The United States Patent and Trademark Office maintains a registry of persons allowed to practice before the agency in matters relating to patents. The vast majority of registered practitioners receive registration by taking and passing the USPTO’s Patent Registration Examination.
Access to USPTO registration by traditionally underrepresented groups is increasingly important. Both the USPTO and Congress are engaged in efforts to increase this access, to improve the diversity of the body of registered practitioners, both patent attorneys and patent agents. This program presents nationally prominent persons involved in the registration process and its reformation, who will discuss these efforts and the prospects for change and improvement, including to the USPTO’s registration examination.
Thursday, April 21, 2022
12-1:30 pm (CDT)
Remote via Zoom
Schedule of Event:
- 12 pm: Welcome
- Deanna Burns, Associate Director, Intellectual Property Institute, Mitchell Hamline School of Law
- 12:05 pm: Diversity in the Patenting Process
- Arneda Perkins, 2L Student, Mitchell Hamline School of Law
- 12:10 pm: Keynote Speaker Introduction
- Jay Erstling, Emeritus Professor of Law, Patent Law Program Coordinator, Mitchell Hamline School of Law
- 12:15 pm: Keynote Address: The Patenting Process, Diversity, and the USPTO Registration Examination
- Will R. Covey, General Counsel (Acting), United States Patent and Trademark Office
- 12:40 pm: Keynote Question and Answer
- 12:55 pm: Panelist Introductions
- Carl Moy, Professor and Associate Director of the Patent Law Program, Mitchell Hamline School of Law
- 1 pm: Panel Discussion on the Patenting Process and Diversity
- Suneel Arora ’99, Principal, Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner
- Karen Beckman ’17, Associate, Merchant & Gould
- Mark Dighton, Director of Law School Relations and Admin. Director, Patent Office Exam Course
- Robert McManus (Invited), Counsel, Senate Judiciary Committee Intellectual Property Subcommittee
- 1:20 pm: Panel Question and Answer
- 1:30 pm: Closing Remarks
Continuing Legal Education
Seeking approval for 1.5 CLE credits and a .5 credit of Elimination of Bias credits