PTAB Bar Asssociation

NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE

Volume 47, Issue 4

PTAB Bar Association

OVER 400 MEMBERS SIGNED UP SINCE PTAB BAR ASSOCIATION LAUNCH ON SEPTEMBER 16TH, 2016

In less than three weeks since the launch of the

Patent and Trial Appeal Board (“PTAB”) Bar Association

, over 400 individuals have signed up as members to the Association. “One of our launch goals was to sign up at least 300 members during the Association’s first month, and I’m proud to say that we reached that goal ahead of schedule,” said

Bob Steinberg

, Interim President of the Association. The number of members joining the Association further confirms the legal community’s recognition of the PTAB’s importance as a venue for patent validity disputes after only four years of the new trial proceedings created by the

America Invents Act

(AIA).

The creation of the PTAB Bar Association involved collaboration among more than 45 law firms over the past several months. The association's mission is to promote the highest professional and ethical standards among lawyers and stakeholders who appear before the PTAB, to help establish best practices for the practice and skills required before the PTAB, and to foster communication among its various stakeholders.

“The growing community of PTAB lawyers will benefit from an organization that can help stay abreast of rulemaking and share lessons learned,” says

Monica Grewal

, the President-Elect of the

Boston Patent Law Association

. “I look forward to continuing and expanding the collaboration that has made the founding of this association possible.”

About the PTAB Bar Association:

To help establish best practices for the unique practice and skills required before the PTAB and to foster communication among its various stakeholders, the PTAB Bar Association was formed by leading legal advocates with the mission to promote the highest professional and ethical standards among lawyers and stakeholders who appear before the PTAB.

In addition to providing a forum for communications between the PTAB and practitioners, the Association also will coordinate many other important functions, such as PTAB-centric continuing legal education, pro bono opportunities, career enhancement, and scholarship activities.

The

Inaugural Annual Conference of the PTAB Bar Association

will take place March 1 and 2, 2017 in Washington, D.C. To become a member of the PTAB Bar Association, and for more details on its events and functions, please visit

http://www.ptabbar.org/

The current PTAB Bar Association officers and directors include:

Interim President and Director

Bob Steinberg
of
Latham & Watkins LLP

Interim President-Elect and Director

Erika Harmon Arner
of
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP

Interim Vice President and Director

Naveen Modi of
Paul Hastings LLP

Interim Secretary and Director

J. Steven Baughman
of
Ropes & Gray LLP

Interim Treasurer and Director

David W. Higer
of
Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Interim Directors

Q. Todd Dickinson
of
Polsinelli PC
Monica Grewal
of
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP
Sara Tonnies Horton
of
Jenner & Block LLP
Kevin B. Laurence
of
Renaissance IP Law Group LLP
David L. McCombs
of
Haynes & Boone LLP
Scott A. McKeown
of
Oblon, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt LLP
Terry Rea
of
Crowell & Moring LLP
W. Karl Renner
of
Fish & Richardson PC
Marc V. Richards
of
Brinks Gilson & Lione
Eleanor M. Yost
of
Goodwin Procter LLP