January 25, 2017 CLE at Microsoft Campus – Patent Practitioner Review: Ethics, Pro Bono and Office Practice

Speakers:

• Will Covey, Deputy General Counsel and Director, OED, USPTO
• John Cabeca, Director, West Coast Regional Office, USPTO
• John Kirkpatrick, Patent Pro Bono Administrator, USPTO
• Danielle Holmes, Associate General Counsel, Microsoft Corporation
• John Whitaker, Counsel to the Firm, Lane Powell
• Tom Wong, Assistant General Counsel, Microsoft Corporation

Description:  This CLE will include three segments. The first segment is a one-hour ethics panel discussion with Will Covey, Danielle Holmes and John Whitaker, moderated by Tom Wong. The panel discussion will focus on current ethical issues encountered by patent practitioners. In particular, we will discuss several fact patterns taken from OED decisions. The second segment is a presentation by John Kirkpatrick on an overview of the USPTO Pro Bono program and an update on a new patent pro bono program coming to Washington State. Information will also be presented on how patent attorneys can get involved and considerations in representing patent pro bono clients. The third segment is a presentation and discussion by John Cabeca about the resources and services provided by the USPTO’s West Coast Regional Office in San Jose and how patent practitioners can engage with that Office.

One hour of WSBA ethics CLE credit and one hour of WSBA general CLE credit has been approved.