Section 101 Reform: Prospects and Pitfalls (Live MBHB Webinar)

Tues., August 20, 2019 | 10:00-11:15 a.m. CT | Live MBHB Webinar via WebEx

It is no secret that U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence on subject matter eligibility over the past decade has seriously disrupted the settled expectations of inventors, innovative companies, universities, and their counsel. With no evidence that the Supreme Court has any intention (or recognition) of solving these problems, Congress is the only branch of government with the ability to make meaningful change. For the past several months, Senators Tillis and Coons (chair and ranking member of the IP Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee) have met with stakeholders, prepared draft legislation, and held three days of hearings on the issues, entertaining 45 witnesses from the political and patent-concerned spectrum.  We expect a bill to be introduced later this summer.

We will discuss the bill (or the draft if not yet introduced), the process, the politics, and the prospects of meaningful legislative change. We will also discuss possible pitfalls in the legislation, from the political horse-trading certain to occur to the likelihood that the Supreme Court will find fault with any attempt to rein in their reconstruction of patent eligibility through judicial fiat. The webinar will address the following:
  • The draft amendments to Sections 100, 101, and 112(f)
  • The stakeholders positions: biotech, pharma, high tech, academics, “public interest groups”
  • Issues solved and raised by the proposed amendments
  • Likelihood of passage

Presenter(s): MBHB attorneys Michael Borella, Ph.D., Sarah Fendrick, Ph.D. and Kevin Noonan, Ph.D.

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP is committed to educating clients and friends of the firm with respect to significant developments and trends in the areas of intellectual property law.

NOTE: MCLE credit is not available for this archived recording. 

Access an archived audio version of this webinar here

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