Conflicts in Patent Prosecution: Avoiding the Ethical Pitfalls

This CLE course will guide IP counsel on the unique conflict issues that often arise in patent prosecution. The panel will outline best practices to identify and address the risks and minimize conflicts that can lead to malpractice liability and ethical violations.

Counsel and law firms involved in patent prosecution must carefully evaluate client representations to avoid conflicts that could jeopardize clients' rights, breach fiduciary duties, and violate the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct and accompanying state legal ethics rules. Conflicts may arise when patent attorneys move between firms or develop knowledge in particular areas and seek more clients in those areas, and especially with respect to subject matter conflicts.

In addition to these traditional conflicts of interest, patent prosecutors must also identify and address risks related to the subject matter, client confidentiality, and other troublesome situations such as employers and investors with adverse interests. Furthermore, as these issues converge, practitioners should be mindful of their Duty of Disclosure and Candor obligations to the USPTO.

Listen as our authoritative panel of IP counsel examines the issues of the conflicts that arise in patent prosecutions and outlines best practices for identifying, addressing, and minimizing the potential risks and liability of such conflicts of interest.