2017 Intellectual Property Law Year in Review – Chicago

Venue
The Florentine
151 West Adams Street
Chicago, IL 60603

Our panel will analyze the major developments in patent and trademark law during 2016, discuss key cases to watch in 2017 as well as the impact of these matters on strategic business decisions. The discussion will include:

• The Supreme Court of the United States’ decisions in Cuozzo, Halo, and Samsung v. Apple and their effect on inter partes review (IPR) and district court proceedings.
• How upcoming cases in 2017, such as TC Heartland and Impression Products could impact choice of venue in patent infringement cases and exhaustion of US patent rights.
• How the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s 2016 decisions, including Enfish, In Re Queen’s University, WBIP, LifeNet Health, Wi-Fi One and Husky Injection Molding Systems, affect patent eligibility of computer-implemented inventions, privilege of communications between a non-lawyer patent agent and client, enhanced damages after Halo, the preservation of claim construction disputes for appeal and appealability of an IPR based on time-bar petitions under § 315(b) and assignor estoppel.
• The Supreme Court’s granting of certiorari in Lee v. Tam and its lasting impact on trademark law, including other trademark owners along the lines of the Washington Redskins.
• How the Ninth Circuit’s decision regarding attorneys’ fees in Sun Earth affects trademark litigation and the implementation of pre-Octane standards for such fees.