Topic: BPAI Practice Update
Presenter: William F. Smith, Woodcock Washburn LLP, Seattle WA.
Mr. Smith will discuss tips on how to decide whether to file an RCE or an appeal, use of the Pre-Appeal Brief Conference program, how best to present your client`s position in the Appeal Brief, review current BPAI workload and other statistics, provide an update on the status of the proposed changes to the rules of practice before the BPAI and other timely topics that will improve your practice before the BPAI.
Prior to entering private practice, Mr Smith served for over thirty-three years in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) making patentability determinations. The last nineteen years of service in the USPTO was as an Administrative Patent Judge (APJ) on the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences. Previous experience in the USPTO included serving as a Special Program Examiner in the Office of Assistant Commissioner for Patents and as a Patent Examiner.
