(03/25/09) Ryan Schermerhorn Wins Future Leaders Scholarship

Ryan Schermerhorn Wins Future Leaders Scholarship

Patent Resources Group Launches Career of Elite Patent Professional

 

Alexandria, Va. (March 25, 2009)—Ryan Schermerhorn, currently attending law school at DePaul University in Chicago, IL, has been named the first recipient of Patent Resources Group’s Future Leaders Scholarship.

 

Patent Resources Group, the nation’s leading patent education firm, will award Mr. Schermerhorn with full tuition to its Patent Bar Review course, travel and hotel costs, as well as reimbursement for the fee charged by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to become a patent agent. The scholarship is valued at more than $5,000.

 

Criteria for the scholarship were based solely on the applicants’ merit, including demonstrated achievement in law school and undergraduate studies, letters of recommendation, and a 10-page essay on the “Future of Patent Law.”

 

“We received several excellent applications and it was a difficult decision. Ryan’s application stood out for its high quality and attention to the issues facing our industry,” says Vanessa Brown, Patent Resources Group’s Vice President. “It is our honor to help advance Ryan’s career by awarding him the invaluable instruction that he will need to join the ranks of the nation’s elite patent professionals.”

 

Details regarding next year’s scholarship program will be available later this Fall at www.patentresources.com/scholarship.  

 

 

(02/20/09) Deadline Looms for Future Leaders Scholarship

Deadline Looms for Future Leaders Scholarship

Applications must be post-marked by February 27, 2009

Alexandria, Va. (February 20, 2009)-Law students looking to enter patent law may miss their window of opportunity to get a free boost to their careers. The March 6 deadline for entering the Future Leaders Scholarship is now only two weeks away, with mailed applications needing to be post-marked by February 27.

Launched last December, the Future Leaders Scholarship is open to all full-time law students who are eligible to sit for the Patent Bar examination. Winners receive full tuition to Patent Resources Group’s Patent Bar Review course, including travel and hotel costs, a value of more than $5,000.

“The Future Leaders Scholarship is the perfect opportunity for enterprising patent law students to launch their careers,” says Patent Resources Group’s Academic Director Paul Gardner. “The scholarship will not only equip recipients with the tools needed to pass the Patent Bar exam, but also to attain the highest levels of professional achievement.”

Once scholarship winners pass the Patent Bar exam, they will also be reimbursed for the patent agent fee charged by the U.S. Patent and Trade Office to become a patent agent.  Scholarship winners will be chosen based on proven academic achievement.

More information and a downloadable application are available at www.patentresources.com/scholarship.

(02/17/09) Patent Professionals Learn New Strategies to Improve IP Profitability

Patent Professionals Learn New Strategies to

Improve IP Profitability

Four New Patent Education Courses Focus on Enhancing Patent Practice to Grow IP Revenue

Alexandria, Va. (February 17, 2009)-Maximizing the value of intellectual property is a top priority this year for businesses around the world. Patent Resources Group, the nation’s leading patent educator, is helping companies and law firms to stretch their IP capital by introducing four new courses that teach cutting-edge strategies for practicing patent law and growing their clients’ bottom line.

Debuting at the upcoming Advanced Courses program in Orlando, Fla. (April 19-25), the new courses will give patent professionals the tools needed to advance their careers while growing the profitability of the patents they manage.

The new courses include:

• Management of Intellectual Property: The Use of IP in Business , taught by Howard Rockman, Independent Patent Attorney
• Patent Claim Interpretation, taught by Edward Manzo, Founding Partner, Cook Alex, Ltd.
• Fundamental Building Blocks for Creating and Enforcing the FDA Orange Book Listable US Patent, taught by Tom Irving, Partner, Scott Lee, Attorney, Lauren Stevens, Ph.D., Partner, Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP
• Reexamination and Reissue Practice, taught by Barton Giddings, Partner, Kevin Lawrence, Partner, Matthew Phillips, Partner, Stoel River, LLP

“Businesses and law firms today are looking for strategies that will have the biggest impact on their bottom line, for the lowest cost,” says Vice President, Vanessa Brown. “Patent professionals at all levels of their career can create value for their employers by making sure their skills are up-to-date.”

Complete course descriptions for all of Patent Resources Group’s courses can be found online at www.patentresources.com.

(02/09/09) Patent Resources Group Wins Certification from Japan Patent Attorneys Association

Patent Resources Group Wins Certification from Japan Patent Attorneys Association

First Non-Japanese Firm to Open Doors to Japanese Patent Professionals, Students

Alexandria, Va. (February 9, 2009)-Patent Resources Group (PRG), the nation’s leading patent education firm, has become the first non-Japanese legal education provider to earn certification from the Japan Patent Attorneys Association (JPAA). The JPAA granted official accreditation to PRG on January 28, 2009.

As individual courses are approved, Japanese patent attorneys will now be able to earn credit for attending Patent Resources Group’s patent education programs, which include Patent Bar Review courses, Workshops and Advanced Courses. PRG has provided professionals and students with comprehensive strategies for practicing patent law since 1969. All courses are taught by an acclaimed group of the industry’s most experienced attorneys, litigators and strategists, who guide students to successfully apply patent law to real-world intellectual property issues.

“I am pleased that the JPAA has recognized Patent Resources Group’s exceptional quality and that we will now be able to actively meet Japan’s IP educational needs,” says Takaharu Nakashima, Patent Resources Group’s Director of Asian Markets. ”As patents in the global economy grow in significance, Japanese professionals must focus more on strategic planning, practice and utilization of intellectual property rights. With 40 years of history and knowledge, we believe PRG will be the educational bridge between the U.S. and Japan.”

The JPAA is the Japanese regulatory body that oversees patent education in Japan. According to the Japanese Patent Office^[update], there are more than 6,800 patent attorneys and agents practicing in Japan.

(01/26/09) New Loyalty Program Offers Patent Lawyers Value in Challenging Economic Climate

Alexandria, Va. (January 26, 2009)—At a time when law firms and in-house legal departments are tightening their belts, Patent Resources Group (PRG) has introduced a new Loyalty Program to provide patent legal professionals the valuable Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit they need to continue practicing.

The new program offers exclusive pricing on any 2009 Advanced Courses for attendees of any one of Patent Resource Group’s 2008 Advanced Courses, Workshops, Seminars or Patent Bar Review courses. Additionally, attendees of any 2009 course will receive Loyalty Program pricing for any subsequent Advanced Courses in 2009, as well as in 2010.

“Changes in patent law do not wait for the economy to get better,” says PRG Vice President Sally Sakelaris. “Patent lawyers and their employers still need to keep their knowledge and skills up-to-date, or risk their success at prosecuting patent applications and litigating patent cases.”

Attendees of Patent Resources Group’s 2008 courses should contact the registrar at 434-974-1700 to verify eligibility and register.

Since last October, the legal community has seen a steady down-sizing of sizeable law firms across the country. According to an International Herald Tribune report from November 2008 (http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/12/business/law.php), a number prominent national law firms have either laid-off employees or closed entirely. Since then, a variety of firms have also laid off hundreds of employees, according to an article in the January 16 edition of The Legal Intelligencer (http://www.law.com/jsp/pa/PubArticlePA.jsp?id=1202427506484).

(01/05/09) Patent Law Changes Accelerate Need for Continuing Legal Education

Patent Law Changes Accelerate Need for Continuing Legal Education

Alexandria, Va. (January 5, 2009)—Recent changes to patent law have created an overwhelming need for patent professionals to keep their knowledge and skills up-to-date.

In October 2008, the Court of Appeals at the Federal Circuit handed down a controversial decision in the In re Bilski case, sending some patent law experts scrambling to understand its potential impact. The decision sought to more concretely define eligibility of business method patents, which some patent law experts believe will have a negative impact on software patents.

Additionally, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is in the process of implementing new rules for processing appeals, which have risen nearly 30% over the past year. The new rules, originally set to take effect on December 10 but recently postponed by the USPTO, seek to streamline the patent process. Some in the industry believe the new rules make obtaining a patent through an appeal more difficult and costly.

“Patent law is constantly evolving,” says Paul Gardner, Academic Director of Patent Resources Group, the nation’s leading patent education firm. “If professionals do not keep up with the changes to the law, they will undermine their success at prosecuting patent applications and litigating patent cases.”

(12/03/08) New Scholarship Launches Careers of Patent Law Thought Leaders

Patent Resources Group introduces Future Leaders Scholarship

Alexandria, Va. (December 3, 2008)—Patent Resources Group, the nation’s leading patent education firm, announces the introduction of a new scholarship that will launch the careers of the next generation of elite patent professionals.

The Future Leaders Scholarship, open to all full-time law students who are eligible to sit for the Patent Bar examination, will award full tuition to Patent Resources Group’s Patent Bar Review course, including travel and hotel costs, a value of more than $5,000.

(10/30/08) In Re Bilski Analysis

“Machine-or-Transformation” Test Determines Patent Eligibility of Process Invention

Alexandria, Va. (October 30, 2008)—Patent Resources Group has issued the following brief analysis of the decision in the In re Bilski case handed down today from the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

In a 9-3 decision, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit today held that a process is not eligible for patent protection, unless it either (1) is tied to a particular machine or apparatus, or (2) operates to transform an item into a different state or thing. The court affirmed the decision of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences of the United States Patent Office upholding the rejection of a patent application directed to a method of hedging risk in the field of commodities trading.

The court acknowledged that “the Supreme Court may ultimately decide to alter or perhaps even set aside this test to accommodate emerging technologies,” and that the Federal Circuit itself “may in the future refine or augment the test or how it is applied.”

The court’s decision thus leaves the future of process patents, including business method patents, uncertain. Inventors, their employers, investors and competitors are unable to predict with any reasonable degree of assurance how their process patents and patent applications, and those of their competitors, will fare in the USPTO and courts.

Academic Director Paul Gardner is available to provide further analysis and commentary. Gardner has more than 40 years experience in patent law and has litigated more than 100 cases. Media interested in speaking with Mr. Gardner should contact Daniel Waldman at 410-962-6447.

(10/13/08) Patent Professionals Cross Globe to Translate Innovation into Profit

What: Patent Resources Group Advanced Courses Program

Who: Patent Lawyers and Professionals

When: October 15-21, 2008

Where: Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa, Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M.

Media interested in attending should contact Daniel Waldman at 410-962-6447 or dw@planitagency.com.

Alexandria, Va. (October 13, 2008)-Patent attorneys and professionals from around the world will gather at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa outside Albuquerque, N.M. this week to attend the Advanced Courses program offered by Patent Resources Group, the nation’s leading educator of patent professionals.

The program will debut a new course designed to train professionals to effectively manage patent appeals, which have increased by 30% over the past year. The course, entitled When, Why and How to Effectively Appeal to the USPTO, will be taught by William F. Smith, who has 19 years of distinguished service as an Administrative Patent Judge on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences.

(9/4/08) Approval Process for U.S. Patents Gets Harder; Educational Firm Shifts Focus to Appeals Process

Alexandria, Va. (September 4, 2008)-A dramatic drop in the approval rate of patent applications sent to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has increased the need for filing appeals, making patent protection more complicated, expensive and difficult to obtain.