The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will be holding its next biotechnology/chemical/pharmaceutical (BCP) customer partnership meeting on March 16, 2017 at the USPTO Headquarters (Alexandria, VA).  The agenda for the meeting is as follows:

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

• Rationale Statements in 35 U.S.C. 103 (10:10 – 11:10 am) — Cassandra Spyrou, Supervisory Review Quality Assurance Specialist, OPQA, USPTO

• The Role of Inherency in Making an Obviousness Determination (11:10 – 12:00 pm) — William Smith, Of Counsel, BakerHostetler

• Lunch (12:00 pm – 1:00 pm)

• 37 CFR §1.132 Practice, Unexpected Results (1:00 – 1:40 pm) — Scarlett Goon, QAS, TC1600, USPTO

• Range Analysis (1:40 – 2:40 pm) — Jean Witz, SPE, CRU, USPTO

• Break (2:40 – 2:50 pm)

• Interview Practice (A Practitioner’s Perspective) (2:50 – 3:50 pm) — Charles Andres, Associate, Patent and Innovation, WSGR

• Interview Training (USPTO) (3:50 – 4:30 pm) — Frederick Krass, SPE, TC1600, USPTO

• Closing Remarks (4:30 – 4:40 pm) – Directors, TC1600, USPTO

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.