Meetings
The Inn’s Term runs from September through May.
Next Meeting: September 17, 2025
The San Francisco Bay Area IP Inn of Court invites you to join us for the first meeting of the term, the annual Counsel Cabaret! The Counsel Cabaret will be hosted at the Silicon Valley U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (26 S 4th St, San Jose, CA 95112) on Wednesday, September 17th with the doors opening at 6:00 pm PT.
2023-2024 Term
September 19, 2023: Special Speaker Event with Professor Lisa Larrimore Ouellette @ Wilson Sonsini (Mid-Peninsula)
October 18, 2023: Examining and Addressing Diversity in IP, with Professor Laura Norris of Santa Clara Law, Ann Yang of RefleXion, and Soody Tronson of STLGip
December 4, 2023: Fireside Chat with Judges Corley and Beeler
January 17, 2024: Pupilage Group 1
February 21, 2024: Pupilage Group 2
March 13, 2024: Joint Meeting with the Edward J. McFetridge American Inn of Court and the Lawyers’ Club of San Francisco Inn of Court
April 17, 2024: Pupilage Group 3
May 15, 2024: Pupilage Group 4 and/or USPTO event (San Jose, USPTO Office)
June 2024: our June musical tradition
2022-2023 Term
September 20, 2022: You Give Law A Bad Name (our “June” musical tradition)
October 19, 2022: N.D. Cal. IP developments with Judges Freeman and Davila
November 16, 2022: In-House Counsel Panel Discussion
January 18, 2023: Pssst – Want to Buy an IPR? Joinder, Ethics, and Sanctions Before the PTAB
February 15, 2023: Coming and Going: Trade Secrets in Employee Onboarding and Exiting
March 15, 2023: Joint Meeting with the Edward J. McFetridge American Inn of Court and the Lawyers’ Club of San Francisco Inn of Court (Pupilage Group 3)
April 19, 2023: Pupilage Group 4
May 17, 2023: An evening with the USPTO PTAB
June 2022: Inn planning meeting
2021-2022 Term
September 22, 2021 (4th Wednesday): IP: The Year in Review and in Preview
October 20, 2021: Slicing the boloney mighty thin – SRI v. Cisco and the standards for inducement, willfulness, and enhanced damages
November 17, 2021: NDAs aren’t patent licenses – Kannuu v. Samsung, NDA language, and the (in)effectiveness of forum selection clauses
January 26, 2022: (Not-so-)public comments on the draft FRAND licensing policy statement
February 16, 2022: “Impact:” Impairment or Improvement? Assessing the State of Patent Eligibility Jurisprudence
March 16, 2022: Joint Meeting with the Edward J. McFetridge American Inn of Court and the Lawyers’ Club of San Francisco Inn of Court – ABOTA’s Civility Matters
April 20, 2022: Joint meeting with the Ingram Inn – Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me!
May 18, 2022: dinner and discussion
2020-2021 Term
September 16, 2020: IP: The Year in Review and in Preview
October 21, 2020: BeerBrella v. SudShade: a time-traveling meditation on willful infringement, privilege waiver, and life.
November 18, 2020: A Look At Discretionary Denials of Inter Partes Review Petitions at the PTAB
January 27, 2021 (4th Wednesday): Ethical Issues in Remote Depositions
February, 2021: A NIL-Sum Game between Student Athletes and University Athletics?
March 2021: cancelled
April 21, 2021: An Evening with the Northern District
May 11, 2021: Joint Meeting with the Giles S. Rich American Inn of Court (2d Tuesday)
2019-2020 Term
September 18, 2019: IP: The Year in Review and in Preview
October 16, 2019: Infringer’s Profits in Trademark Cases: Willful Infringement Required? Romag Fasteners v. Fossil
November 20, 2019: Show Me the Money: Ethical Considerations in Third-Party Patent Litigation Financing
January 15, 2020: Patent Mediation: BB8 v. The Beachball
February 19, 2020: Dude, Where’s My IP? And Pass the Nachos.
March 11, 2020: [cancelled] Joint Meeting with the Edward J. McFetridge American Inn of Court and the Lawyers’ Club of San Francisco Inn of Court
April 2020: [cancelled]
May 2020: The State of PTAB Practice (with Judges Ankenbrand, Boudreau, and Zado)
June 10, 2020: U Can’t Touch This (our June musical tradition)
2018-2019 Term
September 26, 2018: IP: The Year in Review and in Preview
October 2018: IP and the Supreme Court
November 2018: The Supreme Court Return Mail Case: Can the Government File Petitions to Invalidate Patents in the PTAB?
January 2019: Ninth Circuit Don’t Give A #%@&! Gordon v. Drape Creative (the Honey Badger case)
February 2019: From Practice to the Bench: What I Wish I Knew!
March 2019: Joint Meeting with the Edward J. McFetridge American Inn of Court and the Lawyers’ Club of San Francisco Inn of Court
April 2019: Mediation and Arbitration of IP Disputes
May 2019: PTAB Advocacy and Practice (with Judges Turner, Zado, and Trock)
June 2019: IP Lawma Mia! (our June musical tradition)
2017-2018 Term
September 2017: IP: The Year in Review and in Preview
October 2017: Should I Stay or Should I Go: Anticipating Oil States
November 2017: TC Heartland: Aftermath
January 2018: Everyday Ethics in IP Practice
February 2018: The Fate of Sovereign Immunity and the PTAB (To be or not to be, that is the question!)
March 2018: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do: Attorneys’ Ethical and Legal Obligations (Joint Meeting with the Edward J. McFetridge American Inn of Court and the Lawyers’ Club of San Francisco Inn of Court)
April 2018: PTAB Advocacy and Practice (with Judges Clements, Zado, and Beamer)
May 2018: Does Patent or Copyright Issuance Defeat Trade Secret Protection?
June 2018: Law, American Style! (our June musical tradition)
2016-2017 Term
September 2016: IP: The Year in Review and in Preview
October 2016: Objective Reasonableness – Still at Play for Willfulness?
November 2016: Flitter v. Flintstone: employee mobility and the DTSA
January 2017: Lee v. Tam: Disparagement under the Lanham Act
February 2017: Football, Video Games, Avatars, the Right of Publicity and the First Amendment
March 2017: Post-Marshall plan? TC Heartland: what’s next.
April 2017: Judicial Panel: District Court Judges Susan Illston and William Orrick and Superior Court Judge Michael Markman, moderated by Judge Zimmerman
May 2017: Life Technologies v. Promega trial presentation
June 2017: A Crazy Little Thing Called Law (our June musical tradition)