Original air date: November 12, 2015. Protecting Privilege: Patent Agents within the Bar & Attorneys Beyond the Border
This webinar is about attorney-client privilege as applied to domestic patent agents and non-lawyer patent attorneys outside the United States. Protecting and encouraging open communication between clients and their legal representatives are vital in an effective legal system, and so attorney-client privilege is not only one of the oldest, but also one of the most important, privileges in United States common law. However, how does privilege apply when legal advice concerns a patent matter and the legal representative is a U.S. patent agent (i.e., a member of the patent bar who is not an attorney-at-law)? What if the legal representative is a foreign patent attorney or agent? If you are unsure of the answers, you are not alone. This webinar will explore unsettled and often complex issues surrounding privilege and communications between U.S. patent agents or foreign patent practitioners and their clients. In addition, the webinar will address recent efforts by the USPTO and intellectual property organizations to engage stakeholders in a discussion of privilege for patent practitioners, as well as possible solutions for resolving current inconsistent treatment of privilege rules in the U.S. and abroad.
Presented by: Jeffrey Lewis of Fried Frank; Angela Sebor of GlobeImmune, Inc.; and Anthony Tridico of Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner, LLP.