Patent rights get shaped long before anyone files an application. The contracts a company signs, including development agreements, joint ventures, licensing deals, and employment and contractor agreements, often decide who owns an invention, who can file on it, and where. In-house counsel reviewing these agreements are usually focused on the commercial terms, and the provisions that affect patent protection can slip by. An ownership clause that reads fine for the deal can assign inventions to the wrong party. A disclosure made at the wrong time can cost filing rights in another country. By the time a patent attorney sees the agreement, the available options may already be narrower than they needed to be.
In this webinar, Laura Frederick, Babak Akhlaghi, and Andrea Porterfield will walk through how contract terms affect patent rights and what in-house counsel can do at the drafting and negotiation stage to protect their company's position. They'll cover the clauses that matter most for ownership and filing, the timing and disclosure issues that come up in cross-border deals, and the negotiation points where patent strategy and contract terms meet. Attendees will come away with a clearer sense of which provisions to watch and how to structure agreements so they don't close off patent options later.
*Live CLE Credit Information:
How to Contract will apply for 1.25 hours of General CLE credit in CA, PA, and TX.
We will provide details to attendees on how to request a certificate of attendance. These certificates are provided after an attendee submits a completed credit request form (including the CLE code words shared live) within 14 days of the live webinar. Late submissions are not accepted.
Lawyers in these other jurisdictions who attend live may be eligible for credit through reciprocity, self-application, or reporting: AK, AL, AR, AZ, CT, CO, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IN, IL, KY, LA, NC, NH, NJ, NV, NY, MD, ME, MN, MO, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NM, NV, OK, OR, RI, SC, TN, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, and WY. These programs may also be eligible for Canadian CPD credit in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec.
We do not determine individual eligibility. Please check your state bar for specific compliance rules.
