American Conference Institute (ACI) will be holding the 5th National Conference on Pharma/Biotech IP Due Diligence: Your Complete Guide for M&As, Licensing, and Other Collaborations on January 30-31, 2008 in New York, NY.  The conference will provide information about current changes to patent practices, including patent reform efforts that have occurred in the courts, legislature, and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.  In particular, ACI's faculty will offer presentations on the following topics:

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  Factoring patent reform, PTO rulemaking, and new case law into due diligence analyses.
• Repositioning diligence strategies in light of recent court decisions.
• Reassessing the strength of the patent portfolio in light of the USPTO rules and the Patent Reform Act of 2007.
• Determining what diligence is due in light of new and increasingly complex multi-party transactions.
• Extracting from the diligence review the factors that will impact valuation.
• Drafting the checklist and selecting/managing the due diligence team based on the structure and business goals of the deal.
• Ferreting out the target's prior contractual obligations, licensing and third party obligations.
• What a company must know to prepare for the diligence review when approached by venture capitalists.
• Managing due diligence when dealing with industry/university collaborations and licenses.
• Evaluating the scope, validity, and enforceability of the target's patents.
• Protecting confidentiality, trade secrets, and attorney client privilege during a diligence review.
• Uncovering issues with ownership rights and Inventorship.
• Freedom to operate: Ensuring the purchaser/licensee has the right to commercialize the IP at issue.
• FDA regulation of small molecule drugs and biologics: Understanding how this affects the diligence review.
• The deliverable: Ascertaining and communicating the results of the analysis.

An additional master class entitled: "Drafting an Effective Due Diligence Report" will be offered on February 1, 2008.  The master class will provide strategies and solutions – as well as the advice and tools that practitioners need – to draft a comprehensive report of findings.

The agenda for the Pharma/Biotech IP Due Diligence conference can be found here.  A complete brochure for this conference, including an agenda, list of speakers, and registration form can be downloaded here.

The registration fee ranges from $1,995 (conference alone) to $2,595 (conference and master class).  Those registering on or before November 15, 2007 will receive a $200 discount off the registration fee.  Those interested in registering for the conference can do so here, by calling 1-888-224-2480, or by faxing a registration form to 1-877-927-1563.

Patent Docs is a media sponsor of ACI's Pharma/Biotech IP Due Diligence conference.