The High Tech Law Institute of Santa Clara Law is pleased to host an upcoming USPTO roundtable and focus session on February 20, 2013 at 9:00. RSVP’s will be taken by the USPTO on a first come first serve basis (see following invitation for the details).
The following is the official USPTO Invitation:
INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN ROUNDTABLE AND FOCUS SESSIONS ON RCE PRACTICE
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) seeks to learn more about the root causes for RCE filings as a basis for the consideration and design of procedural modifications and educational initiatives to promote compact prosecution. The purpose of this effort is not to eliminate RCE practice, or in any way disadvantage it. But rather, the purpose is to enable applicants to use RCE practice when needed, while avoiding it where equal or better options are available. As part of this effort, the Office, in collaboration with PPAC, has recently initiated an RCE Outreach program which seeks to gather input from stakeholders on the underlying reasons for RCE filings and viable alternatives to filing RCEs. The Office is providing a variety of venues for stakeholders to share their ideas with the Office and with each other. A complete description of the opportunities to participate, as well as the Federal Register Notice can be found at the RCE Outreach website at http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/rce_outreach.jsp.
The RCE Outreach effort will include a series of roundtable discussions (75-100 people) and focus sessions (10-15 people) to share ideas, feedback, experiences, and insights on RCE related prosecution strategies. Events are scheduled in Silicon Valley, Dallas, New York City, Washington D.C, and Chicago. Each event will provide a forum for an informal and interactive discussion of topics relating to patents that are particularly relevant to RCE filings. While public attendees will have the opportunity to provide their individual input, group consensus advice will not be sought.
Each event will consist of both a roundtable discussion and focus session. Roundtable discussion topics will be generally directed to root causes for RCE filings, the role of RCE practice in patent prosecution, prosecution strategies to reduce the need for RCE filings and recommendations for changes in USPTO procedures to reduce the need for RCE filings. Roundtable participants will have an opportunity for oral presentation on these or a related topic. Focus session discussion will be directed to answering a series of questions which may be previewed at the RCE Outreach website.
DATES:
The Silicon Valley event will be held on Wednesday, February 20, 2013.
– Roundtable will begin at 9am Pacific Standard Time (PST) and ending at 11am PST.
– Focus session will begin at 2 pm PST and end at 4 pm PST.
– Registration is requested by February 15, 2013.
The Dallas event will be held on Tuesday, February 26, 2013.
– Roundtable will begin at 9 a.m. Central Time (CT) and ending at 11am CT.
– Focus session will begin at 2 pm CT and end at 4 pm CT.
– Registration is requested by February 22, 2013.
The New York City event will be held on Thursday, February 28, 2013.
– Roundtable will begin at 9 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) and ending at 11am EST.
– Focus session will begin at 2 pm EST and end at 4 pm EST.
– Registration is requested by February 22, 2013.
The Washington DC event will be held on Wednesday, March 6, 2013.
– Roundtable will begin at 9 a.m. EST and ending at 11am EST.
– Focus session will begin at 2 pm EST and end at 4 pm EST.
– Registration is requested by March 1, 2013.
The Chicago event will be held on Friday, March 8, 2013.
– Roundtable will begin at 9a.m. CT and ending at 11am CT.
– Focus session will begin at 2 pm CT and end at 4 pm CT.
– Registration is requested by March 1, 2013.
ADDRESSES:
• The Silicon Valley event will be held at: Santa Clara University, Benson Memorial Center, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95053. The Focus session being held at: Bannan Hall (Law School), 200H, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95053.
• The Dallas event will be held at: Southern Methodist University. The Hillcrest Classroom in the Underwood Law Library, 6550 Hillcrest Avenue, Dallas, TX 75205. The Focus session being held at: AJ Thomas room in Storey Hall, 3315 Daniel Avenue, Dallas, TX 75205.
• The New York City event will be held at: New York University, Henry Kaufman Management Center, Faculty Lounge, Room 11-185, 44 West 4th St., New York, NY 10012. The Focus session being held at: Cornell Tech 111 8th Avenue, Suite 302, New York, NY 10011.
• The Washington D.C event will be held at: USPTO Alexandria Campus, Madison North Auditorium, 600 Dulany St, Alexandria, VA 22314. The focus session will be held at: Remsen Conference Center, 400 Dulany St, Alexandria, VA 22314.
• The Chicago event will be held at: IIT Chicago – Kent College of Law, Room C20, 565 W. Adams St., Chicago, IL 60661. The focus session will be held in Room 547, 565 W. Adams St., Chicago, IL 60661.
REGISTRATION: Registration is required for either or both of the roundtable and focus session portions of each event. Early registration is recommended because seating is limited. There is no fee to register for the events, and registration will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration on the day of the event will be permitted on a space-available basis beginning 30 minutes before the event.
To register, please send an email message to rceoutreach@uspto.gov and provide the following information: (1) Your name, title, and if applicable, company or organization, address, phone number, and email address; (2) which event you wish to attend; (3) which session you wish to attend (i.e., roundtable and/or focus session); and (4) if you wish to make an oral presentation at the roundtable, the specific topic or issue to be addressed and the approximate desired length of your presentation. Each attendee, even if from the same organization, must register separately.
The USPTO will attempt to accommodate all persons who wish to make a presentation at the roundtable events. After reviewing the list of speakers, the USPTO will contact each speaker prior to the event with the amount of time available and the approximate time that the speaker’s presentation is scheduled to begin. If you need special accommodations due to a disability, please inform the contact persons identified below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Remy Yucel, Director Central Re-Exam Unit, by telephone at 571–272–0700, or by electronic mail message at irem.yucel@uspto.gov or Kathy Matecki, Director, Technology Center 3600, by telephone at 571-272-5250 or by electronic mail message at kathy.matecki@uspto.gov.