MIDWEST INVENTORS CONFERENCE 7

January 21-22, 2005 -  Moot Courtroom, Washington University in St. Louis

(HERE For Online Registration)  We encourage you to register in advance to assure a seat.  Tickets are $50 for 2 days, $35 for one day or $10 for one session.  Law students are admitted for free.

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" IDEAS INTO INCOME "

Time

 

 Topic Speaker
DAY 1 THE BEGINNING STAGES OF COMMERCIALIZING IDEAS  

7:00an-4:30pm

Registration, Check-In, View display tables and network with other inventors

 
7:00am-8:00am

Vendor/Inventor Exposition - Meet speakers, view exhibits, network with other attendees, and view Anheuser Busch Hall.

  
7:00am-8:00am Continental Breakfast/Networking - Enjoy breakfast while you prepare for a thrilling day of activities.  

8:00am-8:10am

Welcome & VIP Introductions - A brief welcome, a description of the Illinois Innovators & Inventors and how to contact them and when they meet, and introduction of the emcee.

President. Illinois Innovators and Inventors, Inc.
8:10am-8:30am Keynote Address#1 "The Opening Monologue"  (Overview of the Program), The managing attorney of a virtual law firm specializing in patent, trademark and copyright law and based in Metro East is our Master of Ceremonies.  He will describe the format for the program and the speakers and how the program will proceed.  This conference has a casual look and feel of a late night talk show, to make the beginning inventor feel comfortable so that maximum learning can occur.  We want you to understand that the speakers are real people, honestly dedicated to helping you the beginning inventor travel the road to success with your invention

Bruce "Leno" Burdick, Registered Pat. Atty &.   Master of Ceremonies

Owner, Founder and Managing Attorney of Burdick Law Firm, Alton, IL and St. Louis, MO, webmaster for www.burdlaw.com intellectual property law portal, Treasurer of Illinois Innovators & Inventors and founder of the Midwest Inventors Club.
8:30am-8:45am Coffee Break  
8:45am-9:45am

010.jpg (34046 bytes)Success Story I - TORSION TAMER(r) roll tarp accessory.  Speaking  of the "road" to success, out first guests are a truck dispatcher and a rural welder.  They have an interesting real-life story of the journey of two novice inventors through the early stages of development, patenting  and marketing, of being pressured to sell out their idea cheaply and how they have persevered to get it to market with all their patent rights intact.  This story of how to do it right sets the stage for all that is to follow in the program.  These two inventors did it right and so can you.  Learn how.  This alone is worth your registration fee. 

 

Henry Leischner and Patrick Cagle

Co-Owners

Honeypoint, LLC, Arenzville, IL

 
9:45am-10:00am

Coffee Break - Speakers Available for Questions

  
10:00-10:30

Beginning the Process the Wrong Way- The Invention Promotion Victims.  We will interview one or more disappointed customers of invention promoters to find out how the invention promotion scam works and why almost any enthusiastic inventor can fall prey to it.  Hearing this speaker may save you literally thousands of dollars and help you avoid years of frustration and disappointment.

 The name will be anonymous to protect this victim against vexatious SLAPP litigation, a favorite weapon of the invention scammers.
10:30-10:45

Beginning the Process - Avoid the Scams Our emcee will tell of the many other scam victims that he has  witnessed.  He will tell you how to spot them and how to avoid them with many real-life examples.  You will hear how the patent attorney for the leading invention promotion company has been disbarred and how FTC has through "Operation Mousetrap" caught several prominent invention scammers.  You will learn of TV investigative reporters who have caught scammers in action.  Miss this important advice and it could cost you thousands of dollars, hours of frustration, and the ultimate commercial failure of your invention.  There will be an important announcement at the end of this session which will give a glimmer of hope to countless victims of these highly profitable scams

Bruce Burdick

Registered Patent Attorney
10:45am-11:00am

Coffee Break- Speakers Available for Questions

  
11:00-11:30 Beginning Considerations for Inventors.  If it appears to be patentable, how can you protect it and what is your first step to income? Provisional patent applications, Utility Patents, Marketing Considerations, Will It Sell, Avoiding Scams, Timing of Filing.  A patent agent will be interviewed to tell you about your options as an inventor   A very vital segment of the program for inventors.

  Daniel Klotzer

Patent Agent

www.patentwork.com

Chesterfield, St. Louis, MO
11:30m-12:00pm

PTDL - Patent & Trademark Depositary Library - A great free resource for inventors  The director of the Patent Depositary Libraries in St Louis (at the St. Louis Public Library at 1300 Olive St. in downtown St. Louis) is the past President of the association of Patent and Trademark Depositary Librarians and an expert at providing free help to inventors.  She will help Midwest inventors understand what the Patent Depositary Libraries have to offer them and give entrepreneurs good basic advice on how they can take best advantage of and best utilize the many free services PTDL offer the inventor or small business..

Carol Giles - Straight

Director, Patent & Trademark Depositary Library, St. Louis Public Library
12:15pm-12:30pm

Panel of Morning Speakers Available for Questions

  
12:30pm--1:30pm

Lunch Program

Success Story 2 Don't Fret Products -  An inventor who conceived his invention at age 6, filed a patent application at age 11, obtained a patent at age 13, and now at 16 has two companies, two websites and a half dozen products.   It is a truly inspirational story of an amazing young inventor from the home of Microsoft, near Seattle who did it the right way.  His enthusiasm for his invention has made the difference.  If a 6 year old can accomplish this road to success the right way for 10 years, you should be encouraged about what you can do

Colored Dots to Show you the position for you fingers to play notes on  the guitar.

Nicholas Ravagni

1:30pm-2:00pm Visit Exhibition and Network, Speakers Available for Questions  
 2:00pm-2:30pm Contacting a Patent Attorney is Easy  A local patent attorney or two will discuss what the initial visit is like, what it costs, what you can expect and how simple and easy it really is.  This step is often the key to success in the process of turning ideas into income, and we will explain why.  You will see that patent attorneys are real people and they are easy to talk to and genuinely interested in your success.  You need a mentor and a patent attorney is a professional who is trained to mentor you in the beginning stages of your invention's life.

St. Louis Patent Attorneys

 

 
 

2:30pm-3:00pm

What if your idea is not patentable?  How can you protect it? One of the top trademark and copyright lawyers in St. Louis will discuss will discuss some of the other forms of protection such as copyrights, trademarks, trade dress, franchising, know how, trade secrets, marketing services, trade associations, etc.

Carol Hamilton, Esq.

Partner at Polster, Lieder, Woodruff & Lucchesi, L.C. , St. Louis , MO.
3:15pm-4:00pm Success Story 3  US REEL A second inventor who has made it successfully through the initial stages and has obtained second level financing and has his products in very prominent places will be our third inventor guest to tell how he did it.  Fred Kemp was a homebuilder, and came up with a new fishing reel.  His  unconventional lightweight spinning reel that uses a large diameter spool for smoother casting and less line twist has been a major breakthrough for bass fishermen.   It was such a fine improvement that noted fishing authority Ray Scott put his name to it and it became the RAY SCOTT SUPERCASTER 225  fishing reel.   Hear from the inventor, Fred Kemp how he went from beginning inventor to success in the highly competitive fishing reel market. Ray Scott gave George Bush  one and he liked it so much that he ordered another.

Fred Kemp Founder and CEO
4:00pm-5:00pm First Day Summary  The first day panel of speakers will be available to let the audience ask any questions of general interest. all speakers
 5:00pm-6:00pm Vendor & Inventor Expo & Networking all attendees
DAY 2 PROTECTING THE INITIAL SUCCESSES AND BUILDING THE BUSINESS FOR PROFIT  
0800am-4:30pm Registration Open  Exhibits Open  Networking  Meet Speakers  
800am-9:00am Continental Breakfast  
9:00am-9:45am

Intellectual Property Simplified and the Intellectual Property &. Technology Law Curriculum at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law.

  Our Conference co-host, Professor McManis,  will open the second day of our seminar with a brief recap of Intellectual Property and some guiding principles to help simplify and distinguish the various forms of Intellectual Property.  Professor McManis has taught hundreds of patent attorneys and thus knows how to convey the essence of these laws in an easy to understand manner.  Professor Mc Manis will then describe briefly the new Entrepreneurship curricula that is being established by the Washington Univ. School of Law.  This new curricula is something that may well be of interest to our entrepreneurial audience for this conference, so we hope our registrants take advantage of this opportunity to hear about the new curricula.

 

Charles McManis, Thomas and Karole Green 
Professor of Law and 
Director of the JD &LLM Curriculums in  Intellectual Property and 
Technology Law  Washington University in St. Louis
9:45am-10:15am Coffee Break  
10:15am-11:00am International Protection of Intellectual Property.  WIPO, Paris Convention, PCT, Madrid Protocol , Berne Convention  For this segment and the following segment, we assume the inventor has had success, like US Reels and Fred Kemp or like Exertron and Robert Kissel.  Now comes the possibility of exporting the product, the wonder of how to protect the "jewels of the company" overseas and prepare for international success.  Brian is managing partner of the St. Louis branch office of one of the nation's largest and foremost patent firms and thus deals every day with major international companies engaged in protecting their Intellectual Property on an international scale.  Bryan is an adjunct professor of intellectual property law at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, and is a frequent lecturer on virtually every aspect of intellectual property law both to the general public and to patent attorneys, as well.  Bryan knows how to make complex topics simple and easy to understand.

Bryan Wheelock, JD Registered Patent Atty., Principal, Harness Dickey Law Fir, St. Louis (Clayton), MO

 
11:00am-11:45am

Enforcement of Rights  Once you become successful with a unique product, the world not only comes to you door but comes with competing products.   Yes, now come the copycats and look-alikes, and with them the bittersweet need to enforce your rights,   One of the top patent litigation experts in the country will be interviewed  about what can be done in enforcement.  Greg literally "wrote the book" on Patent Litigation, since he is the prime author of one of the leading treatises on Patent Litigation.  He is frequently called by patent litigators to testify as an expert on patents and patent litigation.   Greg is also an Adjunct Professor of Patent Law at Washington University in St. Louis, which has one of the top patent law curriculums in the country.  Greg will give you, as an inventor, the comfort of knowing that if the need arises there are attorneys out there who can go, and have successfully gone, toe-to-toe with the largest companies in the world fighting in for you, the inventor. 

speaking on enforcement of rights will be

Samuel Digirolamo, JD Registered Patent Atty.

Chairman, Intellectual Property Law Department, Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin Law Firm, St. Louis & Kanasas City, MO

 

11:45am-12:30pm Can a Small Inventor Fight General Motors?  What if you are a relatively small business and the copycat is a major multinational company with billions of dollars in assets.  How can you compete in Court against such an overwhelming financial disadvantage and effectively assert your patent against a major company.  It will be most encouraging to beginning and experienced inventors alike to hear that it can be and has been successfully done more often than you might think.  A nationally known contingent fee patent litigator who makes a nice living taking on the big guys will describe some of his cases and the criteria he applies to determine whether to take on a new case.  If you face this problem, this talk will be of inestimable value and encouragement to you.  Our speaker well known to patent attorneys across the nation for his   "Litigation Corner" articles in "Intellectual Property Today" . speaking on contingent fee litigation will be

Joseph Hosteny, Partner Niro, Scavone, Haller & Niro --  Chicago, IL
12:30pm-1:15pm Group Director, US Patent and Trademark Office  Jon Doll, is Special Assistant to Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property, Jon Dudas, and is speaking as his designated substitute.  John Doll isGroup Director of the Biotech Examining Art Unit at the Patent Office, and is thus directly responsible for the day to day examining operations of the Patent Office in the areas of .  A lot has happened this past year at the "PTO" including a move of the entire office and its 7,000 employees, a major restructuring of patent fees and increased steps toward patent harmonization.  In addition, Director Doll will tell us what happens to an application when it arrives at the US Patent Office and how that has changed with the advent of electronic filing and scanning and the move to a paperless file system. John Doll

Group Dir., US Pat. Off.

Special Assistant to the Undersecretary of Commerce and Director of the US Patent and Trademark Office
1:15pm-1:20pm Special Lifetime Achievement Award to Donald Erwin Weder Jon Dudas, Undersecretary of Commerce and Director of the US Patent and Trademark Office

 

1:20pm-2:00pm

 

 Success Story 4 - Building A Business for Profit Through the Use of Patents.  Don Weder, Chairman of the Board, President and Founder of  Highland Supply Corporation  in nearby Highland, Illinois, personifies the pinnacle of success in the  patent business.   He has  many, many, many patents  Don has used the patent system to its fullest extent to literally dominate an entire industry, the floral supply industry.  Don will tell how he got started and how he kept going to achieve such incredible success and give his advice to starting inventors.  His enthusiasm for patenting is contagious and he wants to share his love for the patent system with others.  His sons Andrew Weder and David Weder both have had the distinction at one time of being the youngest patentee in the USA. At the conclusion of the conference, Don will be receiving a special Lifetime Achievement Award from the Director of the US Patent & Trademark Office.  He was honored last year as the recipient of the 1st Annual "Donald E Weder" Midwest Inventor of the Year award, an award that will forever bear his name as a lasting testament and memorial honor to this outstanding  American  inventor who proves Midwesterners can be great inventors. Don Weder and Andrew Weder
2:00pm-2:30pm

Panel Available for Questions and Answers

 Panel of speakers
2:30m-4:00pm

Special Lifetime Achievement Award to Phil Curry

2ndAnnual Donald E. Weder Midwest Inventor of the Year

and Cocktail Hour sponsored by United Missouri Bank

John Doll  and

Donald E. Weder

 

MIDWEST INVENTORS CLUB, nfpc

I3 Illinois Innovators & Inventors, nfpc

Washington University in St. Louis , School of Law

Event Planning Solutions, Inc., Edwardsville, IL

For details on this MIC7 , email Mr. Bruce Burdick at MIC7@burdlaw.com