33rd Annual ABA Intellectual Property Law Conference, April 18-20, 2018

33rd Annual ABA Intellectual Property Law Conference, Arlington, Virginia

[Kip Currier: The April 19th Conference sessions I attended were outstanding. Particularly thought-provoking was the "Ethical Issues in Emerging Technology" session, with panelists discussing legal, ethical, and policy implications of Wearable Technologies (e.g. FitBits), 3D Printers, and Autonomous Vehicles.

I'll be posting some highlights and photos from the sessions in the next few days.]

Friday, April 20

6:30 am – 7:45 am	LGBT Diversity Run/Walk
7:30 am – 5:00 pm	Registration • Print Café • Sponsors
8:30 am – 10:00 am	Patent: Standards Essential Patent & the Internet of Things
8:30 am – 10:00 am	Trademark/Ethics: Ethical Issues in Trademark Practice
8:30 am – 10:00 am	Copyright: International Copyright Transactions
10:15 am – 11:45 am	Patent: State of Subject Matter Eligibility Law: Its Impact on the Incentive to Innovate
10:15 am – 11:45 am	Trademark: The Dark Side of Knockoffs
10:15 am – 11:45 am	Copyright: Fair Use or Not Fair Use, that is the Question
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm	Women in IP Law Luncheon
1:45 pm – 3:15 pm	Specialty: Canada: More than Just Justin Trudeau
1:45 pm – 3:15 pm	Trademark: Current State of the Dilution Doctrine - TamImpact
1:45 pm – 3:15 pm	Copyright: Music Licensing 101: Understanding the Basics
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm	Patent/Ethics: Current Trends and Ethical Implications in IP Monetization and Litigation Financing
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm	Specialty: DarkNet: Enter at Your Own Risk
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm	Specialty: Preserving Attorney Client Privilege When Your Clients Go Global

33rd Annual ABA Intellectual Property Law Conference, April 18-20, 2018

33rd Annual ABA Intellectual Property Law Conference, Arlington, Virginia

[Kip Currier: 1st full day of this year's American Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Conference. Lots of intriguing sessions to choose from...case in point, the 10:15 AM slot has two concurrent ones I want to attend--Trademark/Ethics: Ethical Issues in Emerging Technology and Copyright: Copyright Law and Policy Developments.

I'm also attending the Mark T. Banner luncheon today, featuring Simon Tam of the band The Slants and his legal team, who last year won a major federal trademark law case, Matal v. Tam (previously Lee v. Tam), involving so-called disparaging trademarks. The case presented potentially significant implications for free speech and economic interests. Tam and his band spoke as part of a very thought-provoking panel at Duquesne University last April, before the U.S. Supreme Court had announced its decision in June 2017. The Slants prevailed, in a unanimous decision.

I talked with Tam after the April 2017 panel about the case and he insisted on having his bandmates sign the band's poster I'd purchased.

It will be interesting to hear thoughts from the various parties a year later, regarding post-Matal v. Tam implications...]


Thursday, April 19

7:00 am – 5:00 pm	Registration • Print Café • Sponsors
7:15 am – 8:30 am	Conference Connections New Members • First-Time Attendees • Young Lawyers
8:30 am – 10:00 am	Patent: Impact of Heartland on District Court Litigation
8:30 am – 10:00 am	Trademark: From the Practitioners' Perspectives: Managing Discovery in Trademark Cases: TTAB vs. Federal Court
8:30 am – 10:00 am	Copyright/Social Media: #Ad Disclosures
10:15 am – 11:45 am	Patent: Ask the Office: Hot Topics with the USPTO Commissioner for Patents
10:15 am – 11:45 am	Trademark/Ethics: Ethical Issues in Emerging Technology
10:15 am – 11:45 am	Copyright: Copyright Law and Policy Developments
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm	Mark T. Banner Award Luncheon Honoring Simon Tam and his legal team during a special presentation.
1:45 pm – 3:15 pm	Patent: Coming Together: Worlds Apart
1:45 pm – 3:15 pm	Trademark: Proving a Negative: Best Practices for Prosecuting and Defending Non-Use Abandonment Proceedings in the US & Abroad
1:45 pm – 3:15 pm	Copyright: The Right of Publicity
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm	Specialty: Growing Your Start-Up IP Practice
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm	Trademark/Copyright: Fictional Characters in 3D
3:30 pm – 5:00 pm	Specialty/Ethics: Multijurisdictional Practice and the Modern Ethical IP Attorney