[talks] A Primer on Patents - TODAY @ 5:30pm in Friend 101

[Stephen Schultze]

A Primer on Patents – Manny Schecter, Chief Patent Counsel, IBM
Date: Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Time: 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Location: 101 Friend Center

Patents are often opaque and confusing for everyone except patent
attorneys. Engineers and scientists are nevertheless encouraged to
pursue patents and warned to avoid patent infringement. Policy makers
continue to debate about whether the United States’ approach to
patents fosters innovation. Companies like Google have paid billions
for patent portfolios of their competitors. Congress recently passed
new patent legislation. Manny Schecter will present an overview of how
patents are created, what makes for strong patents, and why they exist
in the first place.

Manny W. Schecter is Chief Patent Counsel, Associate General Counsel,
and Managing IP Attorney at IBM. In his current position, Mr. Schecter
leads IBM’s worldwide intellectual property law organization on patent
matters and advises on intellectual property strategy and policy. Mr.
Schecter has been employed in the IP organization of IBM for over 20
years, including positions in Vermont, Virginia, Arizona, and New
York. His current position is at IBM corporate headquarters in Armonk,
NY. Mr. Schecter is an active member of several IP related
organizations. He currently serves on the board of directors of the
Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), the IPO Education
Foundation, and Allied Security Trust. He is also the vice-chair of
the Professional Programs Committee and the immediate past chair of
the Electronic and Computer Law Committee of the American Intellectual
Property Law Association (AIPLA). Mr. Schecter organized the patent
quality initiative which became the Peer-to-Patent project that has
been piloted in the US and several other countries and for which he
continues to serve on the Steering Committee. He has spoken at
numerous IP related events, he has authored several articles on patent
quality, and he blogs at ibmip.com. Mr. Schecter is a graduate of
Cornell University and the George Washington University Law School.

This event is co-sponsored by The Center for Information Technology
Policy and the Keller Center

To receive emails about future CITP events and to subscribe to the
CITP events calendar, visit:
http://citp.princeton.edu/about/subscribe/