Patent Law

Joseph Silvia, Chief Policy Counsel for the Washington Legal Foundation, wrote to notify me yesterday of an event The Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) is hosting as a WLF Web Seminar Series on February 5, 2008 featuring two distinguished attorneys involved with the case.  The topic is ?Smithkline Beecham v. Dudas: Challenging the Patent Office?s ?Continuations? rule and the suit?s repercussions.?

Mr. Mark Fox Evens is Director with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein, & Fox PLLC. Mr. Evens represented four research and development licensing companies in an amicus curiae brief filed in Smithkline Beecham Corp. v. Dudas.  Mr. Richard C. Pettus is a Partner in the Intellectual Property Practice Group in the New York office of King & Spalding.  Mr. Pettus? firm represented HEXAS LLC, The Roskamp Institute, and Tikvah Therapeutics in an amicus curiae brief filed in Smithkline Beecham Corp. v. Dudas.

WLF's experts will provide an overview of the pending legal challenge and an analysis of the preliminary injunction ruling in the case.  They will also provide an assessment of the merit briefs, amicus briefs and the impending federal court hearing set for February 8, 2008.  The speakers will discuss the impact of the challenge on patent holders, the patent system, and the American public and will conclude with commentary on the interplay between the Smithkline case and legislative patent reform.

This program will be available online via live webcast here, and will be archived for future viewing and available as a downloadable read-only file.  There is always the ability to ask questions of the speakers in real time by emailing WLF at interactive@wlf.org during the program.