To be held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, MD.

The VIRTUAL Design Rights Boot Camp is a first of its kind comprehensive CLE program designed for both new and experienced IP practitioners who wish to learn about protecting and enforcing designs in all areas of IP, including design patents, copyright and trademark dress.

Please join the AIPLA Trade Secret Committee for the 2022 Trade Secret Summit, which is being held December 8-9, 2022 in Miami, FL. The AIPLA Trade Secret Summit is the leading trade secret conference in the nation, with speakers from across the spectrum of private practitioners, in-house counsel, government, and academia, as well as fantastic networking opportunities.

China is an important jurisdiction that patent protection should be considered, particularly for chemical and pharmaceutical inventions. With more than 30 years of development, China has some unique aspects with respect to patent, which are advisable to be known by patent practitioners to avoid pitfalls when prosecuting in China. This webinar is going to discuss aspects to help patent practitioners to do so, preferably at drafting.

Introduction and Overview of Legal and Ethical Duties IP Practitioners Owe to Clients, the Public, and the USPTO. This first part of AIPLA’s six-part webinar series lays the foundation for creating and running an ethical IP firm. During this inaugural session, explore who you may be working with, employing, and partnering with when designing and running an IP law firm and how each of these roles and positions can impact your practice and practice areas.

Most patent litigation cases do not hinge on questions of whether the patents-in-suit meet written description and/or enablement requirements. As a result, these issues do not often reach the Supreme Court of the United States. That may soon change. Companies in three unrelated cases are asking the Supreme Court to weigh in on various issues involving written description and/or enablement. This presentation explores the written description and enablement requirements and how they could change.

Arlington, VA. September 16, 2022,- The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) filed an amicus brief in support of the Petition for Certiorari currently pending before the Supreme Court in Jack Daniel’s Properties Inc. v. VIP Products LLC, No. 22-148. The decision below, decided by the Ninth Circuit, involved the unauthorized use of trademarks and trade dress owned by Jack Daniel’s in connection with a dog toy product that purportedly parodied the Jack Daniel’s brand. Jack Daniel’s claimed that the dog toys infringed its rights under the Lanham Act. However, the Ninth Circuit held that the First Amendment protects all “humorous” or parodic uses of others’ trademarks regardless of the nature of the underlying product, becoming the first court to apply such protections outside of Lanham Act disputes involving artistic works.

Arlington, VA. August 26, 2022 - The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) filed comments to the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) on the proposed pilot program for instituting a Final Pretrial Conference (PFC) requirement in certain TTAB opposition and cancellation proceedings. Overall, AIPLA supports the pilot program to give the TTAB an opportunity to evaluate its potential effectiveness, recognizing the burden placed on TTAB Administrative Judges and staff when cases with large records are presented for decision. Therefore, AIPLA supports the TTAB in studying and evaluating ways to make these cases more efficient.

Arlington, VA. August 24, 2022 - The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) filed comments on Draft Provisions Prohibiting Abuse of Intellectual Property Rights to Exclude or Restrict Competition issued by China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (Draft Provisions).  The comments point out that AIPLA generally believes intellectual property rights (IPR) should not be enforced beyond their effective term limits, given the efficient market realities of portfolio licensing, but recommends the Draft Provisions explicitly permit parties to establish license agreements that license an entire portfolio of IPR, notwithstanding the fact that certain IPRs may expire or be found invalid during the term of an agreement. 

On February 24, 2022 the U.S. Supreme Court Vacated and Remanded the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes and Mauritz, LP. This ruling is consistent with the amicus brief filed by AIPLA on August 10, 2021.

On June 29, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to keep the doctrine of assignor estoppel, but with limits on its application. This ruling is consistent with the amicus brief filed by AIPLA on March 1, 2021.

On June 21, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed and vacated the Federal Circuit decision, dividing 5-4 on the judgment in United States v. Arthrex, Inc. In this majority opinion, the Supreme Court held that the unreviewable authority wielded by Administrative Patent Judges (APJs) during inter partes review is constitutionally incompatible with their appointment by the Secretary of Commerce to an inferior office.