Computer-implemented inventions at the EPO

(Note this is a draft brochure)

Computer-implemented inventions (CII) are becoming more and more prevalent, and applicants in the US often get discouraged about the prospect of obtaining patent protection in the US.  US applicants might be unaware that patents can be granted for such inventions at the EPO. The EPO has developed an approach to examining CII which is stable and reliable, thereby providing a high degree of predictability for applicants.

This workshop will show you how the EPO examines CII. It will focus on how you can increase your chances of getting a patent for claims comprising algorithmic/mathematical steps or features relating to the presentation of information.

Examples from various fields will deepen your understanding of the decisive ingredients for a successful application in these fields.

Date and time.  This program will take place on (proposed) June 27, 2018 at 9AM to 10:30 AM Mountain Time.

Your faculty:

Who should attend?  Attendees will include patent practitioners registered to practice before the USPTO who draft or prosecute patent applications in the area of computer-implemented inventions.

Cost?  This webinar, sponsored by Oppedahl Patent Law Firm LLC, is being provided free of charge.

CLE accreditation? CLE accreditation has been approved for California for 1.5 hours and has been applied for in Colorado. We will provide a uniform certificate of attendance (“UCOA”). In the past we have sometimes heard from an attendee that he or she has been able to obtain CLE credit in his or her own state by submitting the UCOA to his or her own CLE authority. Please do not ask us to try to obtain CLE accreditation from other states.

In any event the way you will receive CLE credit, if at all, is by submitting the UCOA yourself to your state CLE agency.

We are required by some states, including California, to keep track of the bar numbers of the persons receiving CLE credit. When you send the UCOA yourself to your state CLE agency, please also let us know here so that we can keep the records which we are required to maintain.

CLE assistance?  Please note that registration for this webinar does not include assistance from our office in attempting to obtain CLE credit from your state CLE agency. We will provide a Uniform Certificate of Attendance and related material, and it is up to you to attempt to obtain the CLE credit from your state CLE agency.  You can see our page about getting CLE credit.

How to sign up? To register for this program, click here.

Format. This program is a webinar, meaning a seminar offered over the Web. It is anticipated that at some law firm and corporate locations, the presentation-slide content of the webinar will be projected upon a screen in a conference room. Other attendees will view the presentation on their own computers or smart phones or tablets.

Written materials will be provided (as a PDF file) shortly before the program starts.

Participants will be able to submit typed questions through the webinar system.

After the webinar has finished, participants will be requested to complete an online evaluation form.

For users who attend by means of a computer, audio will be provided both through computer speakers and by means of dial-in telephone numbers. A user with a computer headset can use the headset to listen to the audio. Many attendees will find it convenient to receive the audio through their computer speakers, which is free of any per-minute charge. It will also be possible to dial in to a telephone conference bridge to receive the audio; this will be a toll call with regular per-minute long-distance telephone charges.

You may find it convenient to use a USB speakerphone to broadcast the audio in your conference room.

Are you a smart phone or tablet user? If so, you may wish to try attending using a Gotowebinar app. Before the date of the webinar, please do at least one test webinar as mentioned on the technical support page. On the date of the webinar, please log in at least ten minutes early so that you will have time to try to solve any problems. Plan ahead so that if you cannot get the app to work, you will be able to switch to an ordinary computer connection to attend the webinar.

Technical support on the day of the program. Whenever we host a webinar, we receive frantic telephone calls on the day of the webinar from people who have problems. Usually the cause of the problem is something that we cannot help with in any way.  Please see our technical support page for technical support.

Cutoff time for registrations. The ability to register for the webinar will be turned off about one day in advance of the stated starting time of the webinar. For this reason, please plan ahead and register at least the day before the webinar. We can offer no assurances that an attempted webinar registration within 24 hours of a webinar will be successful.