Palo Alto: What does an iOS developer need to know about software patents?

Name: Palo Alto: What does an iOS developer need to know about software patents?
Start: 2012-03-19T19:00:00-07:00
End: 2012-03-19T22:00:00-07:00
Location: AOL Main Auditorium

Details

With many thanks to AOL for hosting and Andreessen Horowitz for support:

David Pollak will be moderating a panel discussion of attorneys and other experts who will answer our questions about patents and IP law.

Our panelists include:

Pat Reilly, practicing IP attorney, and leader of The Intellectual Property Society (ipsociety.net)
Lee Van Pelt, IP law attorney with Van Pelt, Yi, and James LLP
Sid Venkatesan, Senior Associate, Intellectual Property at Orrick
John Kelley, attorney and IP litigator, now running an innovation strategy consulting practice (399innovation.com) and co-teaching a continuing studies class at Stanford on patent policy.

and possibly one more to be announced soon.

We're also working on a list of questions to discuss. Here's a preliminary glimpse:

What is the purpose and history of patent law (in 3 minutes or less)?
What is the history of software patents?
What are the mechanics of getting a software patent?
Statistics on software patents (how many, who owns them)
What are some issues with software patents and how is Congress addressing them?
Cost: What will it cost me to get a patent? To defend my patent? To defend against someone who says that I am infringing a patent? (Clearly it varies, but it would be good to hear some numbers from real situations.)
How can I use provisional patents effectively?
What are the most dangerous patents in the mobile software world?
Who are the most troublesome patent trolls in the mobile software world? How can I avoid them?
Agree/Disagree: "Patent trolls have cost innovators half a trillion dollars?" http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/09/study-patent-trolls-have-cost-innovators-half-a-trillion-bucks.ars
What has been Apple's attitude toward patent trolls who are harassing independent developers?
When does Apple buy patents from developers? What have those patents been worth?
Who else buys patents? Should I sell to NPEs?
How do I use my patents to deter other developers from copying my product? How might my strategy change if these competitors are outside the US?
How can we work to eliminate software patents? Should we?
Time permitting, it would also be good to discuss trademarks, NDAs, and any other related topics that might lead to a surprise cease-and-desist letter.

What's your question? Post it in the comments below.

Events in Palo Alto, CA

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Tim BurksOrganizer

Chien-Chung ChangMember

Alex KinMember

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Van

4,765 days ago

I can be reached at gavann@premiertechsf.com.

Thank you. Great event !

Alex K.

4,765 days ago

Q: How to "withdraw"/"null" a patent from previous company that does not use it to make any products?

Alex K.

4,765 days ago

Q3. How does new patent law impact small/individual developers like us? What are goods/advantages and bads/disadvantages for us after this new change?

Alex K.

4,765 days ago

Q1. new patent law changes from first to invent to first to file. how does it affect those people using trade secret? ie will trade secret becomes infringing those patent submitted afterwards?
Q2. if we have several patentable idea implemented in the software, what is best way to patent it with minimum cost initially? ie spreading the cost/effort over the next several years after release of product rather than high up front cost the 1st year.