American Conference Institute (ACI) will be holding its 5th Advanced Summit on Medical Device Patents on March 4-5, 2015 in Chicago, IL.  Topics for discussion at the conference will include:

• What qualifies as obvious in the wake of KSR and Gilead?
• The best methods for using IPRs in parallel to district court litigation;
• Understanding the confines of joint infringement and claim drafting techniques to avoid future claims;
• Calculating and proving damages;
• Being mindful of ethical standards and the doctrine of inequitable conduct; and
• Advanced prosecution techniques in light of Supreme Court cases and changes wrought by the AIA.

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

• PTO Keynote Address — Janet Gongola, Associate Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
• Prosecutor and Litigator Roundtable — Adapting to the New Landscape of Patentable Subject Matter, Indefiniteness, and Willfulness
• An Obvious Spotlight — Exploring the Effects of KSR and Gilead
• Exploring the Parallel World of IPR Proceedings
• PTAB Keynote — Hon. James D. Smith, Chief Administrative Patent Judge, Patent Trial and Appeal Board, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
• Joint and Divided Infringement Post-Akamai — Adjusting Claim Drafting and Litigation Techniques
• Balancing the Costs and Benefits of Patent Litigation from Injunctions to Damages
• Views from the Benches — Insights from Multiple Judicial Venues on the Effects of Parallel Proceedings, Managing Discovery, Construing Claims, Assessing Damages, and More
• In-House Perspective — Managing Patent Prosecution and Litigation Costs and Budgets; Adapting to the Post-AIA World; Streamlining Discovery; and More
• Testing the NPE Waters — Evaluating Whether "Trolls" Are Targeting the Medical Device Space; Discussing Choice of Venue Issues
• ETHICS and Medical Devices IP: Inequitable Conduct and New PTO Ethical Rules

In addition, a pre-conference workshop entitled "Patent Prosecution Master Class — Best Practices for Drafting Claims and Prosecuting Medical Device Patents in the Post-AIA Landscape" will be offered from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm on March 4, 2015, and a post-conference workshop entitled "Act Locally, Think Globally — Being Mindful of International Forums While Prosecuting Patents in the United States or Considering How to Bring an Infringement Challenge" will be offered from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm on March 6, 2015.

The agenda for the Medical Device Patents conference can be found here, and the agenda for the pre-conference and post-conference workshops can be found here.  A complete brochure for this conference, including an agenda, detailed descriptions of conference sessions, list of speakers, and registration form can be obtained here.

The registration fee for the conference is $2,195 (conference alone), $2,795 (conference and one workshop), or $3,295 (conference and both workshops).  Those registering by January 23, 2015 will receive a $100 discount.  Patent Docs readers who reference the discount code "PD200" will receive $200 off the current price tier when registering.  Those interested in registering for the conference can do so here, by e-mailing CustomerService@AmericanConference.com, by calling 1-888-224-2480, or by faxing a registration form to 1-877-927-1563.

Patent Docs is a media partner of ACI's Medical Device Patents conference.