Together with my colleague, Geoff Manne, I have organized a conference on the nonobviousness doctrine following the Supreme Court’s KSR case last term.  The conference is entitled, “Nonobviousness – The Shape of Things to Come.”  It’s a great line-up of participants, and should be an excellent conference.  You can find details here.  Here’s the program:

FRIDAY

8:00 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:30 a.m. Welcome and Introduction

Lisa LeSage Associate Dean and Director of Business Law Programs
Joe Miller, Associate Professor, Lewis & Clark Law School
8:45 a.m. Morning Session I – Law
Panelists:
Gregory Mandel, The Nonobvious Problem
John Duffy, Racing, Timing, and the Patenting Standard
Rebecca Eisenberg, Pharma’s Nonobviousness Problem

Commenter:
Rochelle Dreyfuss
10:15 a.m. Break

10:30 a.m. Morning Session II – Economics
Panelists:
Suzanne Scotchmer, Nonobviousness, Options and the Scarcity of Ideas
Scott Stern, The Strategic Impact of Patent Office Standards
Vincenzo Denicolo, The Nonobviousness Requirement with Complementary Innovations

Commenter:
Michael Katz
Noon Lunch
Keynote Speaker – Kevin Rivette
Mr. Rivette is currently the Chairman of the USPTO Public Patent Advisory Committee. He recently served as IBM’s Vice President of Intellectual Property Strategy.
1:15 p.m. Afternoon Session I – Psychology
Panelists:
Keith Sawyer
Colleen Seifert, Now Why Didn’t I Think of That? The Cognitive Processes That Create the Obvious,
Steven Smith, Invisible Assumptions and the Unintentional Use of Knowledge and Experiences in Creative Cognition

Commenter:
Janet Davidson
2:45 pm Break

3:15 pm Afternoon Session II – R & D Perspectives
Panelists:
Mark Blaxill, Senior Partner & Managing Director, Boston Consulting Group
Ian Harvey, Chairman, Intellectual Property Institute (UK)
Damon Matteo, Vice President for Intellectual Capital Management, Xerox PARC
Kevin Rivette, Chairman, USPTO Public Patent Advisory Committee

Moderator:
Andy Culbert, Associate General Counsel, Microsoft Corp.

4:30 pm Reception
SATURDAY

9:00 am Morning Session I – Law
Panelists:
Katherine Strandberg, Nonobviousness and Nerd Culture
Joseph Miller, Are Erroneous Patent Denials Better Than Erroneous Grants?
R. Polk Wagner, KSR, the Supreme Court and the Future of Patent Reform

Commenter:
Robert Merges
10:30 am Break

Noon Lunch & Conference Close