Fish Richardson and S. T. Colb, prominent US and Israeli patent attorney firms respectively, joined forces to hold an event on US Patent Litigation Developments today. It being 2 January 2011, this was certainly the best Israel IP event so far. It will also be a tough act to follow.
The event was held at the Tel Aviv Hilton and was by invitation only. In addition to clients of the two firms, many Israeli IP practitioners were invited, and there was a fair sprinkling from the various IP Firms.
Surprisingly, the event was also sponsored by Bar Ilan University Law Department and by the Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT - Machon Lev); surprising that there was university sponsorship, since the event was clearly commercial rather than academic in nature. There were a couple of rows of Bar Ilan law students, but the event was well attended by practitioners, and there wasn’t really a need for bums on seats.
This time last year, Colb and Fish Richardson joined forces to sponsor a more academic program at Bar Ilan University that was spread over a couple of days and featured a bunch of college professors waffling about the ramifications of the Bilski decision. See Bar Ilan University Holds Premature “After Re Bilski” Conference. That event was a little surreal since it occurred some six months before the Supreme Court ruling in the Bilski case!!!
In contrast, today’s event was interesting, of more practical relevance and far better organized.
An extended breakfast of miniature croissants, rolls and jam, burekas, etc. and fresh coffee was served in 10 minute breaks after each session through the morning.
There were the usual words of welcome. However, due to traffic, I was unable to attend the first session. A 9:00 am start on a Sunday morning at the Tel Aviv beach front is a little difficult for out-of-towners like myself.
The second session includes a review of recent litigation and trends, which was quite comprehensive. As I follow US developments, I did not learn much. Nevertheless, the presentation was informative and I assume that those less actively following trends did find it very worthwhile.
There was an interesting session before lunch on what should one do in particular scenarios. From the show of hands, it was clear that the position suggested by the session leaders was not that which every practitioner in the room would have taken.
The issue of inventor fraud was neatly raised and dealt with by Dan Goldstein, a senior attorney at Colb. In the charges brought by the Israel government in the Omrix case, The largest IP case brought in Israel to date, Colb was criticized for a legal opinion provided to the firm, that Professor Martinowitz was not the inventor – see state-of-israel-sues-omrix-for-nis-500-million By raising the issue themselves in this manner, embarrassing questions from the audience were effectively avoided. The session also covered the issue of what should be made of record in the US file wrapper. In general, I felt that the session leaders were correct regarding what should be made of record. Certainly, the presentation gave food for thought.
It wasn’t just food for thought though. A buffet lunch followed, which was really excellent. the only disappointment was that the chopped liver served by the hotel seemed to be left over from the Sabbath and is apparently not up to the standards Colb has set at his infamous INTA receptions.
Taking my reporting seriously, I sampled the various cakes and mousse in the name of IP research, and can assure readers that the poppy-seed pie was truly excellent, and everyone got their just desserts.
The afternoon session kicked off with a mock Marksman Hearing. Adding unnecessary but enjoyable calories, there was also chocolate buffet mid-afternoon.
The program was wound up with a simulation of a cross-examination of an expert witness presenting his report of costs. After the event, we were invited back to dinner at Colb Farm, but as I decided that I had eaten more than enough, I left whilst I could still get into the car.
The Fish Richardson giveaway was a PU styrofoam fish. Aharon Factor, our Head of Trademarks and my brother, has recently been blessed with a baby girl, so I shall convert the souvenir into a pram decoration for the future IP professional to bash about.
Fish Richardson is the third US litigation firm that has come to Israel looking to drum up work. Last year saw Quinn Emanuel holding a first event, that was a half day program about them mostly. They then came back to hold a mock trial, but since that was cleverly scheduled to clash with INTA for some reason, I was unable to attend. Finnegan held a structured and in-depth program together with the IPR. See US Litigators Come to Israel Looking for Clients for more details. The partners representing the three firms were professional, suave and savvy, and very pleasant. It is difficult to choose between them as each has surveys and statistics that clearly show that they are the number one US litigator firm. It seems to me that this is a zero sum game, with the number of Israeli firms that are able to sue for patent infringement in the US remaining limited and fairly constant.
Difficult to tell which firm I’ll recommend to clients with IP litigation issues in the United States. Meanwhile, I find these events both informative and entertaining. They offer a welcome opportunity to keep in touch with local colleagues as well. I congratulate all involved in hosting the event, and thank them for inviting me.
[...] In January last year, S.T. Colb teamed up with Fish Richardson and held an event on patent litigation in the US. That event was again cosponsored, at least officially, by Bar Ilan. For more details, see here. [...]
[...] In January last year, S.T. Colb teamed up with Fish Richardson and held an event on patent litigation in the US. That event was again cosponsored, at least officially, by Bar Ilan. For more details, see here. [...]