This year’s Fall IP Institute will enable attendees to participate either in-person or virtually. For those participating in-person, we are working with the Moody Gardens Hotel to make the conference safe and enjoyable as always. If you choose to attend virtually, you will have access to all of the presentations as they happen. We hope to have your support through participation in either mode. Please join us!
Our virtual program is supported by a trio of robust platforms: Whova, Zoom, and Wild Apricot. The services are top notch and will offer a seamless user-friendly interface, as well as group meet-up options.
Our in-person program is fully supported by Moody Gardens. They offer enhanced cleaning services, six feet of social distance between attendees, hand-sanitizer stations, and individualized food offerings. We will also strongly encourage wearing masks, one-way walking paths inside the ballroom, personal handwashing, personal temperature checks, and same seating throughout the day. Moody Garden’s COVID-19 guidebook is available here.
Please visit our Frequently Asked Questions for the 2020 Fall IP Institute, which is updated as needed.
Many thanks to our Sponsors and Benefactors
The current Fall IP Institute conference brochure can be found here.
Check back here for more information and updates...
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
The Hon. Jeffrey V. Brown
U.S. District Court
Southern District of Texas
DIVERSITY SPEAKER
The Hon. Wallace Jefferson
Alexander Dubose Jefferson LLP
(former Chief Justice of
the Texas Supreme Court)
Judge Peter Bray
U.S. District Court
Southern District of Texas
Judge Christina A. Bryan
U.S. District Court
Southern District of Texas
Judge Andrew M. Edison
U.S. District Court
Southern District of Texas
Moderated by
Sharon Israel
Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P.
Ray Ashburg (Electrolux) and Meg Boulware (Boulware & Valoir)
TOPIC: Best Practices for Serving Clients during Crisis - from Pandemic to Hurricane
Alexandra Bistline (Pirkey Barber PLLC)
TOPIC: Trademark Law Update
Carlyn Burton (Osha Bergman Watanabe & Burton LLP) and Tammy Pennington Rhodes (Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack, L.L.P.)
TOPIC: Protecting Third Party Privilege
Tammy Terry (Osha Bergman Watanabe & Burton LLP)
TOPIC: PTAB Update
Sparkle Ellison (Boulware & Valoir)
TOPIC: PTA/PTE Tips
Professor Dave Fagundes (University of Houston Law Center)
TOPIC: Copyright Law Update
Mavis Fowler-Williams (Columbia Law School)
TOPIC: How to Effectively Counsel Clients and Negotiate IP Agreements Ethically
Natalie Gonzales (Baker Botts L.L.P.) and Danielle (DJ) Healey (Fish & Richardson)
TOPIC: Trade Secret Update (DTSA)
Ira Hatton (Greenberg Traurig, LLP) and Tara Williams (Skiermont Derby LLP)
TOPIC: Patent Jurisdiction (ITC/IPR/IPA)
Jason Howard (Shook, Hardy & Bacon L.L.P.)
TOPIC: Outsourcing Ethics
Professor David Hricik (Mercer University School of Law)
TOPIC: Ethical Issues Created by AI, Innovation, the IoT and 3D Printing
Sheikh Ismail (Texas A&M University), Katherine Jackson (Exxon Mobil Corporation), Matt Prater (SABIC), and Jeff Whittle (Womble Bond Dickinson)
TOPIC: Mock Licensing Exercise
Professor Paul Janicke (University of Houston Law Center)
TOPIC: Recent Ethics Cases in IP Practice
Professor Renee Knake Jefferson (University of Houston Law Center)
TOPIC: Diversity as an Ethics Obligation—Understanding ABA Model Rule 8.4(g) through the Lens of Supreme Court Shortlists
James Kurka (Weatherford International), Jessica Nguyen (Lexion), Steven Spears (Baker Hughes), and Paula Whitten-Doolin (Neste)
TOPIC: In-House Counsel Challenges during a Global Pandemic
Albert Liou (Jones Day)
TOPIC: Open Source Software Licensing: What IP Lawyers Should Know
Pete Peterson (Law Offices of Gale R. Peterson PLLC)
TOPIC: Federal Circuit Patent Law – a Year in Review
Ryan Pool (Millen, White, Zelano & Branigan, PC)
TOPIC: Ex Parte Pat Appeal Tips/Analytics
̶ It will be a hybrid event. You have the option to attend in-person, virtually or a combination of both.
̶ The conference will be held virtually through the Whova app. The link for the event in the Whova app will be included in a subsequent Whova instructional email. Whova is available for both mobile and desktop/laptop computers.
̶ Yes, please contact the organizer by email, IPIL@UH.EDU
̶ No, the conference rate is a flat fee.
̶ For assistance, please email IPIL@UH.EDU
̶ For assistance, please email IPIL@UH.EDU
̶ Yes, we will provide instructions prior to the start of the conference by email to registered attendees.
̶ Yes, the links to the sessions will be made available through the electronic agenda presented in the Whova app.
̶ In‑person attendees will be seated in a socially distanced manner in the same large banquet hall traditionally used for the Fall Institute. For an In‑person attendee, the virtual speakers will be displayed on the screen(s) at the front of the room. You will also be able to follow a speaker’s session via internet videoconferencing available through the agenda in the Whova app.
̶ Participants are “on their own” for lunch on Friday and the keynote presentation is just after lunch, beginning at 1 p.m. All conference presentations and activities are in the large banquet hall traditionally used for the Fall Institute, with all In‑person attendees seated in a socially distance manner. This includes the diversity breakfast presentation Friday morning, and the keynote presentation just after the noon hour on Friday. Please count on being in your seats 10-15 minutes early so that we can start on time and be respectful to our Keynote Speaker and Diversity Speaker. The changes from the traditional Friday format are undertaken in the interests of caution and safety given the pandemic.
̶ The course has been approved by the State Bar of Texas for 13.75 total participatory hours, including 4.75 hours of ethics. The course number will be the same whether you participate in-person or virtually.
̶ We do not submit for CLE beyond the State Bar of Texas. However, if you need a certificate of attendance for another state please email IPIL@UH.EDU for assistance.
̶ We expect most of the materials to be made available a week prior to the start of the event. Any material not available one week out will be posted as soon as possible.
̶ There is a “Ask Organizers Anything” topic in the Whova community board. If you don’t want your question to be posted for others to see, please email IPIL@UH.EDU.
̶ No, the speaker sessions will not be recorded. However, if a written paper is provided by the speaker it is accessible in the Whova app.
̶ Whova automatically converts the session times to each user’s time zone on their app.
