Patent Quality Summit March 25-26, 2015

Notice from the USPTO:

The USPTO will hold a Quality Summit on March 25 and 26, 2015 at the Madison Building, USPTO Headquarters, in Alexandria, Virginia. This Summit will be broadcast via webinar and recorded for later viewing. For webinar participants, participation in all Summit sessions, including the group brainstorming sessions, will be possible. In order to best prepare for the Quality Summit, the USPTO requests that those interested in attending the Quality Summit send an email to WorldClassPatentQuality@uspto.gov (link sends e-mail) indicating their planned attendance by March 18, 2015. ► View Proposed Agenda.

For more information about initiatives to improve the quality of U.S. patents, see Patent Quality Initiative and a blog post by Michelle K. Lee, Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the USPTO.

Universities Warn Congress About Potentially Harmful Patent Legislation

The Association of American Universities is spotlighting a February 24, 2015 letter written by 144 U.S. universities warning Congress that patent legislation such as the Innovation Act, H.R. 9 "goes well beyond what is needed to address the bad actions of a small number of patent holders, and would instead make it more difficult and expensive for patent holders to defend their rights in good faith." The universities are especially worried that mandatory fee-shifting and involuntary joinder "would make the legitimate defense of patent rights excessively risky and thus weaken the university technology transfer process, which is an essential part of our country’s innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem."
The full text of the letter is available at: http://www.aau.edu/policy/article.aspx?id=15923