The Sedona Conference’s Patent Conference (Part 2): Promoting Invention, Entrepreneurship, Economic Growth, and Job Creation

Director Robert Greene Sterne is a co-chair with Chief Judge Paul Michel (ret.) for The Sedona Conference’s Patent Conference (Part 2), which will continue the dialogue from the conference held on January 17, 2019, to consider how well the United States patent system is working to foster invention, job creation, industrial competitiveness, wealth creation, and strategic strength in the US. The co-chairs and distinguished group of dialogue leaders will lead participants in a dialogue on the following topics: patent eligible subject matter, standard essential patents and the New Madison approach to antitrust enforcement, and the availability of preliminary and permanent injunctions. Mr. Sterne will be moderating Panel 1: Section 101, Bilski & Alice and abstract ideas. Kristina Caggiano Kelly, counsel at Sterne Kessler, will be speaking on Panel 2: Section 101, Mayo & Myriad and Laws of Nature.

The dialogue on statutory subject matter will be divided in two parts. First, the conversation will address Bilski & Alice and abstract ideas and explore the challenges of the US Supreme Court’s eligibility decisions on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions. Second, the discussion will focus on Mayo & Myriad and laws of nature in addition to exploring the impact on investments in research and development in the health sciences.

The dialogue on standard essential patents and antitrust will be divided in two parts. First, Andrei Iancu, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Makan Delrahim, Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, FTC Commissioner Noah Joshua Phillips, and FTC Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter will engage in a dialogue about antitrust enforcement and the issues to be addressed at the intersection of intellectual property rights and competition laws. The discussion with then address the economic forces at work at the intersection of patent lawand competition law in the context of standard essential patents and FRAND obligations.

The last session of the conference will address the issues surrounding the availability of preliminary and permanent injunctive relief for patent infringement in the US in contrast to the availability of injunctive relief for patent infringement in Germany and China.