Welcome back to the weekly LESI events flyer! To all those who joined us in Madrid, thank you. It was an amazing gathering of our global family – the program, the social events and the many conversations with our LES family members (new and old). We hope you left the meeting with new information, new connections and perhaps some inspiration that will help you better navigate the challenges head (or otherwise to log in .. to the future). As one LES society commented, we “delved into critical topics that shape the future of licensing” including SEP licensing practices, the UPC, AI and even the future of Sports architecture! We are already thinking about LESI2025 in Singapore! While in Madrid, LESI also adopted new mission and vision statements to lead us into the future. And the LESI Board of Directors, led by LESI President Sonja London, meets this week to map out and implement plans for the coming year (less Blah, Blah, Blah and more Cha, Cha, Cha!) So, stay tuned!

Coming up this week around the world at LES, on Wednesday (May 15), LES Austria hosts a webinar “Navigating Improvements in Licensing and Innovation Collaborations" and LES USA-Canada hosts an in-person "2023 Patent Law Year in Review."  More information on both and other upcoming events below.

• May 15 - "Navigating Improvements in Licensing and Innovation Collaborations" (LES Austria) ONLINE
• May 15 - "2023 Patent Law Year in Review" (LES USA-Canada) SCOTTSDALE
• May 20 - "Avoiding Litigation Through Lessons Learned In Licensing" (LES USA-Canada) AMES
• May 20 - "20th Annual Silicon Valley Conference - AI Unleashed: Unicorn or Trojan Horse?" (LES USA-Canada) REDWOOD SHORES
• May 23 - "Ethics Issues for IP and Other Attorneys-Best Practices for Avoiding Common Mistakes" (LES USA-Canada) POTOMAC
• May 24 - "Annual Conference of the Public/Private Committee" (LES France) ONLINE/PARIS
• May 28 - "Trade Secrets: A European Perspective" (LESI YMC) ONLINE
• May 28 - "Practical IP Strategies for Protecting AI Innovations" (LES USA-Canada) TORONTO
• May 30 - "UPC One Year Later: A First Overview" (LES Italy, LES Germany & LES France) MILAN/ONLINE

Details on these events are posted below and on connect.lesi.org.

See the full list of upcoming events on the LESI website.

View information on previous LES events.

To get more involved in LESI, consider joining a committee.

LES Austria

"Navigating Improvements in Licensing and Innovation Collaborations"

Wednesday, 15 May 2024

4:00pm - 5:00pm (CET)

ONLINE

Elevate your understanding of IP improvements in licensing and collaborations.

Speaker: Ia Modin, Partner at Gozzo Advokater

Expert Ia Modin will guide you through best practices for managing and governing improvements and give hands on advice on how to structure, negotiate and draft terms to maximize commercialisation in licence and collaboration agreements.

This session is only open to LES members.

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LES USA-Canada

"2023 Patent Law Year in Review"

Wednesday, 15 May 2024

11:30am - 1:00pm (MDT)

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA

In 2023, several patent-related cases have made a significant impact on US patent practice. At the launch meeting of the LES USA-Canada Phoenix LES Chapter, they will discuss patent cases from 2023, analyze the affects of these cases, and provide practical tips for navigating these developments while determining patent strategy and practicing patent law.

Steve Bachmann will be the featured presenter in a fireside chat with Sam Wiley, with audience input and participation encouraged.

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LES USA-Canada

"Avoiding Litigation Through Lessons Learned In Licensing"

Monday, 20 May 2024

10:00am - 2:00pm (CDT)

AMES, IOWA

Morning Session: Learning from License Agreement Disputes: Insights and Lessons Learned to Improve Your Contracts and Mitigate Risk

Agreement language matters. Time and again parties end up in litigation when the language of their agreements proves ambiguous. In many cases the ambiguity might have been avoided during drafting, as sometimes small changes to language, or a careful extra eye in review, may have been all that was needed to avoid a dispute.

What should the drafter look out for? Does the complexity of the relationship matter, for example if the parties contemplate a long-term relationship that may involve multiple contracts? In comparison to a single-agreement relationship, broader multiple-contract relationships present some unique challenges when trying to craft language that will age gracefully, provide flexibility to the relationship, and control any later potential dispute. Using recent cases as a guide, including cases that we litigated and successfully presented to a jury, we identify specific contract drafting lessons related to the use of defined terms, the interplay of multiple contracts in commercial relationships, improving dispute resolution provisions, and defining the scope of a license. With these lessons from litigation in mind, we present strategies to help identify and address issues of ambiguity before they result in a dispute.

Afternoon Session: Lessons Learned in Licensing

This panel will discuss common issues in licensing and best practices to address IP licensing issues.

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LES USA-Canada

"20th Annual Silicon Valley Conference - AI Unleashed: Unicorn or Trojan Horse?"

Monday, 20 May 2024

8:00am - 5:30pm (PDT)

REDWOOD SHORES, CALIFORNIA



As AI continues to advance at an unprecedented pace, its impact on businesses, research, and on IP creation, protection, and commercialization is profound and far-reaching. This conference is designed to explore the depths of this dynamic relationship, offering insights, strategies, and discussions on the uses of AI, and how AI is not just influencing but actively reshaping businesses and the landscape of IP and licensing.

Key Themes:

• AI and Business: How AI is disrupting traditional modes of conducting business, and attracting capital in the process.
• Licensing in the AI Era: The evolving dynamics of licensing agreements in the age of AI, including the negotiation of AI-generated content and software.
• Future Frontiers: Look ahead to the future of AI, including emerging technologies, potential uses of AI, and the global landscape of IP rights in the digital age.

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LES USA-Canada

"Ethics Issues for IP and Other Attorneys -

Best Practices for Avoiding Common Mistakes"

Thursday, 23 May 2024

7:30am - 9:00am (EDT)

POTOMAC, MARYLAND



Attorneys are facing scrutiny by government regulators over whether their law practices comply with the rules of professional conduct. Lawyer and their employers who run afoul of their jurisdiction’s ethics rules may find themselves facing daunting collateral consequents, including responding to ethics grievances, malpractice complaints, and disqualification orders.

This session will address common ethical issues faced by attorneys and best practices for creating a practice environment that promotes compliance with ethical obligations, including conflicts of interest, ineffective communications, and complying with the duty of candor before a tribunal.

This event is FREE to participants.

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LES France

"Annual Conference of the Public/Private Committee"

Friday, 24 May 2024

3:00pm - 6:00pm (CET)

ONLINE / PARIS, FRANCE



LES France is pleased to invite you to the annual seminar organised by their Public-Private Committee, to be held in person and by video-conference, on the topic: PUBLIC-PRIVATE RELATIONS AT THE HEART OF INNOVATION

To tackle this fascinating topic, LES France will be bringing together a panel of speakers representing the continuum of innovation players: academics, venture-builders, start-ups and incubators, who will be explaining their perspectives on the importance, organisation and impact of the relationship between public and private players in the innovation development process, from the lab to the marketplace.

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LESI Young Members Congress (YMC)

Pan-European Webinar Series "Trade Secrets: A European Perspective"

Tuesday, 28 May 2024

2:00pm - 3:30pm (CET)

ONLINE



AGENDA:

• Introduction by LESI YMC Chair
• EU Overview
• National Specifics (trade secret protection and enforcement)
• Implementation
• Q&A

SPEAKERS:

• Marko Brumnik (Austria)
• Jan Vanbeckevoort (Benelux)
• Nicolas Le Pays du Teilleul (France)
• Tobias Baus (Germany)
• Emanuela Bianco (Italy)
• Cristina Espín Martí & Joana Maria Andion (Spain & Portugal)

View the flyer here.

This event is FREE to participants.

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LES USA-Canada

"Practical IP Strategies for Protecting AI Innovations"

Tuesday, 28 May 2024

5:00pm - 7:00pm (EDT)

TORONTO, CANADA



Join Marc Lampert from Bhole IP Law and Yolande Dufresne from Torys LLP for a discussion on patent, copyright and trade secret protection for technologies leveraging artificial intelligence. We will discuss the inherent challenges and open legal questions relating to IP in AI in Canada, including human inventorship and authorship, automation of inventive steps, and acceleration of changes in the state of the art.

This event is FREE to participants.

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LES Italy, LES Germany & LES France

"UPC One Year Later: A First Overview"

Tuesday, 28 May 2024

2:00pm - 6:00pm (CET)

ONLINE / MILAN, ITALY



This is momentous occasion to celebrate the 1st anniversary of the UPC and the opening of the new Section of the Central Division in Milan.

Join LES Italy, LES Germany and LES France on the eve of this landmark event as they delve into the latest developments, challenges, and innovations shaping the future of patent law in Europe.

View the flyer here.

This event is FREE to participants.