Heather M. Petruzzi, Counsel, WilmerHale to Speak at the Knowledge Group’s Post-Grant Patent Opposition in Europe and the U.S. Live Webcast

New York, NY, April 24, 2015 --(PR.com)-- The Knowledge Group/The Knowledge Congress Live Webcast Series, the leading producer of regulatory focused webcasts, has announced today that Heather M. Petruzzi, Counsel, WilmerHale will speak at the Knowledge Group’s webcast entitled: “Post-Grant Patent Opposition in Europe and the U.S.” This event is scheduled for September 17, 2015 from 12:00pm – 2:00pm (ET).

For further details, please visit: http://theknowledgegroup.org/event_name/post-grant-patent-opposition-in-europe-and-the-u-s-live-webcast/

About Heather M. Petruzzi

Heather M. Petruzzi, counsel at WilmerHale, focuses her practice on complex intellectual property issues. She represents clients across a variety of technologies in strategic post-grant proceedings before the USPTO, including inter partes review, ex parte reexaminations, and inter partes reexaminations proceedings. She has represented both petitioners and patent owners during inter partes review proceedings. Ms. Petruzzi also coordinates global patent strategies for international companies facing oppositions and litigation in several forums. She handles pre-litigation investigations, discovery, claim construction, expert discovery, expert reports and depositions. She also assists in drafting briefs and preparing for oral argument before the Federal Circuit. Ms. Petruzzi counsels clients on freedom to operate matters and drafts invalidity and non-infringement opinions. Additionally, she advises on IP sales and acquisitions and performs due diligence analyses. She prosecutes patent applications for start-up and large companies in the pharmaceutical and medical device space and has represented these clients in district court.

About WilmerHale

WilmerHale is a leading international law firm with more than 200 attorneys focused on intellectual property matters in the United States, Europe and Asia. The firm’s lawyers are experienced in providing comprehensive solutions to the intellectual property business challenges that face companies at all stages of growth and in every aspect of their business that involves the acquisition, exploitation or protection of intellectual property. WilmerHale has been deeply involved in patent litigation since the battle between Amgen and Genetics Institute over EPO in the 1980s. Since that time, the firm has represented clients such as Roche, GlaxoSmithKline and Becton Dickinson in many of the landmark patent cases in these industries.

Event Synopsis:

Under the America Invents Act (AIA), the US Patent and Trade Office (USPTO) received more than 1,700 petitions for inter partes review (IPR) that challenge the patentability of an issued patent. In Europe, such oppositions are long standing.

Since many inventions are protected by quite closely related patents Europe and the US, patent owners need to co-ordinate post-grant patent challenges or defenses to challenges in both jurisdictions. But, challenging the validity of a patent through the court in Europe and the US can be time consuming and expensive. Any opposition must be filed within nine months with the European Patent Office (EPO) and EPO data show that approximately two thirds of oppositions revoke or amend the opposed patent in 2013. Other issues for consideration include how and where a patent is challenged, the grounds for challenging patents, fees for each venue, discovery, amendments and litigation estoppel.

Patent counsel must be able to understand and the complex procedures of the EPO and USPTO to ensure strong protection of patent that might face such post-grant opposition in one or both jurisdictions.

In this CLE course, a panel of distinguished professionals and thought leaders assembled by The Knowledge Group will review the grounds for Post-Grant Patent Opposition in Europe and the US and discuss how they differ from those in Europe; how discovery and expert testimony affect the opposition, and strategies counsel use to optimize post-grant patent oppositions in Europe and the U.S.

Key topics include:

− America Invents Act (AIA)
− European Patent Convention (EPC)
− Post-grant Patent Oppositions
− Patent Litigation
o European Proceedings
o US Proceedings
− Primary similarities
− Primary differences
− Timelines
− Consistency Across Jurisdictions
− Post-grant Opposition Protection

About The Knowledge Group, LLC/The Knowledge Congress Live Webcast Series

The Knowledge Group, LLC was established with the mission to produce unbiased, objective, and educational live webinars that examine industry trends and regulatory changes from a variety of different perspectives. The goal is to deliver a unique multilevel analysis of an important issue affecting business in a highly focused format. To contact or register to an event, please visit: http://theknowledgegroup.org/