Ron Reardon

By now, most of you should have received an e-mail survey request from me.  As I am writing this, about 60 of you have responded.  Since responses are still coming in, it is too early to share the results. 

If for some reason you did not receive the survey request, here are the four questions that are on the survey:

1. What does NAPP provide to you that you find useful?

2. What does NAPP NOT provide to you that you need?

3. What does NAPP provide to you that you do not use?

4. Which of the following locations would you prefer for the 2007 NAPP Annual Meeting: 

a) Park City, UT;

b) Monterey, CA;

c) Seattle, WA;

d) Las Vegas, NV;

e) San Francisco, CA.

If you have not yet responded to the survey, please copy and paste these questions into an e-mail, and send your response to me at president@napp.org.

I have read each response so far, and my assistant is compiling the answers to each question so that I can present the survey results at our next Board meeting.  I appreciate your candid remarks, both on what NAPP is doing correctly as well as areas for improvement.  Your responses are a vital input to our planning process and the tactical initiatives that we will launch.  Speaking for the entire NAPP® leadership team, we are dedicated to providing maximum value to our membership within the constraints of our available resources.

Meanwhile, the future of NAPP looks extremely bright—our membership is growing, our visibility and influence continues to increase, and relationships among our members continue to strengthen.

Time is Money in Europe Too

By Justin Simpson

Time is money. This is especially true when you charge by the hour. Clients often have a variation on the phrase: “Your time is my money!” Whilst we often have techniques in place to keep ourselves efficient, we can sometimes forget that our foreign counterparts charge by the hour too. The way we communicate with them can have a big impact on their time and, hence, our clients’ money. The linked article provides a few simple hints for cost-effective communication.

New Central Fax Number for the USPTO

As previously announced in the July, 2005 issue, as of July  15, 2005 the USPTO has a new Central Fax Number, i.e.,  571-273-8300.  Faxes sent to the old number will be routed to the new number until September 15, 2005.  After September 15, 2005 the old number will no longer be in service.

NAPP® E-mail Discussion Lists

Our e-mail discussion lists have been quite informative.  If you are not receiving the e-mails or are having problems posting to the list, contact Kevin Grierson at:  complaints@napp.org for assistance.

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

The “Soft” Side of NAPP

Whether we admit it or not, the soft skills of many patent practitioners may be inadequate to enable them to grow their own practice and thrive in today's business climate. Practitioners must develop social skills to manage interpersonal business relationships amidst the confines of personalities, profits, and ethics.  NAPP offers a unique opportunity to efficiently develop the "softer" side of your chosen profession.  Click here to read the full article.

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.
 

Joy L. Bryant, Esq.

August has been a month spent on catching-up.  With the 2005 Annual Meeting completed, plans are now underway for the 2006 meeting which will take place in Alexandria, Virginia.

The NAPP Officers and Directors are in the process of putting together a long term plan for NAPP.  In doing so, we are seeking feedback from our members by way of an electronic survey.  We ask each member to take a few brief minutes to answer the questions and return the survey to Ron Reardon.  We intend to take the survey results under advisement and aim to make NAPP an organization that truly caters to the needs of its members.

Our Government Affairs Committee has been working hard on several initiatives.  Recently, we filed official comments to the USPTO request for comments on its Green Paper that addressed restriction practice.  Those comments are available here.  We are now in the process of assembling an official position paper with respect to the revised patent law reform bill.  If you would like to comment, please submit your comments on our Contact Us page. 

As you may recall, NAPP testified before the National Academies of Public Administration (NAPA) in February of this year.  NAPA has compiled its report and has made the recommendation that Congress create a U.S. Patent and Trademark Corporation as a wholly owned government entity under the policy direction of the Secretary of Commerce.   For more information or to see the report, visit http://www.napawash.org/Pubs/PTO8-25-05.pdf

Celebrate NAPP'S 10th Anniversary  - Alexandria, Virginia July 15-18, 2006

The 2006 NAPP® Annual Meeting will be held in Old Town Alexandria, adjacent to the US Patent and Trademark Office.  A special anniversary celebration will take place as part of the meeting events.  Further details will be  posted to the NAPP website in the next month. 

Proceedings from the 2005 Annual Meeting will remain available until September 30.  To purchase the proceedings on CD, click here.

The Georgia Regional Chapter has scheduled its next meeting for September 2005.  Hayden Gregory, lobbyist for the ABA, will give an update on the Patent Law Reform Bill. For more details and to register, click here.

The next meeting will take place in November 2005.  A speaker and location are needed.