Consultant with the State Bar of California. |
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Jeannine Sano | Axinn Jeannine Sano is a nationally recognized first-chair trial lawyer with 30 years of experience handling patent and trade secret trials and appeals in intellectual property venues across the country. Her trial successes have been recognized by IAM Patent 1000, Managing IP, The Recorder, Daily Journal, and Benchmark Litigation, among other publications and awards. She previously served as Chair of the Patent Litigation and ITC Practice Committees of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property. She is a frequent instructor at NITA, teaching trial advocacy skills to practicing attorneys, and serves as a judge for the American Mock Trial Competition and the Federal Bar Association’s Moot Court Competition. |
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Philipp Widera | Vossius & Partner Philipp Widera joined VOSSIUS in mid-2017. He became a partner in the firm in 2024. As a bar-certified specialist attorney for Intellectual Property, he advises and represents national and international clients on all aspects of intellectual property law and related competition law issues, with a particular focus on contentious patent law matters. Before joining VOSSIUS, he had worked for two other leading law firms in the field of patent law gaining experience in a wide range of technical areas, especially mobile communications and life sciences. |
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Matthias Kamber | Paul Hastings Matthias Kamberis a partner in the Intellectual Property practice of Paul Hastings and is based in the firm’s San Francisco office. Mr. Kamber focuses on litigating intellectual property cases and has tried approximately ten jury and bench trials. In particular, Mr. Kamber has handled patent cases involving internet advertising and telephones, smartphones, and microprocessors throughout the country and before the U.S. International Trade Commission. Mr. Kamber has also handled trade secret, copyright, and trademark matters, as well as commercial, employment, and antitrust matters. |
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Pauline Debré | Linklaters Pauline heads the IP/TMT practice of Linklaters in Paris and has considerable experience in IP litigation and specifically patent litigation. She focuses on handling complex cross-border patent and trademark litigations, notably in the healthcare and telecommunications sectors. She assists major clients in all types of proceedings, including preliminary injunctions, seizures (saisie-contrefaçon), revocation and infringement actions, arbitration and mediation, often in a global context (parallel litigation in the US, pending oppositions before the EPO). |
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Tess Waldron | Powell Gilbert Tess was promoted to Partner in April 2022 and is widely recognised as a UK rising star and next generation partner for patent litigation, including being highlighted by JUVE as “One to Watch” in that space for 2023. Tess has been a patent litigator for over 10 years and has a particular focus on the Life Sciences sector, often coordinating European strategies for companies in this space. She has litigated in front of the UK High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court (Unwired Planet v Huawei) and is also a solicitor advocate, representing clients in the UK and at the UPC, including appearing in the first ever hearing in front of the Paris Central Division (Meril v Edwards Lifesciences). Tess also has significant experience in relation to complex disputes involving FRAND licensing, entitlement and wider commercial issues, acting for companies across a broad variety of industries. She has an interest in the interface between IP and competition law, having obtained a PGDip in EU competition law from King’s College London. |
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Irene Yang | Sidley Austin IRENE YANG, co-head of the firm’s IP Litigation practice, is a trial lawyer representing clients in the high tech and life sciences industries in their patent and complex commercial disputes. Clients emphasize that “Irene shows unwavering dedication to her clients. She is an invaluable strategic partner in navigating tricky issues” (Chambers USA, 2024). Irene has extensive experience in cases involving a diverse set of products and technologies, such as networking and telecommunications, software, semiconductors, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer devices, as well as cases involving FRAND obligations for standard-essential patents. Her litigation experience spans patent litigation, contractual disputes, trademark and trade dress infringement claims, business torts, antitrust litigation, and trade secret claims. |
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April Isaacson | Kilpatrick April Isaacson is the Managing Partner for the firm’s San Francisco office. She has almost 30 years of experience as a trial attorney and has focused her practice on patent litigation and related disputes since 2000. She is a registered U.S. patent attorney and has tried cases involving diverse areas of technology ranging from computer and telecommunications hardware and software to life sciences, medical devices, and chemical products, representing both plaintiffs and defendants. |
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Irfan Lateef | Knobbe Martens Irfan Lateef, a distinguished IP litigator with over two decades of experience, serves as the chair of the firm’s Electrical, Semiconductor & Computer Technology Litigation Committee and leads the firm’s Japan practice. His expertise has earned him recognition among the premier IP litigators in the “World’s Leading Patent Professionals” for the Patent 1000 guide by Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine and the “IAM Strategy 300: The World’s Leading IP Strategists.” He has been listed in the Legal 500, and is included among the Daily Journal’s “100 leading IP attorneys in California” for his extraordinary representation of Toshiba Corp. |
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Chris Mammen | Womble Bond Dickinson For more than 25 years, Chris has guided Silicon Valley, national, and global tech and life sciences clients in high- stakes patent, other intellectual property, and technology litigation. He has led both large and small trial teams in courts throughout the United States, and has also served as lead counsel on appeals before the Ninth and Federal Circuits. His clients include companies in the software, artificial intelligence, telecommunications, microelectronics, medical devices, and life sciences sectors. Before joining Womble Bond Dickinson in 2019, Chris practiced in the Bay Area offices of several nationally-known law firms. |
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Ashok Ramani | Davis Polk Ashok heads Davis Polk’s IP Litigation practice. A Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, he focuses his practice on patent and trade-secret matters. Leading publications including Chambers USA and the Daily Journal recognize him as among the country’s best IP trial lawyers. Ashok has tried 21 cases, including 16 jury trials and 14 as lead counsel. He has represented leading technology and healthcare companies including Comcast, Magnolia Medical, Netflix, Pfizer, Signify Health and TSMC. |
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Marta Beckwith | TechSea Law Marta is the founder of TechSea Law, a boutique law firm specializing in intellectual property licensing and litigation. Prior to that, she worked for several years with PacTech Law. Prior to that, she was Vice President, Legal at Aruba Networks where she was Chief IP and Chief Litigation Counsel. Before that, Marta was Senior Director, Legal Services, at Cisco Systems, Inc., responsible for worldwide intellectual property litigation. She began her in-house career at Applied Materials, Inc. where she was Senior Director, Litigation. Marta has practiced law at what was then known as Pillsbury Madison & Sutro, Limbach & Limbach, and Fenwick & West. She received her law degree from UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law. Marta also has an M.A. in Mathematics from UCLA and a B.A. in Mathematics from UC Santa Cruz. She is a member of the Steering Committee for The Sedona Conference Working Group 9 on Patent Damages and Remedies (WG9) and Working Group 10 on Patent Litigation Best Practices (WG10). |
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Rajvinder Jagdev | Powell Gilbert Rajvinder advises clients on a range of IP matters, particularly in the electronics, telecommunications and computer software sectors. Rajvinder is an experienced IP litigator who specialises in advising clients in complex patent disputes, particularly in the electronics, telecommunications, and software sectors. His technical background in computer science and electronics allows him to analyse highly complex patents and provide detailed advice to clients and strategic coordination in cases of multi-jurisdictional litigation. |
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Kai Rüting | Vossius & Partner Dr. Kai Rüting is attorney since 2005 and partner of the firm since 2015. He advises clients in patent infringement litigation, technology-related arbitrations, and licensing matters. He specializes in national and cross-border patent litigation. Kai has comprehensive litigation experience, in particular in the areas of standard-related patents, electronics, medical technology, chemistry and life sciences. He also has broad experience advising international clients on strategies relating to enforcement of IP rights in Europe. |
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Hongbin Zhang | LexField Law Hongbin Zhang is a litigator specializing in Intellectual Property law. He concentrates his practice primarily on IP litigation and related dispute resolution. In addition, he has significant experience in IP licensing and antitrust legal risk assessment in the process of patent litigation and IP licensing. He counsels a diverse range of clients, including Fortune 500 companies, startups, and individual inventors. Hongbin Zhang has advised and represented many overseas and local companies in patent, copyright, trademark, antitrust litigation and dispute resolution, related to SEP, software, musical works, motion pictures, and on-line games. |
Day 2 - Prosecution Track
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Erik Milch | Proskauer Rose Erik Milch is a partner in the Litigation Department and a member of the Intellectual Property, Patent Law and Trials group. Erik brings more than 20 years of experience litigating in key jurisdictions across the U.S., as well as before the International Trade Commission and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. As a first-chair trial lawyer, Erik litigates complex matters involving medical devices, life sciences instrumentation, pharmaceuticals, electrical and computer technology, and consumer products. He regularly counsels clients in a range of industries in connection with patent procurement, development of patent portfolios, patent licensing, valuation of patent portfolios in business transactions and transactional diligence. |
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Allison Schmitt | Berkeley Law Allison A. Schmitt is a Fellow at Berkeley Law, and the Director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology’s Life Sciences Law and Policy Center. Her scholarship focuses on exploring theoretical and practical issues at the interface of life sciences and the law, including IP, regulatory, and funding considerations. She is affiliated with the Berkeley Fellowship Program, a joint project between Berkeley Law and the Berkeley Haas School of Business. She graduated from Berkeley Law in 2015, and previously earned a PhD in Chemistry from Duke University. |
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Mike Gilbert | Marks & Clerk Mike is an IP lawyer who advises clients in a wide variety of business sectors on issues including litigation and dispute resolution, IP strategy and risk limitation, due diligence projects and commercial and licensing transactions involving IP. His primary focus and expertise, however, lies in life sciences patent litigation where he is considered to be one of the UK’s leading practitioners. |
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Rebecca Charnas Grant | Genentech Rebecca Charnas Grant is Senior Director, Associate General Counsel at Genentech, where she handles IP and general litigation and related counseling and co-leads legal IP policy efforts. Before coming to Genentech, Rebecca was a Principal at Fish & Richardson, focusing on patent litigation. |
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Robert Hilton | Knobbe Martens Dr. Robert J Hilton has extensive experience advising clients in biotechnology and pharmaceutical intellectual property issues. Robert represents a wide array of clients, including international companies and startups. He brings deep technical skills to clients’ work in therapeutics, antibodies, molecular biology, immunology, regenerative medicine, personalized and precision medicine, vaccines, drug delivery systems, cosmetics, and nutraceuticals, making him go-to counsel for patent protection issues of all kinds. Robert’s passion for the law and science allows him to appreciate his clients’ technical innovations and develop strategies for safeguarding and rewarding these advances. |
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Ryann Muir | Gilead Sciences Leslie Spencer is a trial litigator with over 20 years of experience handling patent infringement disputes. She represents clients in federal court as well as the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Ms. Spencer is a registered patent attorney whose matters cover a range of technologies, including computer software (including artificial intelligence and blockchain), data encryption and security, network communications, semiconductor design and manufacturing, automotive systems, Fintech, medical devices and healthcare information technology. She also advises clients on intellectual property strategy, asset protection and transactions. |
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Miku Mehta | Procopio Miku advises clients in the U.S. and Asia on intellectual property, patent prosecution and counseling, as well as trademarks and copyrights. His practice focuses on the preparation and prosecution of patent applications, due diligence projects, including preparation of opinions in the areas of patentability, validity, infringement and product clearance, and patent licensing. Miku has extensive experience in technology including computer software and hardware, networks, internet-related applications, environmental technologies, optics, mechanical engineering, business processes and medical devices, as well as registration and renewal of trademarks and counseling on export control matters. He is the leader of Procopio’s Intellectual Property team and its Asia Pacific practice. |
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Timothy Hsieh | Oklahoma City University School of Law As an Associate Law Professor at Oklahoma City University School of Law and a Registered Patent Attorney, Timothy Hsieh has nearly two decades of experience in intellectual property (IP) law, particularly patent law. He teaches IP, Patent Law, Antitrust, Sports & Entertainment Law, Legislation & Regulation, and courses on emerging technologies such as Blockchain, NFTs, Crypto, Web 3.0 & AI. He also conducts research and write scholarship on IP law and policy, served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society – the country’s oldest journal on IP law frequently cited by U.S. Supreme Court Justices – and have authored and directed award-winning fiction and films under my penname Timothy Tau. |
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Matthew Avery | Baker Botts Matthew Avery works on a range of intellectual property matters, focusing primarily on patent prosecution, counseling, and diligence. Mr. Avery is a technology generalist, with experience in preparing and prosecuting patent applications across a wide range of technologies, including artificial intelligence/ML, AR/VR, biotech processing and therapeutic proteins, chemical processing, clean tech, consumer electronics, financial tech, online gaming, robotics, semiconductor processing, social networking, sports tech, and many other technologies. He also has experience in FDA regulatory matters, particularly dealing with the Hatch-Waxman Act, ANDA litigation, and the regulation of generic drugs. In addition to providing legal services for his clients, Mr. Avery is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where he teaches courses on Patent Prosecution and Food & Drug Law. He previously taught at Santa Clara University, School of Law. |
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Eugene Kim | Twilio Eugene is Sr. Dir. of IP and leads the IP team at Twilio. He has practiced IP law for the past 25 years mostly in-house at eBay, Zynga, Nimble Storage, and Twilio. Besides IP, Eugene has led Twilio’s legal diversity efforts and the Mansfield Certification. |
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Rahul Pathak | Squire Patton Boggs Rahul Pathak assists clients with intellectual property rights in the fields of chemistry and biochemistry. His practice includes patent prosecution and portfolio management, patent opinions, patent reexaminations and patent due diligence. Representative clients include startup companies, established companies, leading life science companies, academic institutions, and investment firms in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, renewable chemical, food and energy storage industries. |
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David Sanker | SankerIP David Sanker is a Mathematician, a Software Engineer, and a Patent Attorney. David earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics from Berkeley, and returned to Berkeley Law 15 years later for his law degree after careers in academia and production software development. As a Patent Attorney at Morgan Lewis, David was a patent litigator for four years and a patent practitioner for more than 13 years. As a patent practitioner, David works with clients, inventors, the U.S. Patent Office, and associates throughout the world to build strong IP protection. This has included a lot of work with AI, and David continues to speak and write about AI. David was recognized by the Daily Journal as a Top AI Attorney in 2019 and 2024. In addition to AI, key technology areas include software, cybersecurity, semiconductor devices, database architecture, data visualization, medical devices, artificial reality & virtual reality, and identify verification. David launched his own small patent firm SankerIP in February 2024, providing high-quality work without the very high billing rates and conflicts of large law firms. David continues to speak and write about AI and patents, including chapters in four recent books. More about David and SankerIP is available on the website sankerip.com. |
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Deborah Vernon | Womble Bond Dickinson Deborah assists clients in obtaining and enforcing intellectual property rights in both the US, and abroad. Her practice is focused on chemical and mechanical arts. She has particular experience with drafting, prosecuting and maintaining patents in the technology fields of metallurgy, superconductors, semiconductors, photovoltatics, plasma science, ceramics, thin film technology, nanophase materials, composite materials, spectroscopy, analytical chemistry, medical devices and instrumentation, and mechanical engineering. |
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Christina MacDougall | Morgan Lewis Christina A. MacDougall brings an active background in the life sciences, chemistry, and healthcare to her intellectual property (IP) practice. She advises clients on patent counseling, global prosecution strategies (including portfolio management), opinions, and due diligence in the life sciences and related technology fields. This includes conducting invalidity and patentability searches and analyses for biochemical, molecular biological, and pharmaceutical products and processes. Clients rely on Christina to draft patent applications and analyze patent landscapes regarding competitive diligence and freedom to operate. |
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Meghan Poon | Morrison Foerster Dr. Meghan Poon counsels clients on patent preparation and prosecution, portfolio strategy, and IP due diligence in the areas of biotechnology and biologics. She has significant experience in diverse technologies including antibodies, cell therapies, gene therapies, diagnostics, and gene-edited plants. She represents clients ranging from large international pharmaceutical companies to midsized companies, startups, and universities. |
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Tracy-Gene Durkin | Sterne Kessler Tracy-Gene G. Durkin is the practice leader of Sterne Kessler’s Mechanical & Design Practice Group and a member of the Trademark & Brand Protection Practice. Tracy has a well-earned reputation for excellence in design patent law. Financial Times named her as one of the “Top Ten Legal Innovators in North America,” noting her as “a leading authority on design patents.” Tracy has also been named among Chambers & Partners’ “recognized practitioners” in the IP Patent Prosecution, District of Columbia category. |
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Justin Eurek | Kilpatrick Justin Eurek is a partner in the firm’s Intellectual Property practice. Justin focuses his practice on patent prosecution and strategic intellectual property counseling, with an emphasis on electronics and software. He has prepared and prosecuted patent applications over a wide range of technologies, including consumer electronics, autonomous vehicles and infrastructure, AR/VR/MR systems and peripheral devices, medical devices, renewable energy systems and control networks, micro-grid systems, computer peripherals, geographic information systems (GIS), digital audio workstations, media players, UI/UX technologies, and more. Justin has extensive experience with design patents including strategic design protection for patent applications filed in the U.S. and abroad for graphical user interfaces (GUIs), consumer electronics, retail and consumer goods, and food/beverage products. Justin counsels clients on intellectual property law, including clearances, freedom-to-operate, invalidity, non-infringement issues, invention evaluation and assessment, patent opinions, and patent prosecution. |
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Mary Fuller | USPTO As Regional Director of the USPTO’s Western Regional Outreach Office, Mary Fuller carries out the strategic direction of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO and is responsible for leading the USPTO’s Western Office in San Jose, California. Focusing on the region and actively engaging with the community, Ms. Fuller ensures the USPTO’s initiatives and programs are tailored to the region’s unique ecosystem of industries and stakeholders. |
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Victoria Maroulis | Quinn Emanuel Victoria Maroulis is the Managing Partner of the Silicon Valley Office and a Co-Chair of the firm’s National Intellectual Property Litigation Practice and Life Science Practice. Mrs. Maroulis’ practice primarily focuses on intellectual property litigation. She has litigated and provided counseling for companies on a broad range of patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secrets matters in the fields of telecommunications, software, hardware, semiconductors, medical devices, and biotechnology for clients such as Samsung, General Electric, Cisco, and Genentech. Victoria regularly writes and lectures on IP matters and has taught trial practice at Stanford Law School and the in-house Quinn Emanuel program. In the past several years, Victoria has been selected as one of 10 Intellectual Property Rising Stars under 40 nationwide by Law360, recognized in the IAM Patent 1000 as one of the leading patent litigators world-wide, named as one of the top 100 women litigators in California by The Daily Journal, featured in The American Lawyer’s “45 under 45” list of outstanding female attorneys, chosen for The Recorder’s list of 50 women leaders in tech law, and named one of Managing Intellectual Property IP STARS Top 250 Women in IP. |
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Will Covey | USPTO Will Covey is the Deputy General Counsel and Director for the Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). As Deputy General Counsel, Mr. Covey is responsible for ensuring that the nation’s patent attorneys and agents are of good moral character and sufficiently knowledgeable to practice before the USPTO. Mr. Covey’s team of attorneys and other professionals develops and administers a registration examination designed to measure an applicant’s knowledge of patent law and practice. Successful applicants are registered to practice by OED. In addition, OED investigates complaints of unethical conduct made against individuals practicing patent or trademark law before the USPTO. |