MENLO PARK, Calif.–LAWFUEL – The Legal Newswire – Gathering2.0, the first online global community for intellectual property (IP) professionals, hosted two business roundtable discussions this week between high-tech business executives and the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
IP business leaders from more than 20 high-tech firms, including HP, Intel, Cisco, Oracle, Microsoft, Yahoo!, eBay, and others, met with Margaret Peterlin, Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office at the University of California-Berkeley and at HP Labs headquarters in Palo Alto, CA.
“This week’s roundtable discussions offered an opportunity for a face-to-face dialogue on a wide range of issues pertaining to the U.S. patent system—such as the importance of free trade agreements, protecting American intellectual property, the implications of pending patent modernization legislation and the new rules packages,” said Deputy Under Secretary Peterlin. “These discussions have never been more important, as we are in a truly transformational period for our IP system.”
“Companies around the world are struggling to understand the implications of the many historic changes in the intellectual property landscape occurring in 2007, including key supreme court decisions, the first major patent reform bill in several years, and patent modernization efforts by the USPTO,” said Suzanne Harrison, Co-Founder and CEO of Gathering2.0. “The focus of this week’s IP Business Roundtables was to create a dialogue between IP business leaders, at the VP and Chief IP Officer level and the USPTO leadership to better understand the needs of companies managing IP as a strategic business asset. Our community has a history of being on the leading edge of these practices, and constantly searching for improvements in the system to support the emerging global IP marketplace.”
The concept of managing IP as a strategic business asset originated in the mid-1990s with a Best Practices group led by Suzanne Harrison and Pat Sullivan, and included companies such as HP, P&G, Dow, Dupont, Thomson, Cargill and AT&T that began meeting to create definitions and frameworks, share best practices and develop a new management discipline at the intersection of business, law and technology. Gathering2.0 builds on this legacy and recently launched an online community to serve new members, globally.
“In 2003, HP made the strategic decision to develop an IP licensing program to generate a greater return on our R&D investment and since then HP’s revenues from IP have grown tenfold,” said Joe Beyers, vice president, Intellectual Property Licensing, HP. “Now, as more companies look to manage IP with a similar business perspective, they want an effective business dialogue with patent and trademark offices around the world to help improve innovation and patent systems.”
About the United States Patent and Trademark Office
Since 1790, the basic role of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has remained the same: to promote the progress of science and the useful arts by securing for limited times to inventors the exclusive right to their respective discoveries (Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution). Today, the USPTO is a federal agency in the Department of Commerce, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia. Through the issuance of patents, the USPTO encourages technological advancement by providing incentives to invent, invest in, and disclose new technology worldwide. Through the registration of trademarks, the agency assists businesses in protecting their investments, promoting goods and services, and safeguarding consumers against confusion and deception in the marketplace. By disseminating both patent and trademark information, the USPTO promotes an understanding of intellectual property protection and facilitates the development and sharing of new technologies worldwide.
Media who would like more information should email Jennifer.Rankin_Byrne@uspto.gov or call 571-272-8400.
About Gathering2.0
The Gathering2.0 is a global community for all professionals involved in managing intellectual property (IP) and I-stuff – all non-legally protected intangibles – as strategic business assets. Our mission is to improve our member’s ability to realize the value of their company’s intangibles. Together with our members, we will develop, benchmark and share both leading and emerging best practices for IP monetization and risk management. The Gathering2.0 is located in Menlo Park, CA and is privately funded. To learn more about Gathering2.0, please visit www.gathering2.com.
