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Ron Reardon
At NAPP's inception founder Joy Bryant had goals to establish a network and
communication system among patent practitioners and to provide a means for
patent agents to obtain professional liability insurance. While
considerable membership value has been added over the last decade, the heart of
NAPP continues to be that robust network and communication system.
In order to better serve our members in this area, we are transitioning from
the current NAPP® Patent Practice forum and
NAPP® General Discussion forum to Yahoo! Groups. On April 17, the old lists
will cease to function. Only NAPP members will be allowed to join the new
groups. If you have any questions about signing up for either forum, please contact Kevin Grierson at
complaints@napp.org.
In addition to the forums, we keep our members informed with timely updates
that potentially impact their practice before the USPTO. The articles
below on EFS-Web are examples of this. We also periodically provide
practice-impacting teleconferences on topics such as
client engagement letters and Web
site content for patent practitioners.
Recognition continues to grow within the industry concerning the
professionalism that is promoted by NAPP. Our NAPP®
Certification Program, NAPP® Best
Practices, and position papers (www.napp.org/resources/papers.asp)are notable examples of this.
During March Joy and I attended two USPTO customer partnership meetings in
Washington, D.C. We took the opportunity to meet with several key USPTO
staff and to strengthen our relationship with them. Evidence of their
support of NAPP can be seen by the stellar lineup of speakers from the USPTO for
our annual meeting in Alexandria, VA in July.
Click here to view the annual meeting
agenda.
Prosecution-focused registered patent agents and attorneys need the value that is
provided by NAPP. We will continue our efforts to reach out and offer
membership to these practitioners.
Finally, the transition of NAPP property, accounts, and operating procedures
from Joy to me is complete. I have moderated my first NAPP teleconference,
made my first update to the NAPP Web site using the NAPP computer, and paid my
first NAPP invoice.
Running NAPP on a day-to-day basis is not a walk in the park, or tiptoeing
through the tulips. It requires a significant commitment of time and
resources. Joy has provided me with all the tools that are needed to run
NAPP. I have two very thick binders and 10 years of historical documents
to guide me. I appreciate the patience and understanding of the membership
for the first few months as I get my sea legs under me.
My heartfelt thanks go to NAPP founder Joy Bryant for creating a well-oiled
organization and instructing me in its foundational principles.
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