Patents are a key asset of any emerging company. However, they have a defined and limited term. For a company dealing with a product that will require clinical tests and FDA approval to sell, the delay involved in the regulatory review process can eat up valuable patent term. Come learn about patent term extension, whether and how you can get one, and how long they last. With a recent court decision, the Patent office is poised to change its rules in a number of significant ways. These changes potentially limit the scope of protection that can be obtained, and impose specific requirements on patent applicants. Learn about these changes, and the potential impact on your company's patent strategy.

Speaker:
Craig R. Kaufman, Partner, Intellectual Property, Silicon Valley Office, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Craig Kaufman, a Silicon Valley partner, is a member of the Intellectual Property Group. His practice focuses on patent infringement litigation, with an emphasis on chemical, pharmaceutical and biotechnology patents. Mr. Kaufman’s notable representations include the following cases:

• Acer, Inc.  Mr. Kaufman is a member of the team representing Acer in a number of patent infringement disputes with Hewlett Packard before the U.S. International Trade Commission and in various district courts.
• Dow AgroSciences LLC. Mr. Kaufman represented the company and its affiliates, Mycogen Corporation, Mycogen Plant Sciences, Inc., and Agrigenetics, in a number of patent infringement cases involving the enforcement of patent rights to methods for making genes and inserting them into plants to make the plants insect-resistant, enforcement of patents on particular genes, and defense against infringement claims. Mr. Kaufman was a key member of the Orrick trial team that won, in June 2004, a bench trial in an action brought under 35 U.S.C. § 146 in Monsanto Co. v. Mycogen Corporation, Case No. 01-CV-0353 B (S.D. Cal.).  Mr. Kaufman was also a key member of the trial team that won, in December 2004, a complete defense verdict in an infringement action brought by Syngenta seeds in Syngenta Seeds v. Dow AgroSciences, Mycogen Plant Science and Agrigenetics.  Finally, Mr. Kaufman was a member of the Orrick team that won, in May 2001, a Federal Circuit reversal of a summary judgment that had invalidated one of Mycogen’s patents on grounds of anticipation by prior invention in Mycogen Plant Sciences, Inc. v. Monsanto Corp., No. 00-1127 (May 30, 2001). 
• Nanya Technology Corporation.  Mr. Kaufman represents Nanya in a number of patent infringement actions involving Nanya's DRAM products.
• Compal Electronics, Inc. Mr. Kaufman was a member of the Orrick team representing Compal in patent infringement litigation brought by Samsung Electronics, Inc. involving Compal's notebook computer products.
• Affymetrix. Mr. Kaufman represented Affymetrix in its litigation with Incyte Genomics, Inc. involving key patents underlying Affymetrix’s GeneChip® technology.
• Alcon Laboratories. Mr. Kaufman represented Alcon in two patent infringement cases against Pharmacia that concern Alcon’s Travatan product, an important treatment for glaucoma. 
• Ericsson. Mr. Kaufman represented Ericsson in a patent infringement action involving digital modulators used in cellular telephones and cellular telephone-base stations. 

Prior to joining Orrick, Mr. Kaufman was an Associate Solicitor at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), where he represented the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks in District Court and before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. During his two years at the PTO, Mr. Kaufman prepared more than 10 appellate briefs and personally argued five cases before the Federal Circuit. Mr. Kaufman was part of the trial team in Markman v. Lehman, a district court action pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 145. He also assisted in the preparation of the Brief for the United States as amicus curiae before the U.S. Supreme Court in Warner-Jenkinson Co. v. Hilton Davis Chemical Co.

Before joining the PTO, Mr. Kaufman was an associate at Kilpatrick and Cody and an associate at Cushman, Darby & Cushman. At Cushman, Mr. Kaufman was part of the team representing Imperial Chemical Industries in two Hatch-Waxman cases involving ICI's patented drug products.  Prior to attending law school, Mr. Kaufman conducted research in organic chemistry.

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