Joint International Symposium on European and U.S. Patent Practice

On 3 and 10 June 2019 Maiwald and Oblon again jointly held an International Symposium on EP and U.S. Patent Practice which brought together around 120 participants in Tokyo and Osaka (Japan).

At the 2019 Joint International Symposium, we together examined selected current aspects of IP practice related to prosecuting applications, transferring rights, and enforcing patents in the U.S. and in Europe. While similarities exist, applicants for U.S. and European patents need to be aware of the peculiarities and most recent developments in each system in order to achieve the best results. In particular, the symposium addressed the following important topics for today’s practitioners:

1. Alexander Ortlieb from Maiwald and Sameer Gokhale as well as James Love from Oblon spoke about practical guidance for prosecuting patent applications related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Europe and in the U.S., noting recent European Patent Office (EPO) guidelines;
2. Dr Derk Vos from Maiwald and Yuki Onoe from Oblon gave a lecture about infringement under the doctrine of equivalents, long thought to be mainly an issue for the U.S., although recent decisions have increased its relevance in Europe; and
3. Dr Norbert Hansen from Maiwald and Dr David Longo as well as Andrew Ollis from Oblon spoke about assignment of rights in Europe and in the U.S. and, especially in the context of inventions developed by two different entities, as well as procedural peculiarities in each system.

This complimentary symposium included serial translation from English to Japanese. Afterwards, guests and hosts gathered to exchange ideas in a relaxed atmosphere at a reception.

We would like to cordially thank all the attendees and our friends and colleagues from Oblon to make our symposium again a great success.

Further information and the complete programme can be found here.