{"id":1227,"date":"2023-11-14T14:52:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-14T22:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/?p=1227"},"modified":"2023-11-14T14:52:00","modified_gmt":"2023-11-14T22:52:00","slug":"us-inventor-conference-was-an-amazing-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/innovation\/us-inventor-conference-was-an-amazing-success\/","title":{"rendered":"US Inventor Conference Was an Amazing Success!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

US Inventor\u2019s First Annual Conference was held on October 19th<\/sup> and 20th<\/sup> at the U.S. Patent office facility in Alexandria, VA to celebrate 10 years of work to achieve its mission \u201cto restore the patent system to what it once was and to empower inventors to succeed.\u201d  About 150 people attended all or part of the two-day event.  It was a resounding success and truly a remarkable event!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had the pleasure of attending this event because I have been a board member of the San Diego Inventors Forum since 2014 and have been the liaison between our club and US Inventor<\/a>, which is the only organization representing small inventors, businesses, and startups to enact change that supports inventors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conference was preceded by a day at the Capital where about 30 of us broke up into small groups to meet with the staff of Congressional Representatives in Congress to discuss how to fix the broken patent system. The afternoon included a networking event held in the Rayburn building Gold Room to which Congressional staffers were invited to see the new documentary, Innovation Race<\/a>, directed by Luke Livingston.  Mr. Livingston attended the whole USI conference and handled the live streaming and recording of the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US Inventor founder, Paul Morinville, began the conference Friday morning by saying that he started walking the halls of Congress to advocate for Inventor Rights in 2013 after his aspirations of achieving both the Inventor\u2019s Dream and the American Dream were cut short by the America Invents Act of 2011 (AIA<\/a>) and establishment of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB<\/a>). He was joined by Randy Landreneau in January 2014.  Paul incorporated US Inventor as a 501(c)(4) non-profit corporation on March 17, 2015 to put a stop to H.R. 9, the Innovation Act.<\/a> After visiting the offices of every senator, the Innovation Act died in committee in  2016 during the 114th<\/sup> Congress (2015-2016). When Josh Malone joined them in 2017, it greatly helped their efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Space doesn\u2019t permit me to give a full recap of the conference, so I am providing highlights from my notes.\u00a0 The panels both days were interspersed by the stories of inventors who have had their patents infringed or invalidated by the PTAB.\u00a0 These stores were heartbreaking, and I could mot do justice to them in writing; you had to hear the stories to get the full impact.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next, former USPTO Director, Andrei Iancu, discussed \u201cThe Importance of Innovation\u201d, saying in part that \u201cpatents and inventions ae part of the American fabric. We should stop and think what the world was like before the U.S. patent system\u2026Every change that we use today was backed by a patent\u2026Patents and the right to have patens are incorporated in the Constitution in Article 1, Section 8. He added that \u201cwithout the patent system, it is very difficult to raise the money needed to produce and market new products.  There is an inextricable link between IP and innovation and without a secure patent system, innovation is stagnating\u2026Inventors have always been the backbone of the American economy and American dream.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul discussed \u201cWhere Did our Patent System Go?\u201d He explained that even before the American Invents Act AIA) was passed in 2011, the Supreme Court decision of \u201cEbay vs. Merexchange\u201d in 2006 \u201cchanged Intellectual property from a personal property to a \u2018tort\u2019 or \u201cpublic franchise\u201d and created a \u201cpublic interest test\u2019 in order for inventors to receive injunctive relief from infringement.\u201d Injunctive Relief stops an infringer from making selling, or using a patent, but it has become difficult for an inventor to pass the \u201cpublic interest test\u201d against a large corporation that has saturated the market with the product based on the patent they infringed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AIA created the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). It is a nonjudicial administrative tribunal within the USPTO. A panel of lawyers are appointed \u201cAdministrative Patent Judges\u201d and granted bonuses to revoke patents.  There is no jury and no due process of law.  The PTAB is funded by fees of the petitioner (usually a large corporation that is infringing the patent they are challenging for review).  Currently, the PTAB is invalidating 84% of the patents they review.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A panel discussion of \u201cPTAB vs. Federal Court:  Comparing the Two Forums\u201d followed that was moderated by Warren Tuttle.  Panelists were Rob Sterne, Adam Mosoff, and Molly Metz. A few comments were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adam Mosoff \u2013 \u201cThe PTAB hasn\u2019t lived up to its expectations. I had told people that the \u2018first to file\u2019 vs. \u2018first to invent\u2019 and PTAB would be problematic. The PTAB didn\u2019t put in any protections for inventor\u2019s rights. PTAB was characterized as easier for people and faster, but they set up a system that was ultimately faster to lose rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Molly Metz \u2013 \u201cI spent over $400,000 and it took four years, so it wasn\u2019t cheaper or faster.\u201d (Molly had share he heartbreaking story of her patent infringement and invalidation after Paul\u2019s introduction.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rob Sterne \u2013 \u201cWe need a system that is really faster and fair for people.  The way PTAB law is applied isn\u2019t anything like the way it was supposed to be.  It has put a real damper on investment and innovation in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Friday afternoon session included a discussion of \u201cBleeding You Dry:  The Court\u2019s Misuse of Injunctive\u201d by Thomas Woolsten, founder of Mercexchange and main inventor of 30 patents. He said, \u201cThe current system provides strong incentives for patent infringement.  No patent of importance is going to get to the injunctive stage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The highlight of the afternoon was \u201cThe Great Debate: PREVAIL, PERA, and New Legislation.\u201d Moderated by Paul Morinville.  The panelists were:  <\/strong>Judge Paul Michel, Scott McKeown<\/a>, Rudy Fink, and Steve Daniels. Judge Michel said, \u201cAbout 50% of American venture capital is now going overseas to China and other countries\u2026The anti-patent lobby is very large and well-funded.\u201d He supports PERA because \u201cit takes the courts out of the issue of eligibility and solves 80-85% of the problems with patents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

S. 2140: Patent Eligibility Restoration Act of 2023 <\/a>(PERA) introduced by Senators Thomas Tillis (R-NC) and Christopher Coons (D-DE) on 6\/22\/2023 was discussed in my article \u201cInventor Rights Still Being Threatened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

S. 2220: PREVAIL Act<\/a> was introduced on Jul 10, 2023 by Senator Christopher Coons (D-DE) \u2013 \u201cA bill to amend title 35, United States Code, to invest in inventors in the United States, maintain the United States as the leading innovation economy in the world, and protect the property rights of the inventors that grow the economy of the United States, and for other purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday\u2019s event concluded with remarks from Judge Pauline Newman, followed by a networking cocktail reception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There isn\u2019t enough space in this article to permit a recap of the topics covered at the Saturday event. The following topics were discussed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDoes \u2018Any\u201d mean \u2018Any\u2019? Ask Alice\u201d presented by Robert Greenspoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why and How 97% of IP Portfolio Owners Destroy Most of their Portfolios\u201d discussed by panelists Evan Langdon, Jack Lu, and Russ Genet and moderated by Steve Taylor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow to Survive the Patent System\u201d discussed by Jeff Hardin, Josh Malone and Paul Bartkowski that was moderated by Eli Mazour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNew Solutions for New Problems:\u00a0 Freezing Assets of Online Infringers on Amazon, YouTube, Facebook, and the Internet\u201d presented by Joel Rothman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The afternoon concluded with a discussion of \u201cAdvocating for a Stronger Patent System\u201d by panelists Paul Morinville, Molly Metz, Cliff Maloney, Justin Greiss, and Randy Landreneau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An awards ceremony and dinner took place that evening at the Holiday Inn Carlyle in Alexandria, VA where attendees stayed. Awards presented were:  Michael Kintner: The Inventor; Molly Metz: The Advocate; John Murray: The Warrior; Jeff Hardin: The Veteran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In closing, Paul said, \u201cWe are honored to have such a significant turnout for our first event and incredibly grateful to our members, speakers, and sponsors for making this event possible. We have so much work to do, and I hope the event, discussions, panels, and presentations allowed USI members to feel empowered and motivated to enact change.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US Inventor\u2019s First Annual Conference was held on October 19th and 20th at the U.S. Patent office facility in Alexandria, VA to celebrate 10 years of work to achieve its mission \u201cto restore the patent system to what it once was and to empower inventors to succeed.\u201d  About 150 people attended all or part of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[193,63,216,152],"tags":[76,85,146],"class_list":["post-1227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inellectual-property","category-innovation","category-legislation","category-patent-reform","tag-innovation-2","tag-intellectual-property","tag-patent-reform"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1227"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1228,"href":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1227\/revisions\/1228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/savingusmanufacturing.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}