| NAPP eNews™/December/ 2022 |
NAPP's MONTHLY MEMBER NEWS - DECEMBER 2022 NAPP President's Message NAPP is a dynamic professional association making a difference in the patent profession. NAPP recently met with Senator Thom Tillis's office regarding potential amendments to 35 U.S.C. sec. 101. And in late December, NAPP intends to file an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in Amgen v. Sanofi on the issue of "enablement" under 35 U.S.C. sec. 112(a). Closer to home, NAPP recently provided each member a free subscription to software from PatentBots, a $400.00 value. This software offers to proofread your patent applications and can make you a better patent practitioner. Contact a committee chair (see below) or [email protected] to volunteer on a NAPP project or committee if you want to make a difference in NAPP and the patent profession. I wish you and those you love a joyous holiday season and a fulfilling 2023!
 Christopher M. Turoski President, National Association of Patent Practitioners (NAPP)
Please Note – NAPP Office Year-End Schedule The NAPP Office will be closed at year-end from December 26-30, 2022. As New Year’s Day falls on a Sunday, we will observe the holiday on Monday, January 2, 2023. The office will re-open on Tuesday, January 3, 2023.
AMC 2023 PLANNING COMMITTEE NAPP’s AMC Planning Committee could you use your assistance with program development and ideas for social activities for the conference in Old Town Alexandria, VA. If you are interested in joining the committee, please contact Karen Miles ([email protected]). Monthly commitment is typically 1 - 2 hours dedicated to a planning call and a few follow up communications to potential speakers or sponsors. REMEMBER TO FOLLOW NAPP ON SOCIAL MEDIA! NAPP’s Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook pages are gaining in popularity. We encourage you to comment on posts or share NAPP content with colleagues and friends who would benefit from the information like the free webinar offerings, conference recordings, blogs, articles, and other news related to patent professionals. Please take a moment right now and visit the NAPP social media pages and click “Like” or “Follow.” @NAPP1996 on Twitter Connect with NAPP on LinkedIn @NAPP on Facebook NAPP MEMBERS COLORADO MEETUP The Colorado local meetup host monthly meetings mostly every 3rd Wednesday at 7PM MT. The next meeting is scheduled Wednesday, January 18th from 7:00 – 8:00pm and we will be discussing topics for our 2023 meetings. Login to the NAPP Event Calendar for the virtual meeting details. Calendar at https://www.napp.org/napp-calendar NAPP FORUM Have you signed into the NAPP Forum lately? Checkout the current hot topics:
The Forum is a great online resource and includes a very interactive member community. This is a member benefit and requires different login credentials than your NAPP member information. Please contact the NAPP office at [email protected] if you are having trouble accessing the site. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR NAPP's GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE The two members of NAPP’s Governance Committee are working to review/update NAPP’s existing policies (e.g., Best Practices for Committees) and to update the Board Manual. Once those formalities are complete, the committee intends to develop ideas for increasing member participation and leadership. If you believe NAPP can become THE organization of choice for patent practitioners, we want you to join our committee to help us make it happen! Please contact Dan Krueger or Karen Miles ([email protected]). INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING THE PATENT BOTS PREP & PROTS TOOL FOR NAPP MEMBERS! NAPP members who are current with their membership are provided a cost-free and complimentary subscription to the Patent Bots Prep & Pros Pro tool, a $400.00 value, as of December 1, 2022, through December 1, 2023. To access the Prep & Pros Pro tool after Nov. 30, please go to https://www.patentbots.com/ and create a PatentBots account using the same email address as your NAPP membership and a password unique to your PatentBots account. Here are some tools to help you get started:
Training: Initial training will be provided by the PatentBots team via a Zoom session on January 10, 2023, at 2:00 – 3:00 PM EST to help you get started. This session will be recorded and available from the NAPP website. Click here to register. Technical Support: Patent Bots provides training videos on its Vimeo page that is accessible to all its subscribers, including NAPP members. On-going training and support will be provided via the NAPP forum, for technical support relating to creating Patent Bots accounts, logging in, and resetting passwords. Follow the NAPP Forum topic to keep updated on the best practices and tips for using the tool! (Note: The Forum requires different login credentials than your NAPP member information. Please contact the NAPP office at [email protected] if you are having trouble accessing the Forum.) Microsoft Word add-in, use of Patent Bots products, etc. When NAPP members are not able to obtain needed assistance from the forum, information will be provided to contact Patent Bots directly for that assistance. * WHEN NOT FREE: While the subscription here is free for most of our members, there is one limitation. If you are a NAPP member who wishes to subscribe to another Patent Bots product in addition to Prep & Pros Pro, you cannot be included in this subscription offer. Rather, you and will need to obtain your own Patent Bots subscription at Patent Bots’ regular prices. For example, a NAPP member who is a solo practitioner and subscribes to both Prep & Pros Pro and Examiner Statistics, will need to purchase those subscriptions directly from Patent Bots at the current regular price of $55.10/month. BEST PRACTICE RISK REDUCTION PROGRAM We are in the process of revamping and relaunching this program, including these possible benefits (i) advertising “Compliant with NAPP Best Practices Program”, (ii) better access to professional liability insurance, (iii) a professional liability insurance discount, and (iv) whatever other “benefits” we may be able to package here. Got some time? Please join us to help develop the framework for what the program should look like, under the guidance of one of our professional liability insurance company members and other NAPP practitioner members. If interested, please contact Mike Bendel or Karen Miles ([email protected]). NAPP's MENTORSHIP PROGRAM IS THRIVING! NAPP's Programs Committee is seeking mentors to guide our less experienced members forward on their career trajectory. We're looking for experience, not expertise; someone who can provide newly registered practitioners with a sense of the profession. Mentors must be NAPP members with 10 or more years of patent prosecution experience. Meeting arrangements can vary, but often 1hr/month is enough. (If you're wondering how this is a member benefit, let me say I've really benefited from my experience coaching a mentee and wondering why I haven't followed my own advice.) Interested Members should contact the NAPP Office ([email protected]) to obtain a copy of the NAPP Mentoring Program Agreement and Guidelines. The signed agreements will be forwarded to the Mentoring Committee for approval and matching in due course. We are especially in need of Mentors in the Chemical and Biological Arts. Help us reach our goal! Thank you to the new NAPP members that recently submitted mentee applications! We still have room for more. Could you benefit from this? It is as formal or informal as you would like it to be. Tap into the expertise of your NAPP colleagues, and help accelerate up your learning curve and make practice more enjoyable. JANUARY 10th FREE WEBINAR TRAINING – Patent Bots Prep & Pros Tool Register for the next free live webinar, Patent Bots Prep & Pros – Detailed Overview and Training scheduled January 10, 2023, 2:00 - 3:00 P.M ET. NAPP members who are current with their membership are provided complimentary subscription to the Patent Bots Prep & Pros Pro tool as of December 1, 2022, through December 1, 2023. The webinar is to provide a detailed overview of the Patent Bots Prep & Pros product that includes tools such as:
Patent Bots founder, Jeff O'Neill, will also overview the Office Action Explorer tool that assists when responding to office actions, and address NAPP subscription guidelines as well as how to obtain support when needed. Click here to register. EXAMINER INTERVIEWS - DOs and DON'TS WEBINAR RECORDING AVAILABLE Did you miss the free NAPP webinar on "Examiner Interviews - Dos and Don'ts ” presented by Michael Maicher on November 15th? To view this webinar or any past webinar recording, visit the NAPP website (www.napp.org), Go to the Events Menu and Select Webinar Series or click here (NAPP member login required). If you are interested in hearing or presenting on a specific topic, please contact Anne Fahrni or Karen Miles ([email protected]). NAPP PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE IS NOW ON THE FORUM NAPP's Professional Development Committee now has its own section on the NAPP Forum for webinar and presentation discussions. A discussion thread is normally started once a webinar or presentation is scheduled, and continues even after the webinar or presentation is delivered so the subject matter of the webinar can be thoroughly discussed, and questions answered to benefit our members. For example, check out the discussion thread on the November Examiner Interview webinar and see for yourself the depth of the insights exchanged among our members. NAPP's BLOG NAPP's Professional Development Committee is soliciting blog articles that are of interest to present and prospective members. For example, if you previously had started a forum thread and benefited greatly from the discussion in your thread, convert that thread to a blog article to give back to our community of fellow practitioners. The selected blog article contributor will gain name recognition, and an Amazon gift card! Send your submissions to the NAPP Office at [email protected]. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE - Call for Volunteers NAPP's Professional Development Committee (PDC) is working on launching a few new programs and we are looking for proactive members to lead and run these programs. The PDC meets virtually every month on the first Thursday of the Month @ 12 Eastern. Perspective volunteers are welcome to attend the monthly meeting to gain first-hand knowledge of the committee. Please contact Anne Fahrni or Karen Miles ([email protected]) to be invited for the PDC meeting. |
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