How In-Game Experiences Enable New Licensing Revenue For IP Owners IPWatchdog Unleashed podcast

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This week on IPWatchdog LIVE we present the remarks made during the Award Ceremony at IPWatchdog LIVE 2025 on March 3, 2025. Once again this year we presented two awards at IPWatchdog LIVE; the Paul Michel Award and the Pauline Newman Award . Both awards were created with the blessing of the Judges, who play an integral role in determining who to recognize each year. We were pleased to recognize Robert Taylor as the 2025 recipient of the Paul Michel Award . It is hard to imagine someone more deserving of the Paul Michel Award than Bob Taylor, who throughout his legal career has time and time again advocated on behalf of innovators, particularly those entrepreneurial innovators who take great risk and found high-tech startup companies, which are the lifeblood of the U.S. economy. Bob currently serves as General Counsel for the Alliance of U.S. Startups and Inventors for Jobs and is a member of the Advisory Board for the Bayh-Dole Coalition. We were also pleased to recognize Steven Caltrider as the 2025 recipient of the Pauline Newman Award. Steve has been a leader in the intellectual property community for nearly 40 years and is widely recognized by his peers as one of the preeminent in-house IP leaders in the world. After more than 35 years with Eli Lilly and Company and rising to the position of Vice President and General Patent Counsel, Steve was not done. In 2022, Steve moved to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, where he currently serves as Vice President and Chief Intellectual Property Officer. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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AI, Invention Harvesting and the Patent Backlog 1:02:48

for 13 dage siden1:02:48

1:02:48

This week on IPWatchdog Unleashed I speak with my friend Jason Harrier, former Chief Patent Counsel at Capital One and current co-founder and General Counsel of artificial intelligence (AI) company IP Copilot. One of the things IP Copilot enables is the use of AI to streamline invention harvesting, running in the background as engineers and scientists engage in their daily activities communicating with each other. So, with this in mind I started our conversation by asking Harrier about invention harvesting, which I know from many conversations with in-house attorneys is one of the more difficult but critical important aspects of their job. We begin with a simple question: Why is invention harvesting so difficult and why are in-house attorneys always talking about in terms of what they tried in the past, what they are currently trying and what they hope to try in the future, sounding a little like Goldilocks looking for what is just right, but always out of reach. And from there we dive into a conversation about how long scientists and engineers will typically stay with the company—his answer was 18 to 24 months—which led us to broader conversation about how many in the younger generation see work not as a job with normal hours, but a project that once done allows them to move on to whatever may be next. I called this a subcontractor mentality and wondered what this means for the future. We then pivot to the patent backlog—which is approximately 860,000 unexamined applications—and whether AI could help the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). According to Harrier, AI tools available today could help patent practitioners and patent examiners get on the same page and streamline patent prosecution. This led us into a conversation about patent prosecution strategy, overly broad claims, and how AI could contribute to streamlining patent examination through better prior art searches and with AI identifying the most relevant prior art is, which can often be quite different than the prior art applied by an examiner. If patent practitioner and patent examiner could work together with a closed universe of the most relevant prior art found by AI the ultimate output should be better, strong, more reliable, more difficult to challenge, and the entire process should be faster and more efficient. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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$80 Trillion and Growing: Why IP Matters More Than Ever 24:21

for 20 dage siden24:21

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This week on IPWatchdog Unleashed we present another keynote speaker—Lisa Jorgensen. Jorgensen’s speech was given during lunch on Monday, March 3 at IPWatchdog LIVE 2025. Lisa Jorgensen is Deputy Director General for Patents and Technology at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). And even before assuming the position as Deputy Director General of WIPO in 2021, she was very well known to the U.S. intellectual property community. Before moving to Geneva to join WIPO she served for five years as the Executive Director of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), and prior to that she was Vice President of Intellectual Property and Licensing at STMicroelectronics. Jorgensen is a friend to everyone in the IP community, and we were honored to have her speak at IPWatchdog LIVE. The keynote by Jorgensen focused primarily on two questions. First, what are the key trends driving global innovation today? Second, what do those key trends mean for the IP community and the innovators and creators? Jorgensen’s keynote speech was also full of eye-popping facts and figures, including: Global IP filings have nearly doubled over the past decade, growing from just under 11 million in 2013 to 20 million in 2023. Patents, trademarks and designs filed by US innovators worldwide have increased by 6%, 35% and 45% respectively. Global intangibles are valued at over $80 trillion, which is more than the world's five largest economies combined. In the US, 90% of the S&P market value is in intangible assets. The world's leading brands now worth over $13 trillion, with 45% of the value here in the United States. Intangible investment reached almost $7 trillion in 2023, with the US accounting for almost two-thirds of this total. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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Doing My Very Best to Get it Right: A Conversation with Judge John Holcomb 55:15

for 27 dage siden55:15

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This week on IPWatchdog Unleashed our conversation is with Judge John Holcomb of the United States Federal District Court for the Central District of California, which took place March 4, 2025, at IPWatchdog LIVE. Judge Holcomb is one of us. He was a patent professional—a patent litigator—before he joined the federal judiciary. He was appointed by President Donald J. Trump during his first term. And he serves in the Central District of California, with his courthouse located in Santa Ana, California. Early in his career Judge Holcomb was an attorney for Irell & Manella, which is a familiar name to many of us, and then also a partner for many years with Knobbe Martens. We began our conversation with the story about how John Holcomb the patent litigator went from private practice to becoming Judge John Holcomb of the U.S. Federal District Court for the Central District of California. As we pivot from the nomination and confirmation process, I asked Judge Holcomb: Does it surprise you what you are seeing as a district court judge, or were you prepared for the wide array of different issues? And then we pivot to discussing patent litigation, the makeup of the Central District of California, advice for litigators, experts, the new Rule 702 and Daubert hearings and rulings on expert testimony, we discussed the role of the jury and how Judge Holcomb divides time for trial, as well as the number of patents and claims best suited for a single trial, we also discussed Judge Holcomb’s practice relating to summary judgment motions. As our conversation wound down, we ended on the topic of his judicial philosophy, and to make the point Judge Holcomb told the story of three umpires. Holcomb explains that he believes there is an objectively correct answer and that he is doing his very best to get it right. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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Patent System in Crisis: Backlogs, Examiner Layoffs & Judicial Overreach 24:22

for 5 weeks siden24:22

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This week on IPWatchdog Unleashed , I'm going to talk about an issue of enormous importance. The U.S. patent system feels to me an awful lot like the Titanic right now, and it feels like we're fast approaching an iceberg with disaster imminent. The Trump Administration is making major changes to reduce the size of government to address the $37 trillion federal debt, including withdrawing employment offers to patent examiners and firing patent examiners still within their probationary period. Meanwhile, as the number of examiners is being cut, the backlog of unexamined patent applications is at an all-time high, with some sources saying there are now at least 1.2 million unexamined patent applications pending. And against this backdrop the Federal Circuit has developed an unhealthy obsession with the doctrine of prosecution laches, which creates a presumption that patents are unenforceable if it took longer than 6 years to obtain. With fewer patent examiners and an historic backlog it will be difficult if not impossible for the Patent Office to issue most patents within 6 years. So, it feels a lot like the U.S. patent system is the Titanic headed for an iceberg, with disaster imminent. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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Engines of Innovation: How Universities Propel America Forward 48:09

for 6 weeks siden48:09

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This week on IPWatchdog Unleashed we take a dive into the world of university technology transfer with Laura Peter, who is the Executive Director of the University of North Carolina Charlotte Office of Research Commercialization and Partnerships and is a former Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) during President Trump’s first term. We begin our conversation discussing how Peter found herself at the Patent Office when Andrei Iancu was Director. Peter tells us that years ago when she was general counsel for a publicly traded company, she hired Iancu’s firm to represent the company. Fast forward 15 years and Iancu has become Director, and he reached out to Peter to see if she was interested in helping him at the Patent Office. We pivot to discuss how Peter found herself in her current role as the head of the technology transfer program at UNC Charlotte. We also spend time discussing core patent issues surrounding law, policy and the business of innovation. And our wide-ranging conversation goes on to discuss how other countries engage price control tactics on drugs, which means the United States is subsidizing drugs for the entire world, which is a trade problem and not a patent problem. We proceed to discuss startups, patent eligibility reform, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and much more. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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Standards, AI & the Data Transparency Imperative 54:51

for 7 weeks siden54:51

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This week on IPWatchdog Unleashed we take a look at the importance of data transparency and standards for artificial intelligence (AI) and standard essential patents (SEPs). Our guest is Tim Pohlmann, who is the Managing Director for the Americas at LexisNexis Intellectual Property Solutions. And before he joined LexisNexis, Tim was the founder and CEO of IPLytics. Tim has worked at the intersection of data and standard essential patents for a long time, and the themes of data integrity, data transparency and how data can be used to influence and inform decision-making was the focus of our conversation. We being our conversation talking about entrepreneurship and leadership from the perspective of a founder and owner of a company that has been acquired, which is a welcome and happy occurrence, but not without challenges. As we pivoted the conversation to begin discussing data, standard essential patents and artificial intelligence, we transitioned by discussing first how the industry continues to evolve and never stays the same for very long, how there is so much innovation in the industry, and how there are economic and national security implications with China understandably wanting Chinese companies to dominate the technology future and the United States understandably wanting American companies to dominate. This can lead to tensions, and China, the U.S. and Europe all seem to be jockeying to set the technology standards of the future. We proceed to talk about the United States and China competing on technology lead us into a conversation about AI and the role standards will play, which was front of mind probably because we recorded this conversation right as news of DeepSeek, China’s allegedly new super-advanced AI, was breaking. As we pivoted away from AI and into more traditional standard essential patents, particularly focusing on telecommunications (i.e., 5G and 6G), I acknowledge that while there will be need for AI standardization, and there will be a lot of unique questions arise in that context, we still don’t have a lot of answers in a number of critical areas for well-known and well-established technologies. This paved the way for us to discuss FRAND and to tackle the question about whether a FRAND rate really exists in the first place. Our conversation goes on to discuss implementers understandably wanting to pay only to license patents that cover technologies that are actually included in the adopted standard, the potential that the Federal Circuit will rule that lump sum license payments are not relevant to determining a fair and reasonable licensing rate, what considerations go into converging on a rate that is FRAND, bulk discounting, and the role data plays in lifting the curtain so implementers who are themselves competitors with other implementers can determine whether they are getting a rate that will make them uncompetitive, and much more. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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Patents and the Future of the PTO in Trump's Second Term 55:57

for 8 weeks siden55:57

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This week on IPWatchdog Unleashed we enter the world of innovation politics with a discussion about what to expect for the patent world during President Trump's second term, what to specifically expect from the Patent Office, what to expect in Congress relating to the patent reform bills that we can expect to be reintroduced, which are namely PREVAIL, which relates to reforming the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (PERA), which relates to reforming the law on patent eligibility to make it easier to patent software—including artificial intelligence—and to make medical diagnostics patentable again, and RESTORE, which relates to overruling the Supreme Court’s 2006 decision in eBay v. MercExchange , which has made it virtually impossible to obtain injunctive relief even when patent owners win and prove ongoing infringement. The conversation that you will hear happened at the annual IPWatchdog PTAB Masters™ program, which was held at the end of January at IPWatchdog Studios. The panelists were Chief Judge Paul Michel, former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, David Kappos, a partner with Cravath and a former Director of the Patent Office during President Obama's first term, and Chris Israel, who is a senior partner at American Continental Group and served in the George W. Bush White House as the first U.S. International Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator. Also joining the conversation is Scott McKeown, who is a shareholder at Wolf Greenfield and was Chair of the PTAB program. Scott, as most of you know, is also one of the leading experts on PTAB practice in the United States. We discuss the almost certain reintroduction of PREVAIL, PERA, and RESTORE, as well as the odds of getting patent reform during this Congress—which no one thinks was very likely unless President Trump himself steps up and makes it a priority. We also discuss the “helter-skelter” nature of the U.S. patent system, where the pieces don't fit together, don't integrate, leads to low predictability, and innovation-killing reality that simply does not incentivize investment in innovation. We also discuss the Administrative Patent Judges (APJs) of the PTAB being ordered back to the Office, and what that will mean for the number of petitions challenging patents that could possibly be instituted. And we discuss how antitrust enforcement would be unnecessary if we had a strong patent system that let young companies compete fairly based on innovation merit, and how Elon Musk is almost dead-on correct when he says that patents are for the weak—although Chris Israel suggested it would make more sense to say that “patents are for the young”. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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Bad Patents, Thwarted Patent Reform, and a Failure to Adapt 44:18

for 9 weeks siden44:18

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On this episode of IP Watchdog Unleashed we speak with Scott McKeown, who is a shareholder at Wolf Greenfield. Scott leads the firm’s post grant patent practice, and he is the author of PatentsPostGrant.com, which provides inside views and news pertaining to the Nation’s busiest patent court, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). As many in the industry no doubt know, Scott is recognized as one of the leading authorities on PTAB practice, including inter partes review (IPR) proceedings, post grant review (PGR) proceedings, as well as reexamination and reissue proceedings, which often follow on PTAB proceedings. Scott is not only a good friend, but he is also the Chair of our annual PTAB program, which took place this year from January 27 to January 29 at IPWatchdog Studios. This conversation with Scott took place before a live studio audience as a part of our PTAB Masters™ 2025 program. He's one of the most prolific representatives in the PTAB arena, dealing with IPR, PGR. He also handles reexaminations and the like. And he's also a very good friend of mine, and he's the chair of our PTAB program every year, which we're doing this, actually is live. Our conversation was wide ranging but was dominated by discussion of patent reform efforts and whether the PTAB is working as intended. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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Building a Better Mouse Trap: How to Succeed as an Entrepreneur 52:15

for 10 weeks siden52:15

52:15

This week on IPWatchdog Unleashed I had the opportunity to speak with my good friend Louis Foreman. Louis is the Chief Executive Officer of Enventys, which is a full-service product launch company that handles all aspects of product development, crowdfunding and ecommerce marketing. In addition to Enventys, Louis is a prolific inventor himself, he is also an Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at Wake Forest University, and as if that isn't already enough, Louis was the creator of the Emmy award-winning PBS TV show Everyday Edison that so many people in the community remember. I've counted Louis as a friend for close to 20 years, so it was good to sit down for a conversation, even if that conversation took place remotely. As our conversation unfolded it became clear pretty quickly that the focus would be on entrepreneurship, particularly the trials and tribulations of entrepreneurs looking to dive into the startup world with an innovative product. “There's three P's that I like to share with all entrepreneurs and all inventors,” Foreman said. “The first P is passion. If you're not passionate about what you're doing, find something else… The second P is patience. Inventors and entrepreneurs don't have a whole lot of it, but you need to because it's going to take longer than you expect. You're not going to become a billionaire overnight. It's going to take longer than what you expect to just be ready for the long haul. And the third P is persistence because life is going to throw all sorts of obstacles in front of you. There's going to be all these roadblocks or detours, and you're going to question whether or not you should even go forward… But if you really believe in what you're doing, you'll eventually succeed.” Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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Law & Politics of Drug Price Controls & Pharma Innovation 48:58

for 11 weeks siden48:58

48:58

This week on IPWatchdog Unleashed we talk about pharmaceutical patents, pharmaceutical patent policy, and innovation. As you may recall, back in 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act passed. And as part of that law, it gave the federal government the opportunity for the first time to “negotiate” drug prices for Medicare. The Biden Administration has viewed this as fantastic. It has allowed them to control drug prices and drug costs for Medicare. The problem is it's not really a negotiation in any fair sense of the word. What happens is the federal government identifies the drugs on which the U.S. government spends the most amount of money, and then they tell the drug companies that you will either take our offer or you will be fined, and the fines are ruinous—in the billions of dollars. So, the IRA negotiation nothing more than a price fixing, price controlling scheme. So why is this an issue for us to consider today if the IRA passed in 2022? Literally on the way out the door, last week Health and Human Services identified 15 more drugs that are now going to be forced into this price fixing “negotiation” scheme. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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What Went Wrong and How do we Fix the Patent System? 59:43

for 12 weeks siden59:43

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This week on IPWatchdog Unleashed I speak with my long-time friend, John White. Many in the patent community no doubt already know John quite well. Over 30 years ago he created the PLI Patent Bar Review Course that upwards of 40,000 patent practitioners have successfully used to study for the Patent Bar Exam. Today, John continues to teach the patent bar review, but he is also Special Counsel with Harness IP, where he represents clients all over the world and provides expert witness services. I’ve known John since 1999 when I first started teaching the PLI Patent Bar Review Course, and we have been great friends ever since. Our conversation this week was much like any number of conversations we have had over the years over dinner or drinks. What prompted me to ask John to speak with us this week was an article he recently wrote, which we published on IPWatchdog . It was styled as an open letter to Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the co-leaders of the Department of Government Efficiency. In that article John explains that “the patent system is currently foundered”, but that it can be fixed with “focus and ongoing commitment to see the fixes through to results.” So, that is where we start our conversation, like so many we have had over the last 26 years—what is wrong with the patent system and how should it be fixed. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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Patent Pools, Patent Dealmaking and Outrageously Good Audio 51:41

for 13 weeks siden51:41

51:41

This week on IPWatchdog Unleashed I speak with Heath Hoglund, who until several years ago was Vice President of IP and Standards for Dolby. About 3 years ago Heath left Dolby and became President of Via Licensing Alliance, which we discuss in some detail in our conversation. And truth be told he really didn’t leave Dolby. Via administers patent pools and has historically been heavily invested in the audio arena, and with Dolby being one of the premiere audio innovators of all time it is hardly a surprise that Dolby has been a long time participating and is one of the major patent owners who participates in the patent pools administered by Via. One of the first things Heath did as President of Via was to work on merging with MPEG-LA, which was a patent pool administrator that was primarily focused on video related technologies. So, today, Via Licensing is a major player in both audio and video technologies. During our conversation we discuss wide ranging issues, from the inevitability that there will be some implementers who do not want to take a license and will require patent owners to litigate, to the changing landscape, particularly in China where companies have evolved from merely needing a license to also being a licensor, to the European Union working toward regulating SEPs, and much more. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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The Role of Patents in Innovation History, From the Industrial Revolution to Today 55:15

for 14 weeks siden55:15

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This week on IPWatchdog Unleashed we speak with Arthur Daemmrich, who is the Director of the Consortium of Science, Policy and Outcomes at Arizona State University. Arthur is a historian who was previously director of the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian Institution. We speak with Arthur this week about the role patents have played in innovation, dating back to the Industrial Revolution. We also discuss the invention of the video game by Ralph Baer, Samuel Colt and his mass produced six-shooter known as the gun that won the West, Henry Ford and the assembly line, how and why Elon Musk succeeded with Tesla, and much more. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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How In-Game Experiences Enable New Licensing Revenue for IP Owners 47:33

for 15 weeks siden47:33

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This week on IPWatchdog Unleashed we are going to dive into the online gaming and game development world in a conversation about gaming, intellectual property, licensing, game development, branding and much more. Our conversation this week focuses on Spaceport Technologies, which is a technology company that enables brand owners to monetize their IP and game platforms to offer content creators the ability to license the use of those brands within their game environment. To do this Spaceport uses innovative technology that reduces transaction costs and allows for the monetization of intellectual property assets. In fact, through the use of Spaceport protocols and apps the acquisition of rights and payment for those rights through numerous small dollar value transactions is not just faster and easier, the deals actually become possible. So, with that backdrop, let me introduce our guests. First is Dan Temkin, who is General Counsel and Head of Intellectual Property for Spaceport Technologies. He began his career working for Procter & Gamble, where he spent nearly a decade. It was while he was at P&G that he became first introduced to intellectual property, telling me that as he worked with the IP attorneys, he came to the conclusion that what they were working on was “a lot more interesting” than what he was working on. Reaching that conclusion led him to Boston University for law school and ultimately a career in intellectual property law. Our second guest this week is Jay Kolbe, a co-founder of Impact Partners, which is a strategic communications firm that focuses on family offices, venture capital and startup founders. Jay is a specialist in marketing technology-focused PR. He develops influential communications programs that increase the valuation of the companies he advises. And in addition to working with Spaceport, Jay also works with Josh Harlan and Harlan Capital, who we spoke with several weeks ago about how they invest in and monetize recurring IP revenue streams. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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Thoughtfully and Intentionally Building and Managing an In-House IP Team 54:57

for 16 weeks siden54:57

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This week my conversation is with Carlo Cotrone, who is a Chief IP Counsel and frequent contributor to IPWatchdog, both our online publication and at our in-person programs. Carlo writes and speaks frequently about setting up, growing and managing in-house IP departments, and that is the focus of our conversation. We discuss taking a holistic view that focuses on the IP strategy, the people, and the operational aspects of building and managing a team, which includes both in-house employees, outside law firms and service providers, all working together in coordination to deliver high impact for the company. During our conversation we discuss the need to guard against your in-house team falling into doing commoditized work, which gets in the way of your in-house team really partnering with the business and maximizing value for the company. We also discuss what Carlo refers to as “servant leadership”, and when he discusses the concept of servant leadership you can’t help but be reminded of the old saying about nothing being impossible to accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit. Carlo explains that this service-oriented mindset has allowed him to confidently and carefully navigate whatever issues arise in a thoughtful and intentional way. And it is “intentionality” that Carlo focuses on repeatedly in his writings, presentations and during this conversation, because as he explains constantly fighting fires is not the right way to do business. Sure, things need to be done and issues will arise, but to successfully lead you need to focus on the fundamentals, strategy, people, operations, and periodically reevaluate all of the above to ensure the ideas and plans you are trying to execute continue to make sense and everyone is rowing in the same direction and toward the same goals, ensuring that that status quo is not being accepted and the team is delivering what the company and internal clients deserve and require. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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Using Trademarks & Trade Dress to Fight Counterfeits & Copycats 49:13

for 17 weeks siden49:13

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This week my conversation is with Leo White, who is Chief IP Counsel and Associate General Counsel for The Duracell Company. Leo is a patent professional by training, first starting out as an engineer, then like so many in the patent field have done he became a patent agent, then went to law school, and thanks to hard work, good mentoring and being in the right place at the right time he became an IP attorney for The Duracell Company, ultimately rising to become the top IP attorney for this American Manufacturer with one of the more iconic brands in the world. During our conversation we begin by briefly talking about patent strategy, but then move quickly to brand protection, trademarks, trade dress and effectively working with customs agencies around the world. While Duracell does patent its various battery technologies, and while White is responsible for maintaining a worldwide patent portfolio for the company, the company’s trademark and trade dress portfolio are the IP tools of choice used most often when working to fight the never-ending battle against counterfeiters and copycats, and to also protect against gray market imports. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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Patents as an Asset 47:00

for 18 weeks siden47:00

47:00

This week on IPWatchdog Unleashed we speak with Brian Hinman, who is one of the leading IP executives and investors in the world. Brian has held senior executive positions at leading technology companies, such as IBM, Philips and Verizon. And after spending more than 6 years as the Chief Innovation Officer for Aon, today he is Chief IP Officer for Cote Capital. During our conversation Hinman explains how Cote provides capital for scaling manufacturing and operations, with IP assets backing the investment. The way Hinman describes this IP asset-backed investment strategy sounds lot more owner-friendly and startup-friendly than a typical venture capital round of investment, which often requires owners to give up more than half the company in order to receive an investment. During our conversation we also discuss pending legislation, particularly the RESTORE Act, which would effectively overrule eBay and create a presumption than a permanent injunction is the proper remedy, with Hinman explaining that the legislation places the burden on the infringer to demonstrate that a permanent injunction is not warranted, which according to Hinman is the way it should be. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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False PTO Narratives and the Urgent Need for PTAB Reform 31:14

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On the heels of the PREVAIL Act passing in the Senate Judiciary Committee, the very next day USPTO Director Kathi Vidal wrote on the Director’s Blog about how wonderful the PTAB has been, saying in part: “Since AIA proceedings began over a decade ago, almost 70% of challenged patents have been upheld at the PTAB.” This claim by Director Vidal initially made me speechless. Simply stated, she is wrong. It is absolutely false for anyone to say or suggest that 70% of challenged patents have been upheld at the PTAB. This claim is not true. It is pure fiction. PTAB stats admit that out of those patents that reach a final written decision 85% lose at least one claim and 70% lost all claims. That is the reality for patent owners. If the PTAB issues a final decision you are virtually certain to lose, and these statistics have largely remained unchanged, with only minimal fluctuation since the inception of the PTAB in 2012. So, exactly who is fooling who? The way the rules are structured, and the way we have actually witnessed the PTAB operate, confirms that no patent is safe ever. And this is not meant as any indictment of PTAB judges—they are just doing the job as defined in the staute passed by Congress and the rules created by the PTO. This is, however, a scathing indictment of those laws and rules, which are in desperate need of reform. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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Monetizing Streams of Revenue Backed by Intangible Assets 39:54

for 20 weeks siden39:54

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This week I speak with Josh Harlan, who is the founder and managing partner of Harlan Capital Partners, which is a privately held investment firm based in Palm Beach, Florida, and which focuses on asset-based investments, including investments backed by media and intellectual property rights, and specifically the monetization of streams of revenue back by intangible assets. During our conversation we speak about various investable streams of revenue in the media, sports and IP universe, and then we also make a hard pivot to discuss artificial intelligence, and what those looking to invest in AI should be considering, the viability of fair use as a defense to the ongoing lawsuits brought by copyright owners against AI developers, and the likely future marketplace for the monetization of training data and AI outputs. Harlan sees the possibility of “some pretty big damages awards on a one-time basis” for content creators in their copyright lawsuits against large AI developers but doesn’t see these legal issues as an existential threat to the AI industry. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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U.S. National Security and Competitiveness Begin with IP 51:32

for 21 weeks siden51:32

51:32

Walt Copan joins us for a conversation about the role of science, technology and innovation in U.S. competitiveness and for U.S. national security. As many of you no doubt know, Walt is a former Undersecretary of Commerce and served as the 16th Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a position for which he was unanimously confirmed by the Senate during the Trump Administration. Today, Walt is the Vice President for Research and Technology Transfer at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado. I invited Walt to join us for our annual life sciences program this year. My pitch was that we would have a one-on-one conversation that would not only make up the final segment of the program, but which would also be used for our IPWatchdog Unleashed podcast. He graciously accepted my invitation, and we sat down for this conversation on Wednesday, October 30. During our conversation we discuss the ongoing Bayh-Dole march-in rights drama being caused by his old agency—NIST—which has published a framework that would allow the government to strip patent rights away from exclusive licensees if the government believes the product covered by a patent is too expensive. We also discussed the diverging approach to commercialization between universities who can own and license patent rights and federal agencies, which operate under an entirely different statutory structure that makes it virtually impossible to get innovations made by federal government employees to the marketplace and commercialized for the good of society. We also discuss the upward trajectory of China vis-à-vis innovation and intellectual property, and the stagnation within the U.S. innovation ecosystem, which has been primarily led by uncertainty and dismantling of the U.S. intellectual property laws. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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The Judge Newman Story in Her Own Words 51:55

for 22 weeks siden51:55

51:55

This week we have a special guest—the Honorable Pauline Newman, Circuit Judge on the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Judge Newman spoke at our annual Life Sciences program at IPWatchdog Studios on Tuesday, October 29. Her remarks were largely unscripted, although she did have some notes that she consulted from time to time during her nearly 45 minute presentation. Judge Newman told her story, and the story of the Federal Circuit, in her own words. So powerful were her comments that at least several in the audience were seen shedding a tear, and she received a hearty standing ovation. Judge Newman is being wrongfully persecuted by her colleagues on the Federal Circuit. She has taken and passed with flying colors the three different mental evaluations she has submitted to, all conducted by different, highly regarded evaluators. And in addition to the final mental evaluation she was given a cutting edge CT scan of her brain, which showed no signs of cognitive decline, and in fact rather remarkably showed a healthy brain that looked to be the scan of someone in their 20s. Faced with all the inaccurate statements in the complaint, which have never been correct despite their falsity, the Federal Circuit persists in excluding Judge Newman from hearing cases, which every day is becoming a more significant constitutional crisis. So, against this backdrop we are pleased to present the Honorable Pauline Newman. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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Getting to Yes at the Patent Office 42:57

for 23 weeks siden42:57

42:57

In this episode of IPWatchdog Unleashed, we discuss patent prosecution with the director of intellectual property at one of the top five filing companies in the world. Sivon Kalminov is the Director the Intellectual Property Division at Canon USA, where he is responsible for managing the Division’s day-to-day patent prosecution work, which includes overseeing both the patent prosecution and administration departments. He also provides support on patent litigation matters, contract matters, and general U.S. patent law-related advice to various domestic and international Canon companies and subsidiaries. He is a current member of the California State Bar Intellectual Property Section, and a past Chair of the Section. Our wide-ranging conversation took place in person on October 1, at IPWatchdog LIVE , shortly after Sivon spoke on a panel about strategies for getting to yes when working with patent examiners.During our conversation, we discuss the unique set-up of the Canon intellectual property department, which sees Sivon and his team representing Canon USA, but also representing various Canon entities from around the world as they enter the United States to obtain patents on previously filed applications. We also discuss the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) switching from EFS-Web to Patent Center, the unceremonious death of the After Final Consideration 2.0 program, examiners raising Section 112 and Section 101 issues for the first time in a Notice of Allowance, strategies for working with examiners, the importance of interviews to get on the same page with examiners, when and whether it is appropriate to appeal examiner rejections to the Board, and much more. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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Helping Small Businesses with Innovation and IP 45:25

for 24 weeks siden45:25

45:25

This week we explore small and medium sized enterprises, often referred to simply as SMEs. And in particular, we take a look at how two different countries are working with their own small businesses to assist them with respect to innovation and intellectual property. To accomplish this, I turned to two friends – Mike McLean and Joe Doyle , who work to assist SMEs in Canada and Ireland respectively. Both Mike and Joe were in the United States at the end of September to speak at IPWatchdog LIVE 2024, on a panel titled Empowering SME Growth by Leveraging IP . During our conversation we learn about the ways both the Canadian and Irish governments are supporting SMEs, which is something that we in the United States should be doing to a much greater and coordinated degree. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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The Most Important Issues Facing the IP Industry 31:45

for 25 weeks siden31:45

31:45

This week on IPWatchdog Unleashed we have a special episode. At the end of September we held our annual all-topics conference, which we call IPWatchdog LIVE. This conference brings together some of the top thought leaders and newsmakers from the entire industry, with a variety of different backgrounds and people who focus on various different niche verticals within the IP community. So, while the conference was ongoing, Eileen McDermott, our editor in chief, asked some of the industry leaders in attendance what they thought was the most important issue facing the intellectual property industry. “What is critically important and every leader in government needs to focus on is to make sure that the IP system is stable, it's predictable, and it's subject to fewer fluctuations,” said Andrei Iancu, former Under Secretary of Commerce for IP and Director of the USPTO during the Trump Administration. “We need to work towards a stronger, more consistent, more predictable intellectual property system, whether it's patents, trademarks, copyrights, or trade secrets.” “The most pressing issue is the lack of appreciation of the link between strong and effective intellectual property rights and innovation outcomes,” said David Kappos, former Under Secretary of Commerce for IP and Director of the USPTO during the Obama administration. To hear more from these thought leaders, and others including Judge Pauline Newman, Alden Abbott, Matteo Sabattini, Judge Susan Braden, Patrick Kilbride, Hans Sauer, Brian O’Shaughnessy, and others, listen to this episode of IPWatchdog Unleashed. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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Patents, Trade Secrets & AI with WIPO's András Jókúti 40:12

for 26 weeks siden40:12

40:12

This week our conversation takes us on an international journey, more or less. Andras JOKUTI is an intellectual property lawyer with domestic and international experience in public IP policy and university technology transfer. He is the former Director-General for Legal Affairs of the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office, and he is a former Fulbright Scholar. Andras studied intellectual property and obtained his LL.M. in intellectual property law from The George Washington University. Thereafter, Andras worked with the Budapest University of Technology and Economics to strengthen its IP and technology transfer operations. And since January 2022, he has served as the Director of the Patent and Technology Law Division at World Intellectual Property Organization. Andras came to the United States last week to speak at IPWatchdog LIVE 2024, which was hosted at the Renaissance Capitol View hotel in Arlington, Virginia. During our wide-ranging conversation we discuss a number of issues, from standard essential patents, to artificial intelligence, and to trade secrets, which is what brought him to IPWatchdog, to discuss the new WIPO trade secret guide, published in July 2024. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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Is it Time to Abolish the Federal Circuit? 24:44

for 27 weeks siden24:44

24:44

This week we will change things up a bit. Until now our podcast has focused on conversations with newsmakers and interesting personalities. We won’t be giving that format up, but this week we will shift things to allow me to do a little ranting on a topic I’ve been thinking about more and more over the last several years; namely, do we still need, or even want, a Federal Circuit? I’ve been kicking this question around in my head for a while. There are a variety of reasons why the Federal Circuit seems to have outlived its usefulness, from panel dependency, to what at times appears to be utter disdain for certainty, predictability and even binding precedent, to the shocking, unfair and egregious treatment of Judge Newman. Why do we need a Federal Circuit? Why should we want this flawed institution to continue? What we know is very little of what the Federal Circuit does any more relates to patents, with only 15% of what has occupied the Federal Circuit over the last six months relating to opinions in patent cases. Meanwhile, what decisions the Federal Circuit does issue are panel dependent and show not a care in the world about the Court’s original mandate, which was to create a unified national patent law and recognize that at least some patents have to be valid and enforced. And now over the last 2 years we have an inexplicable usurpation of authority with the virtual impeachment of Judge Newman. If these judges are so unfamiliar with basic due process and the opportunity to be fairly heard why should anyone believe they are themselves competent to be judges on any level? Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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Perspectives on Patent Trolls and Efficient Infringement 48:40

for 28 weeks siden48:40

48:40

Today we're going to tackle a question that has divided the patent innovation community for a generation. Depending on your perspective, patent trolls have been and continue to be a problem, or complaints about patent trolls have been greatly exaggerated. As is often the case when emotions are running high and there is so much money at stake, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. Unfortunately, the bad actors on both sides of patent litigation have so clouded the issues to the point where it's hard to look at patent owners and defendants as anything other than the caricatures they represent, which is the worst of the worst, really. So, let’s put some real facts on the table and meat on the bones and talk about what is really going on, both good, bad and ugly. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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Problems, Solutions and the Case for Patents 59:05

for 29 weeks siden59:05

59:05

This week the tables are turned. As many of you know Eli Mazour is the founder of the Clause 8 podcast, and the podcast is known by its tagline as “the Voice of IP.” Indeed, for years Eli has been just that… the voice of IP… interviewing numerous people in the industry, from Federal Circuit Judges to Chief IP Counsel and political leaders, I even had an opportunity to sit with Eli for a conversation when he first started Clause 8, which we discuss at the start of our conversation. So, once I started my own podcast it was only natural to sit down with Eli for my own discussion with him, to pick his brain in an unscripted, open-end conversation. And the resulting conversation did not disappoint. We discussed a great many things about patents and innovation, the Federal Circuit and why clients want and need patents, and patent strategy. We begin our conversation with discussion of how Eli got into the science and engineering world and ultimately into the patent profession, and we also discuss his new home at Foley & Lardner, which has embraced Eli’s work on Clause 8, which will continue. In retrospect our conversation wound up being largely about the key to writing and obtaining high quality patents, which is also the key to innovating in the first place. You need to have a purpose and a goal. You need to be addressing an identifiable problem with a real, concrete, technical solution. And you need to focus on something that will actually matter to the client. And while patent strategy and ensuring protection actually protects what the client is selling matters most for those clients who will have several dozen or even several hundred patents, it really matters for everyone. Visit us online at IPWatchdog.com . You can also visit our channels at YouTube , LinkedIn , X , Instagram and Facebook .…

IPWatchdog Unleashed

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An In-House Counsel View on Patent Strategy and Building Relationships 55:26

for 30 weeks siden55:26