The Business Law Section’s 4th Annual Intellectual Property Symposium is next week in West Palm Beach, Florida. Don’t miss out on this fantastic seminar, which includes big-name speakers from around the country, and will explore advanced IP topics that have made headlines over the past year. Not only is this a chance to get high quality CLE, but the room is generally filled with many of the best IP practitioners in the state, and the symposium is a fantastic networking opportunity.

Don’t wait until the last minute to register — register today before the event sells out! We hope to see you March 21-22, 2013 at the West Palm Beach Marriott. Register online today.

Registration for the Business Law Section’s Fourth Annual Intellectual Property Law Symposium is now open! This is the must-attend event for the Florida IP community. The Symposium Committee has put together an all-star line-up of speakers covering all facets of intellectual property law. Be sure to register early for the March 21-22, 2013 event in West Palm Beach as this event usually sells out.

The Bar has reserved a block of rooms at the conference hotel for $189/night, but space is limited, so if you need a room, call 1-800-228-9290 to book it as soon as possible. The program starts at 3 pm on Thursday, March 21 with a meeting of the IP Committee, followed by a reception and dinner at which the speaker will be William Patry, author of Patry on Copyrights, speaking on the topic of his new book, “How to Fix Copyright.” On Friday, earn 7.5 hours of advanced CLE and IP Certification credit on cutting edge trademark, copyright, patent, and cross-discipline subjects, and enjoy the keynote Lunch speech by the Honorable Jimmie V. Reyna of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.

The details of the event are on the registration form [.pdf]. You can also register online. On behalf of the IP Committee and the Business Law Section of the Florida Bar, we hope to see you at this fantastic event.

The IP Committee will meet in Orlando, Florida, from 8:00 – 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, January 10, 2013 during the Business Law Section’s Mid-Year Meeting.

The agenda for the meeting includes a CLE presentation by Stephen Milbrath and Matt Horowitz of Allen, Dyer, Doppelt, Millbrath & Gilchrist, P.A.‘s Orlando office entitled “The Hague Agreement, The Patent Law Treaty Implementation Act and their Likely Impact.”

We will also discuss proposed revisions to the Florida noncompete statute, 542.335, Fla. Stat., and possible legislative solutions to the current circuit split in the interpretation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. During the meeting we will also seek comments on revisions to the “IP Basics” pamphlet available for distribution to the public.  Documents relevant to the meeting can be downloaded from the below links:

2013 BLS Midyear Meeting Schedule

January 10, 2013 IP Committee Meeting Agenda

September 1, 2012 Meeting Minutes

IP Pamphlet Revisions (clean and redlined)

We look forward to seeing you in Orlando.

Please find below and announcement that may be of interest to Committee members and readers of our blog.  Please not this program is not sponsored by the Florida Bar, the Business Law Section or the IP Committee:

JUDGE LINN AND PTO DEPUTY DIRECTOR REA TO HIGHLIGHT UPCOMING PROGRAM

The University of Akron School of Law is sponsoring a Patent Law Experts Conference on Tuesday, February 5, 2013, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Naples, Florida.  The program will review the impact of the major changes in patent law set forth in the “America Invents Act” on attorneys and inventors, as well as the Supreme Court’s IP docket.

The program will feature presentations by Judge Richard Linn, of the Federal Circuit, and by the Honorable Teresa S. Rea, currently the deputy director of the PTO.  Professor Tim Holbrook, of Emery Law, will lead the discussion on pending IP-related cases at the Supreme Court.  Other noted IP professionals, from both private and corporate practice, including several from outside the U.S., also will participate.

The registration fee is $600, which includes a cocktail reception the evening of February 4.

To register, or to obtain additional information, please contact Ms. Shannon Aupperle, at (330) 972-7988; sfauppe@uakron.edu

William Patry, author of respected treatise Patry on Copyight, will lead off the Florida Bar’s Fourth Annual Intellectual Property Symposium on Thursday March 21, 2013 with a dinner keynote address entitled “How to Fix Copyright.” Patry will discuss his recent book by the same name, and offer insight into his proposed solutions for dealing with copyright policy issues in the Internet Age. A recent review of the book described Patry as “one of copyright’s best scholars,” and calls How to Fix Copyright “incandescent.”

The Florida Bar will host the IP Symposium at the West Palm Beach Marriott, conveniently located minutes from the West Palm Beach airport at 1001 Okeechobee Boulevard. Be sure to mark your calendars for March 21-22, 2013, and watch this space for more updates on our speaker lineup and conference details.