Andrew W. Stroud | Hanson Bridgett LLP

Andy Stroud is a partner in the Sacramento office of Hanson Bridgett. Andy is the Past President of the California State Bar Intellectual Property Section (now California Lawyers Association). Andy has been practicing Intellectual Property Law for over twenty years and represented noted Rock n’ Roll photographer Jim Marshall, the “Godfather of Rock n’ Roll photography,” as well as musician Johnny Cash in copyright actions. Andy is the author of many articles dealing with Intellectual Property, and especially the transformative use doctrine.

Robert A. McFarlane | Hanson Bridgett LLP

Rob McFarlane is a partner in the San Francisco office of Hanson Bridgett LLP, where he chairs the Technology Practice and co-chairs the Intellectual Property Practice. He is a registered patent attorney whose litigation practice focuses on patent infringement matters, trade secret disputes, and intellectual property and technology-related commercial disputes. He has argued cases before the Federal Circuit and the California Courts of Appeals and represents his clients in district courts throughout the United States and before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), the International Trade Commission (ITC), and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB).

He has also been retained as an expert witness on patent-related issues in actions pending in the High Court of England and Wales and in private arbitration. Rob is a recognized leader in the San Francisco intellectual property law community. He teaches patent law the University of California College of the Law San Francisco (formerly Hastings), has taught intellectual property and patent litigation courses at Golden Gate University School of Law, and has served as president of the San Francisco Intellectual Property Law Association. Rob earned his BAS in Industrial Engineering and Political Science from Stanford University and his J.D. from the University of California Hastings College of the Law.

Clay LaPoint | Hanson Bridgett LLP

Clay focuses his practice on trademark prosecution and portfolio management. His trademark practice includes policing, litigation, and assisting clients in the selection, clearance, and registration of U.S. and international trademarks. Clay frequently represents clients in trademark opposition and cancellation proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. He also has experience advising clients regarding domain name and Internet issues, including cybersquatting, domain name disputes, and brand protection challenges involving social media platforms.

Session I – Copyright Basics | 12:00pm – 12:40pm

• Copyright Registration, why, how and what can be copyrighted | 12:00pm – 12:10pm
• The fair use doctrine, what is it and where does it stand after Warhol | 12:10pm – 12:20pm
• AI and the copyright law, can computers hold copyrights? | 12:20pm – 12:30pm
• Copyright infringement: how to avoid an action | 12:30pm – 12:40pm

Session II – Patent Law | 12:40pm – 1:30pm

• The extent that AI-generated inventions can be patented | 12:40pm – 12:50pm
• The Supreme Court’s continuing refusal to grant certiorari to revisit its Alice decision and the Federal Circuit’s on-going struggle to consistently apply the Alice framework | 12:50pm – 1:00pm

Break | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

• The Supreme Court’s ruling in Amgen v. Sanofi addressing the requirement that the specification must “enable” the full scope of the patent claims | 1:10pm – 1:15pm
• Continuing developments affecting patent venue and plaintiffs’ decision whether to file infringement actions in the popular courts of the Eastern and Western Districts of Texas and the District of Delaware | 1:15pm – 1:25pm
• Procedural rulings affecting the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that impact the decision whether to grant petitions for inter parts review challenging the validity of patents | 1:25pm – 1:30pm

Session III – Trademark Registration in the United States | 1:30pm – 2:10pm

• Registrability – What types of marks can be registered? | 1:30pm – 1:45pm
• Overcoming failure to function and ornamentation refusals at the USPTO | 1:45pm – 2:00pm
• Avoiding and overcoming specimen refusals at the USPTO | 2:00pm – 2:10pm