Join Us in an Open Discussion on Enhancing Patent Quality!

We are hosting this Patent Community Symposium to update the public on the status of our quality enhancing programs, to introduce some developing programs and collect your feedback, and to continue the discussion from a stakeholder’s perspective on what patent applicants and their representatives can do to enhance quality. The programs of the Enhanced Patent Quality Initiative, as well as other quality-focused programs in the patents area, will be highlighted.

If you are a patent applicant, practitioner, or litigator, please attend to:

• Learn how we are improving our processes and work products to foster enhanced patent quality;

• Experience how we review examiners' work product to assess quality;

• Participate in a workshop to use and provide feedback on the office’s new Master Review Form; and

• Gain strategies and contribute to a panel discussion on enhancing your application filings, responses, and examiner interactions during prosecution.

The program is free and open to the public - click here to view the agenda for program being livestreamed from Alexandria, VA.

The draft agenda for the program being held at the Rocky Mountain Regional Office in Denver, CO, is detailed below. For inquiries about this event, please email RockyMountain@USPTO.GOV.

8:00 AM to 8:30 AM Participants Arrive and Sign in | Networking

8:30 AM to 8:35 AM Welcome

• Michael Carone, Rocky Mountain Regional Manager
• Dan Ryman, Senior Advisor, Office of Patent Quality
• Mark Radtke, Supervisory Patent Examiner

8:35 AM to 8:45 AM Opening Remarks: Before and After (Livestream):
How is Enhanced Patent Quality Making a Difference

• Michelle K. Lee, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO

8:45 AM to 9:05 AM Post-examination Enhancements (Livestream):
Highlights include: Post Grant Outcomes

• Jack Harvey, Acting Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Patent Operations

9:05 AM to 9:45 AM Improving Evaluation of Examination (Livestream)
Highlights include: Topic Submission for Case Studies and Big Data

• Brian Hanlon, Director of the Office of Patent Legal Administration

9:45 AM to 10:00 AM Morning Break

10:00 AM to 10:45 AM Search & Training Enhancements (Recorded Livestream)
Highlights include: Global Dossier and Clarity of the Record Training

• Maria Holtman, Director of International Programs
• Don Hajec, Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Patent Operations

10:45 AM to 11:00 AM Quality Metrics (Livestream)
Improving Patent Quality Measurement

• Marty Rater, Chief Statistician, Office of Patent Quality Assurance

11:00 AM to 12:15 PM Master Review Form (MRF) Hands-On Workshop
Reviewing for Correctness, Clarity, and Consistency

• Dan Ryman, Senior Advisor, Office of Patent Quality
• Rocky Mountain Regional USPTO Management Team

12:15 PM to 12:30 PM MRF Report Out (from the workshop)

• Dan Ryman, Senior Advisor, Office of Patent Quality
• Rocky Mountain Regional USPTO Management Team

12:30 PM to 1:15 PM Lunch Break

1:15 PM to 2:15 PM Panel Discussion (Livestream)
How Applicants Can File and Prosecute a Quality Application

• Russ Slifer, Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the USPTO
• Bill Bunker, Knobbe Marten
• Rick Nydegger, Workman Nydegger
• Kevin Noonan, MBHB
• Laura Sheridan, Google
• Tim Wilson, SAS

2:15 PM to 2:50 PM Q&A with Panel (Livestream)

• Moderated by Russ Slifer, Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the USPTO

2:50 to 3:05 PM Afternoon Break

3:05 PM to 3:35 PM Prosecution Enhancements (Recorded Livestream)
Highlights include: Clarity of the Record Pilot

• Robin Evans, Director, Technology Center 2800

3:35 PM to 3:45 PM Closing Remarks (Livestream)

• Drew Hirshfeld, Commissioner for Patents

3:45 PM to 4:00 PM Networking and Q&A

• Dan Ryman, Senior Advisor, Office of Patent Quality
• Rocky Mountain Regional USPTO Management Team