The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will be holding its next biotechnology/chemical/pharmaceutical (BCP) customer partnership meeting on Thursday, June 30, 2016 at the USPTO Headquarters (Alexandria, VA).  The agenda for the meeting is as follows:

• Welcoming and Opening Remarks (10:00 – 10:10 am EDT) — Hope Shimabuku, Director, Dallas Regional Office, USPTO; Jerry Lorengo, Director, TC1600, USPTO; Daniel Sullivan, Director, TC1600, USPTO; and Wanda Walker, Director, TC1600, USPTO

• Stakeholders’ Perspective On Patent Quality Initiative (10:10 – 11:00 am) — Frank P. Grassler, VP for Technology Development, Office of Technology Development, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

• Inter Partes Review/Post Grant Review: Status Report and Overview of the New Rules (11:00 – 11:50 am) — Lora Green, Administrative Patent Judge, PTAB, USPTO

• Break (11:50 – 12:00 pm)

• Biological Deposit (12:00 – 12:40 pm) — Gary Benzion, SPE, TC1600

• TC Pendency (12:40 – 1:00 pm) — Brandon Fetterolf, SME/SPE, TC1600

• Lunch (1:00 – 1:45 pm)

• 101 New Examples; Workshop (1:45 – 3:15 pm) — Marjorie Moran, SME/SPE, TC1600; Zachariah Lucas, QAS, TC1600

• Subject Matter Eligibility, A Stakeholder’s Perspective (3:15 – 3:35 pm) — Leslie Fischer, Senior Patent Attorney, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.

• Closing Remarks (4:50 – 5:00 pm) – TC1600 and Dallas Regional Office Directors

Additional information regarding the BCP customer partnership meeting, including registration information for those wishing to attend the meeting or register for online participation, can be found here.