Post Meeting Summaries

Following are summaries of dinner meeting presentations. Links to the meeting announcements are included with the summaries.

January 9, 2007 -- Patents and Technology Licensing (synopses by George Jarvi and Laura Cruz)

Laura A. Cruz, Patent Attorney, Christensen, O'Connor, Johnson, Kindness, PLLC; cruz@cojk.com 206 695-1725

Our own Laura Cruz, Vice Chair of the Puget Sound Section gave an extensive primer on what patents are, what they are not, and how they are applied for, issued, challenged and appealed. Laura helped us see the difference between patents and trade secrets.

A patent does not secure the right to (make money or produce product) practice what the patent describes. It does give the right to restrict others from using the idea for the period of the patent. Presumably, an inventor will find some profitability in their invention, but the patent only restricts others from so doing.

Laura described cross-licensing of conflicting patents and the buying and selling of patents. There are those who acquire patents in the hope of litigation proceeds rather than in the hope of profitably using the patent itself.

The basis for patenting comes from the US Constitution Article 1, not some obscure regulation. Interesting changes are coming to our patent law to bring us into more conformance with the International agreements.

Lynn E. Hvalsoe, Attorney at Law; Perkins Coie, LLP; LHvalsoe@perkinscoie.com 206 359-6122

Lynn Hvalsoe gave a fascinating overview of what can be done to make a profit from licensing a patent. Once a patent is granted, and in fact if that patent is useful and valuable, it falls to the patent owner to market their intellectual property. Sometimes this amounts to personally contacting prospective users. Other times it can involve venture capitalists to bankroll startup operations to produce the item, design or process.

Lynn walked us through the licensing jungle to show the many facets of "exclusive" licenses that may be granted simultaneously to different users, industries, and uses. Lynn also described how some inventors auction off their patent rights to transfer the burden of marketing to others.

Lynn told us about recent developments in international cooperation to increase the respect of intellectual property in the world at large. She described how even widespread infringement creates a market base for new developments.

October 10, 2006 -- Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxins (synopsis by George Jarvi)

. . .  Maria Peeler (Washington State Department of Ecology) informed and entertained us with enthusiasm for her topic, which relates to the changing world view of regulation of hazardous chemicals. One of her main points is that the European Union is increasing its oversight of hazardous chemical management. The new standards that are being promulgated elsewhere in the world will affect international commerce, just as did the ISO 9000 revolution. The European model includes "Precautionary" exclusion wherein a chemical could be reserved from the market until it is demonstrated to be safe, rather than accepting a chemical in the market until it is proved to be unsafe. Maria estimated that on the order of $trillion worth of US trade depends upon compliance with these regulations.

Here at home in Washington, there are certain target chemicals that the Department of Ecology is trying to remove from the market. In particular, the deca- form of flame retardants is on the block next, whenever a practical alternative is brought forward.

Maria reported on progress made in Washington to remove mercury and methyl mercury from our environment. There is an inventory of mercury in the atmosphere from the last 300 years of industrial development, and coal-fired power plants throughout the world continue to release mercury from coal combustion. With controls that have been instituted in the State of Washington, mercury inventory is dropping. Our one coal-fired power plant sequesters mercury in concrete made of recovered fly ash. Schools no longer stock bulk mercury, and mercury thermometers and mercury switches in automobiles are being replaced. There are still large amounts of mercury in switches and relays and seals that remain to be recovered.

The challenge remains but progress is being made.

October 10, 2006 Meeting Announcement

Mercury Reduction (Maria Peeler's PowerPoint Presentation, October 10, 2006)

September 13, 2006 -- Where Do Plastics Go When They Die? (synopsis by Andrew Slolely and George Jarvi)

We had a great start to the 2006-2007 meetings. Our speaker, Tom Watson, is a generalist in recycling and very informative about the business of recycling that we might not have supposed. Why plastic lids are "recyclable" in name but are not actually recycled. Why  plastic bags were not recyclable a few years ago and why they are a hot item now. It was a good meeting. Much discussion of future meeting topics was done. We should shortly get out a schedule of the next several meetings. Mark your calendars for the second Tuesday of the month for the meetings (10/10, 11/13, 12/12).

September 13, 2006 Meeting Announcement