Spring 2012 Course Highlight: Chemical Patent Practice

PRG’s Spring 2012 Advanced Courses Program will be held from March 25-31, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa in Bonita Springs, Florida, and all courses have been updated to reflect the many impacts of AIA.  We’ve posted an overview of all Spring 2012 Advanced Courses and looked at a variety of courses: “Designing Around Valid U.S. Patents” , Art and Science of Patent Searching, and Crafting and Drafting Winning Patents.  Now let’s look at a specialized course for chemical patent practitioners: Chemical Patent Practice.

General Information: Chemical Patent Practice

• Course Dates: March 25, 2012 – March 27, 2012
• Course Times: 8:15-11:30; 1:30-4:15 (Sun-Tues)
• Projected CLE: 16.5 hours
• Projected Ethics Credit: 2.0 hour
• Instructors: Paul Browning, Tom Irving, Jill MacAlpine, Erik Puknys and Mark Sweet.
• For more detailed information on this course, visit this page of the PRG website

Why Should You Take This Course?

Are you well-versed on how chemical claims are constructed and construed? Well enough to avoid an overly narrow, often disastrous claim construction leading to a royalty-free transfer of patented technology to your competitor? Well enough not to trip up on obviousness post-KSR? If you’d like to answer these questions with a resounding “yes” then you should attend our highly-acclaimed, comprehensive Chemical Patent Practice course. Don’t fail your clients or yourself in these tough economic times – learn from the best.

 

Course Description

This up-to-the-minute course teaches the chemical patent practitioner how to use fundamentally sound principles to prepare and prosecute a United States chemical patent application in a conservative way to enhance such possibilities as:

• obtaining broad claim construction for literal infringement purposes, particularly by avoiding “vile” language (i.e., lightning rods for noninfringement and §112, para. 2 invalidity) that is best described as patent profanity;
•  utilizing the doctrine of equivalents to the extent that the doctrine still exists;
• surviving Festo;
•  avoiding a best mode rejection from the examiner;
• destroying, not rebutting, a defective prima facie case of obviousness in our current post-KSR world, including illustrations from several real U.S. patents prosecuted by a faculty member;
• obtaining the broadest possible claims by avoiding too many and unduly narrow limitations;
• obtaining claims that will be directly and literally infringed by competitors rather than by customers;
• proving literal infringement of claims in litigation;
•  obtaining claims infringed by “downstream” infringers;
• preparing and prosecuting the application to avoid inequitable conduct in view of the Federal Circuit’s en banc decision in Therasense and subsequent cases; and
• understanding the implications of the various provisions and effective dates of the America Invents Act (“AIA”), particularly as they relate to filing strategies in and around the rapidly-approaching March 16, 2013 date when the first inventor to file provisions take effect.

Course Materials

The definitive treatise, Chemical Patent Law, written and continually updated by the Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner faculty, with the invaluable assistance of editor Stacy D. Lewis, will be provided to attendees at the course. This treatise covers virtually every situation that can arise in the preparation and prosecution of a chemical patent application. It will remain on your desk and in continual use long after the course.

This treatise underwent a complete overhaul in the aftermath of the enactment of the AIA to provide completely updated materials to the course attendees. Although the treatise is of great value, the faculty members have found that the best vehicle for teaching is the use of slides, which will be provided in book form to attendees on the first day of class. The slides book will contain ample room for note-taking and cross-referencing and, as such, will be a valuable addition to your daily kit of chemical patent practice tools. In fact, you can bring it if you want, but you won’t need the course book during the lectures.

Registration, Hotel Information, FAQs, and Special Offers:

• If you’re interested in registering online for this Spring 2012 Advanced Course, visit this page on the PRG website!
• You can also view the Spring 2012 Advanced Courses Catalog, which includes a print registration form.
• Visit this page for more information on the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa in Bonita Spring, FL.
• Want general information on PRG’s Advanced Courses? Visit this FAQ page.
• And finally, learn about all the ways you can save through PRG’s Special Offers!

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