2025 Patent Prosecution Boot Camp - Arlington, VA

Are you interested in staying current on patent prosecution practice or involved in cross-disciplinary practice? Are you a new or junior lawyer, a patent agent, or a technical advisor? Are you a foreign practitioner who wants to understand and speak the language of the USPTO and US practitioners when sending instructions on a US case or when receiving instructions on a local case?

If your answer is “yes” to any of the above questions, or if you simply love patent law, please join us in at AIPLA Headquarters in Arlington, VA for this 3-day patent prosecution seminar. 

Now in its 25th year, AIPLA’s Patent Prosecution Boot Camp is a comprehensive, CLE-accredited seminar that includes instructional lecture-style sessions with practical tips on U.S. and international patent preparation and prosecution, as well as hands-on interactive workshops that will walk you through drafting claims and responding to office actions. To ensure that the workshops are relevant to your practice, they are held in smaller groups according to technology backgrounds: (1) Biotechnology/Chemical, (2) Electrical/Software, and (3) Mechanical.

Day 1 focuses on preparation of a patent application. 
Day 2 focuses on prosecution of the application to grant. 
Day 3 is a half-day program dedicated to more advanced topics such as petitions, appeals, post-grant proceedings, and international practice.

Program Agenda & Schedule

Wednesday, March 5  (8:30 am - 5:30 pm)

Application Preparation - Including:

• Opening Remarks
• Initial ‘Inventor’ Interview and Invention Disclosure
• Inventorship
• Patent Search and Opinions
• Filing Formalities
• Overview of Design Patents
• Application Drafting and Provisional Applications
• Afternoon Claims Drafting Workshops
  • MECHANICAL
  • ELECTRICAL
  • BIOTECH/PHARMA/CHEMICAL
• Networking Reception (5:30 - 6:30 pm)
  

Thursday, March 6 (8:30 pm - 5:30 pm)

Prosecution of a Patent Application - Including:

• Responding to § 101 / §112 Rejections
• Responding to § 103 Rejections
• Restriction Elections / Double Patenting
• Continuations and RCEs
• Examiner Interviews & Knowing the USPTO
• Afternoon Workshops: Responding to Office Actions
  • MECHANICAL
  • ELECTRICAL/SOFTWARE
  • BIOTECH/CHEMICAL

Friday, March 7 (8:30 am - 3:30 pm)

Digging Deeper: Petitions, Appeals, Post-Grant Proceedings, and International Practice - Including:

• Prosecution Tips from a Patent Litigator's Perspective
• Issuance, Term, Certification of Correction, Disclaimers & Maintenance
• Ethics, IDS & Duty of Candor
• PCT Filings and International Patent Prosecution
• Program concludes at 3:30 PM Eastern

Registration includes access to the event app, all conference materials and CLE processing, continental breakfast, the networking reception, and lunch on Wednesday & Thursday.  The registration fee does not include travel or hotel costs.

Registration Fees

AIPLA Regular Members:  $495
AIPLA Solo Members: $395
AIPLA Junior and IP Paralegal Members: $295
AIPLA Government, Academic, & Student Members: $99

Non-Members: $895 - join as an AIPLA member, and be eligible for the registration rates above.

Venue & Hotel Details

The Boot Camp will be held at the
AIPLA Headquarters
1400 Crystal Drive, Suite 600
Arlington, VA 22202

We will reserve a block of rooms within walking distance to the AIPLA offices.

Crystal City Marriott at Reagan National Airport
1999 Richmond Highway
Arlington, VA 22202
P: (703) 413-5500

Room rate:  $219 per night plus applicable state and local taxes (currently 14.25%)

HOTEL RESERVATION LINK

Speakers

• Akhlagi, Babak

  Managing Director | NovoTech Patent Firm

  Babak Akhlaghi serves as the Managing Director of NovoTech Patent Firm, an intellectual property law firm based in Washington, D.C. Distinguished for his expertise in patent law, Mr. Akhlaghi focuses his practice on patent preparation and prosecution, particularly within the fields of electrical engineering and computer science. He has successfully secured patents for groundbreaking technologies, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, medical devices, semiconductors, and mobile applications.
• Becker, Jordan

  Perkins Coie | Partner

  Jordan Becker has 30 years of experience as a patent lawyer, successfully obtaining thousands of patents for his clients across a wide range of technologies, including software, electronics, and mechanical devices. As a trusted advisor to startups and public companies, Jordan focuses on patenting cutting-edge, high-tech inventions. He loves science and technology, and is passionate about using his skills and experience to give his clients a competitive advantage in the marketplace. To protect their investments in research and development (R&D), Jordan develops customized patent strategies, applies for and obtains patents, and builds patent portfolios that support his clients’ business goals.
• Curtis, Anthony

  Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner | Attorney

  Tony Curtis is a registered patent attorney at Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner. His practice includes patent procurement, portfolio management and strategic counseling in a wide range of electrical, software, and mechanical technologies.
• Harris, Phil

  Holland & Hart | Partner

  Phil Harris is a partner, registered patent attorney, and patent practice group leader at Holland & Hart. His practice focuses on client counseling along with preparing and prosecuting U.S. and foreign patent applications (with special focus on cutting-edge technology) for clients of various structures and industries, including wireless communications, network design, machine learning and artificial intelligence, memory and computer architecture, circuit and chip design, methods of manufacturing, medical devices, and other complex technologies.
• Hjelle, Lucas

  Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner, PA | Principal

  Lucas Hjelle has been a patent attorney at Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner for the last twelve years. Lucas received his B.S. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, with a focus on digital signal processing and location-based technologies. He then worked full-time in Electrical Engineering and Aerospace for over ten years, including hardware engineering at LinksPoint (Norwalk, CT), GPS and INS engineering at Draper Laboratory (Cambridge, MA), and Senior Navigation Engineer at Honeywell (Minneapolis, MN). Lucas received his J.D. degree from William Mitchell College of Law, with a focus on Intellectual Property and legal research.
• Irving, Thomas L.

  The Marbury Law Group, PLLC | Senior Partner

  Tom Irving is Senior Partner at the Marbury Law Group, after a 47-year career at the world-famous Finnegan firm. Tom practices U.S. patent law, including but not limited to patent law experting in district court litigations, due diligence, counseling, strategy, rendering opinions on inventorship and ownership, patentability, validity and freedom to operate, patent preparation and prosecution in the Chemical and Life Science arts and listing approved drug products and methods of treatment in FDA’s Orange Book.. Tom obtained his undergraduate B.A, degree in chemistry at the University of Utah in 1974. Tom received his law degree from The Duke University School of Law in 1977. Tom is entering his 50th year in the U.S. patent law business and in the very early years was mentored by P.J. Federico, who co-wrote the 1952 Patent Act with Judge Rich.
• Johnson, Andrew

  Donaldson | Intellectual Property Counsel

  Andy Johnson has been practicing patent law for nearly 15 years, first as an IP litigator at Faegre Baker Daniels (now Faegre Drinker) and now as in-house IP Counsel at Donaldson Company, Inc.
• Kwong, Stephanie

  Abbott Laboratories | Senior IP Counsel

  Stephanie Kwong has been working in the patent prosecution field for over 17 years. She is currently Senior Intellectual Property Counsel at Abbott Laboratories in Plymouth, Minnesota within their structural heart division. Prior to her in-house position, she worked at Twin Cities law firms and enjoyed a diverse practice encompassing patent prosecution, trademark prosecution, patentability analysis, FTO, due diligence and competitive monitoring. She currently serves as the President of the Minnesota Intellectual Property Law Association.
• Lieberman, Rochelle "Rocky"

  Lieberman & Brandsdorfer, LLC | Founding Member

  Rochelle Lieberman, also known as Rocky, is a founding member of the law firm of Lieberman & Brandsdorfer, LLC. Rocky is a registered patent attorney with 30 years of experience in the field, including both private practice and as a patent examiner with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Rocky’s practice is directed at patent searching, opinions, preparation, and prosecution, representing clients in the technical areas of mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering, and computer science, including artificial intelligence and machine learning.
• Moran, Ricardo

  Schwegman Lundberg & Woessner | Principal

  Ricardo Moran is a registered patent attorney practicing intellectual property law with an emphasis on small-molecule pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals and their formulations; imaging agents; and materials science. Dr. Moran’s practice focuses on chemical and pharmaceutical intellectual property law, including pharmaceutical patent litigation; preparation and prosecution of patent applications; infringement, validity, patentability, and due diligence analyses and opinions; and counseling of clients in a wide range of aspects of intellectual property law.
• Morozova, Yelena

  Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP | Partner

  Yelena Morozova is a partner in the London office of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP / Finnegan Europe LLP. With a professional career spanning across three countries and twenty years of legal experience across two continents, Yelena’s unique background enables her to understand cultural nuances and helps her to advise a broad range of clients across the world. Qualified as a patent attorney in the United States and Europe, Yelena focuses her practice on global patent procurement and portfolio development in all fields of engineering, and most particularly in information technology and software, AI, self-driving vehicles, electric battery systems, and eVTOL aircrafts.
• O'Brien Michelle E.

  The Marbury Law Group | Partner

  Ms. O’Brien has over 20 years of experience representing both domestic and foreign clients of all sizes in the areas of patent procurement and litigation, with an emphasis on chemical and pharmaceutical technologies. Exemplary areas of technical expertise include polymer chemistry; ceramics; glass; food chemistry; cosmetics; paper products; pharmaceuticals, including new chemical entities and formulations; and novel solid forms including polymorphs, cocrystals, and amorphous forms of compounds.
• Osterbur, Stefan D.

  Van Hoven PC | Partner

  Stefan is co-chair of the 2024 AIPLA Patent Prosecution Boot Camp. Stefan is a partner with Van Hoven P.C., and routinely counsels clients on a wide variety of intellectual property matters, including domestic and foreign prosecution of utility and design patent applications, intellectual property portfolio management, infringement and clearance issues, and intellectual property transactions. Stefan's legal practice also focuses on preparing legal opinions concerning patent infringement and validity, trade secrets, and intellectual property litigation. He also has experience in federal court actions and the United States Patent and Trademark Office, such as Reexaminations and Post Grant Review.
• Parker, Usha

  Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, PC | Counsel

  Usha Parker focuses her practice on all aspects of patent prosecution related to electrical and mechanical technologies. Usha helps clients protect their intellectual property from the application drafting stage to prosecution before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and, when needed, through appeal before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). With over a decade of experience working as an engineer at Motorola and at a Navy lab in a variety of areas, Usha effectively and efficiently understands complex inventions. She also prioritizes learning each client’s business goals to develop a strategic approach to protecting their IP. Usha particularly enjoys working with inventors to draft new applications and guide them throughout the patenting process. Usha’s areas of technical experience include wireless communication, electronic circuits and interconnects, automotive sensor and processing systems, consumer and medical devices, semiconductors and integrated circuit design, machine learning, and software.
• Richards, Marc

  Crowell & Moring LLP | Partner

  Marc Richards is a partner with Crowell & Moring LLP – With more than 25 years of experience in IP law, Marc Richards has helped secure and defend the innovations for the world’s largest high performing companies and for the newest high tech start-ups. His current practice focuses on assisting clients in developing and managing patent portfolios in emerging technologies such as, 3D printing, artificial intelligence, block chain technology, and cloud computing. As a seasoned patent attorney, his experience in litigation, patent office inter partes proceedings and patent prosecution translates into confident navigation of complex intellectual property matters.
• Rogers, Jennifer

  Shumaker & Sieffert, P.A | Partner

  Jennifer Rogers is a registered patent attorney and Principal at the law firm of Shumaker & Sieffert, P.A. Her law practice focuses on patent preparation, patent prosecution before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and foreign offices, and client counseling, in the areas of software and electronics. Jennifer has drafted and prosecuted patent applications that cover a wide variety of computer- and software-related technologies, including data compression, computer networks, computer security, mobile devices, radio-frequency identification, and others.
• Stephenson, Adam R.

  Adam R. Stephenson, LTD | Patent Attorney

  Adam Stephenson is founder of Adam R. Stephenson, LTD., a boutique IP firm located in Scottsdale, AZ. Adam is the Chair of the ex parte Appeals subcommittee of the Patent Law Committee of AIPLA, a member of the Appeals to the PTAB Committee of the PTAB Bar Association, and a member of the Patent Office Practice Committee of IPO. Adam’s interest in ex parte appeals led him to co-found a company that developed the first commercial database of ex parte appeals decisions and reflects an interest that began in law school about the use of Examiner statistics to aid patent prosecution work.
• Tripodi II, Paul D.

  Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP | Partner

  Paul is a partner in the Irvine and Los Angeles offices, where his practice focuses on intellectual property (IP) litigation, including patent litigation, trade secret misappropriation, and related licensing and contract disputes. He has been involved in both bench and jury trials in federal district courts, as well as proceedings before various international tribunals, the International Trade Commission (ITC), the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Paul has served as a pro bono prosecutor in nearly a dozen criminal matters, including as lead counsel in numerous related jury trials.
• Van Hoven, Joshua

  Van Hoven PC | Founder

  Josh Van Hoven founded Van Hoven PC to represent companies facing challenging competitive issues at the intersection of law and technology. Josh's primary practice areas are strategic patent portfolio development and technology litigation. Josh works with growing technology companies to develop patent portfolios that stand up to investor, litigation, and licensing scrutiny. Josh also represents companies in technology litigation involving patents, trade secrets, and antitrust.
• Whipps, Brian C.

  Mueting Raasch Group | Partner

  Brian is a partner at Mueting Raasch Group specializing in domestic and international patent portfolio procurement and management. Brian’s technical areas include chemical, small molecule, formulation, chemical engineering, optics, semiconductor, and medical devices.
• Zinkl, Gregory

  Genetech | Senior Patent Counsel

  Gregory Zinkl, Ph.D. Greg is a cell biologist and registered patent attorney practicing intellectual property law with an emphasis on large-molecule pharmaceuticals and associated technologies. He currently works for Genentech, Inc., as Senior Counsel Specialist, Assistant General Counsel, where he is a member of the Platforms Team in the Technology Practice Group. His current practice includes patent portfolio management and strategy, patent prosecution, IP counseling, due diligence, and transactional matters. Greg is admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and the Illinois State Bar and California State Bar (the latter as Registered In-House Counsel (RIHC)).

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