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June 8, 2010 |
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PATENT REFORMERS
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| Interested in Federal Expansion business and legal opportunities? Come hear Tom Davis, Steve Fuller, and Bob Peck, June 16—MORE INFO. Or the future of information, education, and philanthropy? Come hear Katharine Weymouth, Michelle Rhee, and Katherine Bradley. That’s June 17—MORE INFO. As always, sky-high quality, bargain prices. |
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| How’s this for devotion to a cause? After five-and-a-half years leading the Federal Circuit, Chief Judge Paul Michel has become so concerned about the state of the nation’s judicial and patent systems, he’s giving up his lifetime tenure to speak out on the need for greater Congressional support. |
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| We swung by the Chief’s Lafayette Square chambers on his last working day to hear out his case. One scary stat: The Patent Office, Judge Michel tells us, has a backlog of some 750,000 applications warehoused in Alexandria awaiting review, and it’ll take nearly double the 6,000 examiners now on staff to eat into that pile. The Chief calls it a “scandal” that he’s been “muzzled” from talking about in his role as an Article III judge. But now he’s letting loose, beginning with a series of speaking engagements that includes a June 15 panel on patent reform at the Newseum. (More info.) |
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| The other issue near to his heart: the need for more judges. Congress has added zero appellate judgeships to the Federal courts in the last 20 years, and its slow-footed action on nominees is creating a crisis, Judge Michel says. He believes the Federal Courts need 100 more judge positions at the District and Circuit levels, even after filling 100 existing vacancies. In his “one-person campaign” to get resources, he’s looking beyond usual suspects like the patent bar. For leverage with Congress, he’s looking to enlist the support of the private sector’s corporate heavyweights, which have a strong interest in speeding up innovation through patents. |
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| Chief Judge Michel isn’t the only bigwig appearing June 15. Former USPTO Director Jon Dudas, who joined Foley early last year—just in time for its Icelandic chic office redesign—will headline a panel on the status of reform bills in Congress. One issue, he tells us, is the budget practice of “diversion.” The USPTO funds itself through user fees, but there’s a question of what should happen to revenue that exceeds its yearly estimates. Jon would like to see it retain a $100M “cushion” and says that siphoning away revenue is like a “tax on innovation.” As for his own practice, he’s been advising corporations on international patent portfolios. At USPTO, he spearheaded development of the Patent Prosecution Highway program that speeds the issuance of patents in multiple countries. He likes crossing borders: this year he’s already traveled to Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. |
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| No patent talk is complete without an expert opinion, like from John Jarosz of the Analysis Group. Another speaker June 15, he arrived in DC 25 years ago last weekend as a young economist and found himself working on the historic patent donnybrook between Kodak and Polaroid. He made a career of it, and has now testified in over 180 depositions and about 50 trials (you lose count after a while), specializing in valuing IP rights and estimating damages from infringement. He’s worked on matters involving everything from MRI devices to spinal implants, but we’re afraid we’ll always remember him as the guy who—true story—helped put a value on the Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, and the Taco Bell Chihuahua. |
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| MOBILE ENGAGEMENT: THIS FRIDAY |
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| Short Message Service (SMS, a/k/a texting) has tremendous potential to revolutionize the way products and services are accessed and paid for, Arent Fox’s Mike Hazzard tells us. The problem: the process is “hamstrung by the carrier environment they live in.” While the wired Internet is mostly open source, the mobile Internet and SMS have been slow to follow (imagine buying your computer from Internet-provider Comcast). One example of the exponential demand: After Hurricane Katrina people texted $400,000 in donations; for the recent Haiti earthquake that number jumped to $30 million. To illuminate the subject and zero in on how consumer choice and access are being limited, Arent Fox is hosting two panel discussions Friday. Panelists (whom we’re betting you’ll know soon if you don’t already) include: mobileStorm CEO Jared Reitzin, Myxer VP Jeff Sass, Mobile Commons CEO Jed Alpert, and Public Knowledge’s Michael Weinberg. (More info.) |
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MEET OUR SPONSOR:
MAJOR, LINDSEY & AFRICA |
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| What recession? Major, Lindsey & Africa DC managing partner Jeffrey Lowe tells us the office is off to its best year ever in 2010. The international firm (19 offices in the US, plus branches in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and London) is well known for its work at the top end of market—precisely the segment that’s been virtually unaffected by the downturn. “There’s a much greater focus on high-end, sure-bet, lateral partners,” Jeff says. “It’s great for us because we’ve always been high-end.” In addition to working with the leading law firms, partners, and groups (“Nobody else can match our access,” Jeff says), Major, Lindsey & Africa handles DC's most important in-house legal placements. Some recent examples: placing former General Motors General Counsel Bob Osborne as Executive General Counsel at Booz Allen Hamilton and working with Atlantic Media in its current general counsel search. (More info.) |
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