ASMENET: Sections: Mt. Diablo

Event America Invents Act of 2011, Wednesday

Have you ever had an idea you thought may be worth Patenting? Do you know the patent law? How do you define IP (Intellectual Property) If you are interested in finding out the answers to these questions come join us at our next Dinner Presentation. who knows, you may even get some expert advice.

The America Invents Act of 2011
A Dinner presentation

Date & Time: Wednesday March 21st at 6:30pm

Agenda: 6:30 to 7:00 Social Mixer and networking time
7:00 to 7:45 Dinner
7:45 to 8:30 Subject Presentation

Location: Pyramid Brewery at 901 Gilman Street in Berkeley, CA

Cost: Members and guests $30, Students and unemployed members $15

RSVP: please send an e-mail to davisl@asme.org (please indicate if you are bringing a guest),
or
register on-line http://SF_ASME.eventbee.com/event?eid=824788253
and pay by credit card

The America Invents Act of 2011; What Impact Will It Have on You, the Inventor

Abstract: On September 16, 2011, President Obama signed the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act into law. This was the most significant change to U.S. patent law since 1952 and will have a major impact on the way patents are applied for, granted, challenged and enforced. For example, the United States will move from a First-to-Invent system (used by only the U.S.) to a First-Inventor-to-File system, much closer to the First-to-File system used by the rest of the world. Some of the changes have already taken effect, and the rest will be phased in by March 16, 2013.

Duane Mathiowetz, a mechanical engineer now practicing patent law, will discuss the wide-ranging impacts of the AIA on individuals and entities, big or small, who seek patent protection for their intellectual property.

He will discuss some of the hot button issues that led to demand for changes to a broken system;unacceptably long delays in granting patents, the high cost of enforcing patents or defending against claims of infringement, and the meteoric rise of patent troll; litigation;and how the AIA might help solve those problems.

Brief CV:Duane Mathiowetz is a partner in the international law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, founded in San Francisco in 1875. He received his B.M.E. from the University of Minnesota in 1974, his M.S.M.E.

from Stanford University in 1975, and his J.D. from the University of San Francisco in 1983. He began his career as an engineer, working in industry for more than 10 years, first with General Motors Proving Grounds in Michigan, and later with Bechtel Corporation in San Francisco, specializing in vibration and acoustics for the automotive and power industries, and in matters relating to nuclear power plant design and licensing. Upon graduating from law school, Duane began his legal practice representing defendants in products liability litigation, and since 1991 has devoted his practice primarily to litigation of patent, trademark and trade secret matters, patent interferences before the US Patent and Trademark Office, and counseling clients on IP-related issues.

He is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America.