Event Details

Date:
February 1, 2010

Time:
8:00am – 10:30am
(registration begins at 7:30am)

Place:

AMN Healthcare
12400 High Bluff Drive #100
San Diego, CA 92130

Cost:
$45 Pre-Registration (member)
$60 Pre-Registration (non-member)
$90 At the door
Pre-registration Deadline is Thursday, January 28, 2010 at 3pm

Note:

Breakfast will be provided for participants

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Patent Policy – From the Hill to the Patent Office
D.C. Insiders Discuss How IP Reform Will Affect San Diego

Program Overview
Effective intellectual property (IP) protection is essential to the survival of start-up companies. Without strong IP protection, companies will fail to raise early stage funding and will be vulnerable to opportunistic and incumbent competitors. Because the assertion of low quality patents can harm innovation by unwarranted litigation, patent policy must also ensure appropriate protections for innovators from such harm, including the issuance of high-quality patents by the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO).

The U.S. Congress will soon be addressing our country’s current IP policies and debating the various approaches to patent reform. It is imperative that members of the San Diego business and entrepreneurial community remain informed on the latest news from Washington on this issue and the potentially far reaching implications for the local innovation economy.

CONNECT is pleased to host a special policy forum focused on the issues surrounding patent reform with distinguished speakers including:

Congressman Darrell Issa, United States House of Representatives: San Diego’s Congressman Issa will discuss the current proposed patent legislation, the House Committee on the Judiciary agenda, and provide an insider’s perspective on how Congress plans to address patent legislation issues in the next session.

Nicholas Godici, Executive Advisor, Birch Stewart, Kolasch & Birch, LLP: Recently Mr. Godici returned to Birch, Stewart, Kolasch & Birch after a 180-day special assignment with USPTO officials to identify areas of concern from the business community and provide transition support to the new director. Mr. Godici will provide insight on current activities at the USPTO, offer his observations on the Administration’s strategy to address patent reform, and outline his proposals to improve the USPTO and its processes.

Most critically, both Congressman Issa and Mr. Godici will discuss how patent reform, if enacted, will affect San Diego businesses.

After their presentations Congressman Darrell Issa and Nicholas Godici will join a panel of local and national experts to further delve into the key issues surrounding the patent reform debate.

Who Should Attend

About the Speakers:
Congressman Darrell Issa, United States House of Representatives
Congressman Darrell Issa currently serves as the Ranking Republican Member of the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee and also sits on the House Judiciary Committee. After military service, Issa founded and served as the CEO of an ISO 9000 manufacturer of automobile security and convenience products. He sold his majority interest in the company, Directed Electronics, in 1999 prior to his election to Congress in 2000. At the time of his departure, the company had rights to 96 patents – 37 of which are listed in the U.S. patent book under Darrell Issa’s name. During his business career Issa has served as Chairman of the Consumer Electronics Association, served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Electronics Industry Association. In 1994, Issa received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from Inc. Magazine, Ernst & Young, and The San Diego Union-Tribune. Perhaps best known as the leader of the successful effort to recall former California Governor Gray Davis in 2003, in Congress Darrell Issa has played a leading role in working to reform the U.S. patent system as well as investigating waste and abuse in the Federal bureaucracy.

Nicholas Godici, Executive Advisor, Birch, Stewart, Kolasch & Birch, LLP
Nicholas P. Godici served for five years as the Commissioner for Patents and as the Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). As Commissioner, Mr. Godici was responsible for all aspects of the patent granting process for the United States. Mr. Godici has served as Executive Advisor to Birch, Stewart, Kolasch & Birch, LLP since 2005. Mr. Godici has over 30 years experience in intellectual property rights protection, including over 20 years of organizational management and leadership experience at the USPTO. He has represented the United States in a number of international negotiations involving intellectual property issues and agreements with other countries. He served as Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Acting Director of the USPTO from January to December 2001.

About the Moderator:
Ron Katznelson, Ph.D., President, Bi-Level Technologies
Dr. Ron D. Katznelson has over 25 years experience in intellectual property rights protection as an inventor (with 22 U.S. Patents), technology developer, entrepreneur and a scholar of the patent system. He is the Founder and President of Bi-Level Technologies, a signal processing technology company in Encinitas, CA. Prior to that he founded and led Broadband Innovations, a digital RF component company, as its Chief Technology Officer and Chairman. From 1983 to 1989, he was with the VideoCipher Division at Linkabit Corp., later acquired by General Instrument Corp. where he directed digital television R&D that led to the MPEG-2 standard. His responsibilities included managing the Division's intellectual property portfolio, working with outside counsel on patent litigation, and representation in industry groups and standard-setting organizations. From 1982 to 1985, Dr. Katznelson was a Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). He is a member of the San Diego IP Law Association, CONNECT’s Public Policy Committee, and serves on the UCSD Library Advisory Board.

To attend this event » Register Now!

Questions?
Please contact Jessie Womble at 858.964.1352 or jwomble@connect.org