Dear Colleagues, Welcome to the Winter 2018 Edition of the BPLA Newsletter. We live in an age when information is available with an ease and abundance unmatched in human history. Despite this competition for your attention, I think you’ll find the Newsletter offers value and substance. In this edition are articles on subject matter eligibility, depositions before the PTAB, federal preemption of state law and proposed local rules for patent litigation, as well as contributions from the winners of the 2017 BPLA Writing Competition. In addition there are announcements of upcoming events and other diversions and matters of interest to the community. This is all to the credit of our authors who bring extraordinary knowledge and intellect to their undertakings, and to whom we owe our thanks. Further thanks are due to the BPLA Administrator, Constance Brennan, our chief technology consultant, Seppo Sahrakorpi, and the staff of Readz, all of whom have been invaluable to the production of this edition. We trust that you will enjoy their work, and look forward to receiving your contributions to future editions. Most respectfully,