Practising
Law Institute (PLI) will be holding its 4th Annual Patent Law Institute on
March 1-2, 2010 in New York, NY and on March 22-23, 2010 in San Francisco,
CA.  A live webcast of the San
Francisco session will also be available. 
The two-day conference consists of six one-hour plenary sessions of
broad interest to patent lawyers and a separate breakout track consisting of
six one-hour sessions focusing on one of three patent practice sub-groups:
patent prosecution; patent litigation; and patent transactions.  The plenary sessions will cover:

•
Keynote:  The state of the
PTO:  Where we are, where we’re
headed, what we need from you — Director David Kappos;
•
Recent Cases — Tafas, Abbott v. Sandoz, Princo v. ITC, and Ariad v. Eli
Lilly;
•
The Bilski effect:  Recent and potential sea changes for
statutory subject matter;
•
PTO goals:  PTO performance:  A statistical assessment:  Trends and other data from the PTO;
•
What’s keeping corporate counsel awake at night; and
•
Judges panel.

Breakout
tracks will cover:

•
Prosecution:

• PTO
doings I:  Rules and regs that
are/are not changing for 2010;
• PTO doings II:  More rules
and regs that are/are not changing;
• Statutory changes (what’s up and what’s happening for 2010?);
• All things chemical and biotechnical at the PTO (or, why we’re special);
• Practical practice tips for modern prosecution; and
•
PTO prosecution ethics.

•
Litigation:

•
Managing patent litigation;
•
Effective use of alternative dispute resolution;
•
International patent enforcement;
•
Practice before the Federal Circuit;
•
Facts and figures on forum selection;
•
Ethical issues in discovery.

•
Strategic & transactional:

•
Inter partes reexamination — Earning
its way in the litigator’s toolbox;
•
The state of patent exhaustion after Quanta;
•
Section 112 in flux — Critical strategic issues for preparing and litigating
patents;
•
The continuing importance of opinions of counsel in light of recent court
decisions;
•
Report from the corporate front line: 
How recent decisions have affected the IT industry and patent licensing;
and
•
The shifting tide of inequitable conduct: 
What you need to know — ethics panel.

A
program schedule and list of speakers for the New York Patent Law Institute can
be found here, and a
program schedule and list of speakers for the San Franscisco Patent Law
Institute can be found here.

The
registration fee for the conference is $1,595.  Those interested in registering for the conference can do so
at the PLI website.