Patent Strategies for Clean Technologies

The number of patents covering clean technologies has surged from roughly 750 per year in 2002 to more than 3,000 in 2012. This growth in patenting has been a worldwide phenomenon as clean technology patent issuance has risen consistently in the US, Japan, Germany, Korea and other regions.

This unique webinar discusses best practices for drafting, prosecuting, monetizing and enforcing clean technology patents. The following are among the issues discussed during this session:

• What are the pros and cons of submitting provisional clean tech patent applications?
• What are the merits of conducting clean tech prior art searches in foreign languages as a function of foreign patent filings?
• What are the advantages of including method claims in clean tech patent applications?
• How can a clean tech patent applicant widen the breadth of apparatus claims?
• How can a clean tech patent applicant direct the application to a desired art unit?
• Is the rigor of a clean tech patent examination compromised by accelerated review?
• What are the benefits and risks of seeking rapid foreign examination of clean tech patents in terms of receiving accelerated examination at the USPTO?
• What are some instances where it might make more sense to retain proprietary knowledge relative to clean technology in the form of trade secrets versus published patents?
• What are the risks and consequences of the US government exercising its March-in-Rights with respect to clean technology research that received federal funding?
• How might the industry structures of various segments of clean technology affect a patentee’s decisions to enforce its patents?

Course Leader: Aaron Rabinowitz, Partner, Woodcock Washburn LLP Aaron Rabinowitz focuses on every step of patent law, from drafting and prosecuting complex patent applications to litigating granted patents in federal trial and appeals courts. Aaron also has experience with patent validity and infringement opinions as well as with due diligence and licensing matters. Aaron counsels clients in the areas of DNA manipulation and sequencing, genomic analysis, microarrays, nanotechnology, alternative fuel technologies, fuel cells, wound dressings, medical instrumentation, beverage container technology, pharmaceutical formulations, building materials, and printable electronics. Aaron directs prosecution of international patent portfolios for a diverse group of clients, and has prosecuted numerous patents to completion in the United States and abroad.

After graduating cum laude from Temple University School of Law, where he was editor-in-chief of the Temple Law Review and received several awards for academic excellence, Aaron served as a law clerk to the Honorable Franklin S. Van Antwerpen of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and to the Honorable Jan E. DuBois of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Aaron presently serves as an adjunct professor of patent law at Temple University School of Law.

Course Length: Approx. 1.5 hours