PHILADELPHIA, September 21, 2016: Morgan Lewis is proud to be a seed funder of the recently formed Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) Bar Association.
The PTAB is an administrative law body of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) which decides issues of patentability. It conducts trials, including inter partes, post-grant, and covered business method patent reviews and derivation proceedings, hears appeals from adverse examination decisions on patent applications and reexamination proceedings, and renders decisions in patent interferences. The PTAB was formed on September 16, 2012 as part of the America Invents Act.
“We’re honored to be a part of this initiative with our peer firms to establish a bar association that’s dedicated solely to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board,” said Eric Kraeutler, leader of Morgan Lewis’ intellectual property practice group. “The creation of this association seeks to promote the upmost professional and ethical standards among lawyers and stakeholders, and foster communication and collaboration between the two.”
The PTAB Bar Association will provide a forum for communications between the legal community, PTAB officials, and the Board’s Administrative Patent Judges. In addition, the Association will coordinate PTAB-centric continuing legal education, pro bono opportunities, career enhancement, and scholarship activities
Morgan Lewis partners will be attending the Inaugural Annual Conference of the PTAB BA, which will take place March 1 – 2, 2017 in Washington, DC.