American Conference Institute (ACI) will be holding a conference on Strategic Intellectual Property Planning on February 25-26, 2008 in Scottsdale, Arizona.  The conference will share insights on:

• Applying current legal and legislative trends to your IP practices.
• Identifying which IP protections are available.
• Using competitive intelligence to drive market and IP strategy.
• Improving contracting and negotiating practices to ensure maximum protection.
• Managing the flow of proprietary information when employees join and/or leave the company.
• Strategic planning for small businesses.
• Valuing and monetizing assets.
• Best practices in mergers and acquisitions.

In particular, ACI's faculty will offer presentations on the following topics:

• 
  Current legal and legislative trends:  A catalyst or hindrance for maximizing IP protection?
• Aligning strategic IP decision-making with company culture, and projecting potential outcomes.
• Facilitating the creation of an IP strategy.
• Using competitive intelligence to drive market and IP strategy and manage risk.
• Increasing IP leverage and mitigating risks with careful and thorough negotiations and contracting.
• Strategic planning session for small and growth companies.
• The mobile employee:  Managing the flow of IP coming into and out of the company.
• Valuing and monetizing IP assets and knowing when conducting an audit is necessary.
• Controlling the impact of global media networking and the management of IP rights.
• Ensuring best IP strategies in mergers and acquisitions.
• Leveraging and protecting proprietary information overseas:  Conforming company culture to operate on a global scale.

An additional pre-conference workshop entitled: "Covering all the Angles: Creating a Strategic IP Plan from Inception to Implementation (And Everything In Between)" will be offered on February 26, 2008.  The pre-conference workshop will focus on every phase of the strategic IP planning process using a series of hypothetical scenarios to set the stage for the conference.

The agenda for the conference on Strategic Intellectual Property Planning 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 $2,195 (conference alone) to $2,795 (conference and pre-conference workshop).  Those registering on or before December 26, 2007 will receive a $300 discount off the registration fee and those registering on or before January 30, 2008 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.