Ron Reardon

The 2006 Annual meeting was an absolute blast—with superb speakers, great camaraderie, and a 10^th anniversary celebration that will long be remembered.  It was a pleasure to meet new members and to renew friendships.

NAPP members elected new directors at the meeting.  Guiding the NAPP for the next three years are Sharon Adams, Kevin Grierson, David Grossman, Tom Hamill, and Louis Hoffman.  Also elected were Sean Brennan as Vice President and Jerry Miller as Treasurer.  This is a stellar team that brings a wealth of valuable experience.  Our first Board meeting was rich with initiatives that hold great promise for making membership of the NAPP an even better value for its members.

I thank the outgoing directors for their contributions.  Joy Bryant, Scott Chambers, Gary Smith, and Kirk Wilson gave tirelessly of their time and talent to make NAPP a more vibrant and professional organization.  I also thank Rich Farr and Donna Fugit for their services as Vice President and Treasurer, respectively.  Due to work issues, both Rich and Donna had to resign their positions.  NAPP Secretary, Michelle Stempien, has served NAPP well in several capacities over the years and has told me that she plans to take a break from NAPP leadership at the end of her term in July 2007. 

The 2007 Annual Meeting Committee met on Sunday in Alexandria.  This team has crafted an outstanding program for both the Nuts & Bolts short course and the 2007 Patent Practice Update, to be held at the Monte Carlo Resort in Las Vegas on July 14-17.  I appreciate Stan Antolin, Sharon Beresford, David Gange, Sana Pratt, Michelle Stempien, and Martha Taylor for volunteering to help with the many activities that create a valuable and memorable event.

On Tuesday, the Government Affairs Committee met, with NAPP Government Affairs Liaison, Louis Hoffman, at the helm.  Louis has a wealth of talent on his committee, including David Alavi, Sharon Adams, Stan Antolin, Frank Arenas, Sean Brennan, David Gange, Kevin Grierson, David Grossman, Sana Pratt, and David Robeson.  This team has a full agenda responding to known and future USPTO proposals.  We can count on balanced and well-thought-out replies from this group.  On a similar note, it appears that 2006 will close with no patent reform bill being presented in Congress.  My congratulations go to the Government Affairs Committee for their past responses on this issue.      

In the coming months, you should expect to see additional NAPP® teleconferences, which will address topics important to patent practitioners.  For example, we have teleconferences on Inventorship and Docketing Systems scheduled for October and November, 2006.  Other teleconferences on the drawing board include Restriction Practice and Amendments.  If you have any other topics that you would like to propose for a teleconference, please contact me.

Our commitment to professionalism is reflected in the continued growth of the NAPP® Certification program.  We now have 30 members who are NAPP® certified. 

NAPP goes into its 11^th year in excellent shape, both from a financial and organizational standpoint.  We have a solid foundation and good momentum.  I am looking forward to our continued growth.

Patent Subject Matter Eligibility

The USPTO (PTO) published a request for public comments in the Federal Register (70 Fed. Reg. 48) dated December 20, 2005, concerning the PTO’s Interim Guidelines for Examination of Patent Applications for Patent Subject Matter Eligibility, 1300 Off. Gaz. Pat. Office 142 (Nov. 22, 2005).(http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/sol/og/2005/week47/patgupa.htm)

NAPP’s comments on the above, which were submitted to the PTO on July 31, 2006, are available here.

The views expressed herein are solely those of the author and may not necessarily be supported by the NAPP, its members, officers, or directors.

Highlights of the 2006 NAPP Annual Meeting, July 15-18, 2006

 By David Gange

The 2006 annual meeting was held at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Alexandria, VA.  The 10th anniversary meeting featured a gala reception where NAPP founder, Joy Bryant, was honored.  Other highlights included the Nuts and Bolts short course, devoted to patent prosecution; and the Patent Practice Update, featuring talks by John Doll, Commissioner for Patents, and Harry Moatz, Directory of Enrolment and Discipline.  A report on these and other meeting events is available here.

The Disclosure® welcomes the submission of articles on topics related to US and foreign patent practice.  To submit  an article to The Disclosure®, please send it as an e-mail attachment to editor@napp.org.
 

The Disclosure® is a trademark of the National Association of Patent Practitioners.

The Disclosure® is published monthly and is made available to NAPP® members and the general public.

Editor:  David Robeson

©2006 National Association of Patent Practitioners.  All rights reserved.

NAPP Officers:

President - G. Ron Reardon

Vice President - Sean Brennan

Treasurer - Jerry Miller

Secretary - Michelle Stempien

NAPP Directors:

Sharon Adams

Kevin Grierson

David Grossman

Tom Hamill

Louis Hoffman

The 2006 NAPP® Annual Meeting was held from July 15-18 in Old Town Alexandria, adjacent to the US Patent and Trademark Office.  A report on this meeting by Dr. David Gange is accessible in the Member Articles section of this issue. 

The 2007 Annual Meeting will be held in Las Vegas, NV, from July 14-17, 2007.

The New Jersey Regional Chapter needs volunteers to help organize NAPP regional meetings in the New Jersey area.  If you are interested in volunteering, please contact us.