The "America Invents Act" and You

Brief:

The focus will be implications of the new Patent Process "First to File" versus the historical "First to Invent". The panel will discuss:
(1) understanding the new process,
(2) becoming aware of the differences and
(3) implications to the independent inventor including opportunities, and potential negatives, associated with the changes.

In short, the goal is to make all attendees aware, informed inventors to avoid any missteps in the future. To paraphrase Sy Syms: "An Educated Inventor Is Our Best Member".

Bio for Mike Blake:

Michael A. Blake has been registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office since 1997. He was admitted to the California bar in 1998 and the Connecticut bar in 2005. Michael graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1989. He received his law degree from the University of Texas in 1996. Prior to attending law school, Michael was employed for four years as a mechanical engineer at Bently Nevada Corporation, now a GE Power Systems business. At Bently Nevada he diagnosed machinery malfunctions and performed optical alignment on various industrial machines, such as turbines, pumps, compressors and reciprocating engines.

Michael is experienced in obtaining patent protection for a variety of technical areas including consumer products, semiconductors, automobile systems, turbine and pump systems, drilling systems, and computer systems.

Before opening his own firm, Michael was an attorney at the patent law firm Cantor Colburn in Connecticut. Prior to that he was an attorney with Sierra Patent Group in Nevada.

Michael is an instructor at Fairfield University where he teaches the graduate level engineering course "Management of Intellectual Property Assets". He is also a board member of the Yankee Invention Expo. Michael is a past vice-president of the Inventors Association of Connecticut (IACT). Additionally, Michael is a member of the Connecticut Bar Association; the State Bar of California; the National Association of Patent Practitioners (NAPP); and the Innovator's Resource Network (IRN).

Law Office of Michael A. Blake, LLC
Registered Patent Attorney
95 High Street, Suite 5, Milford, CT 06460
(203)876-5081 phone (203)876-7195; fax

Bio for Mark Nowotarski

Mark Nowotarski is the President of Markets, Patents & Alliances LLC and is a registered U.S. patent agent. He has served clients in the medical devices, personal safety, consumer products, homeland security, and financial services industries. Mark is a former Associate Director of R&D for Praxair. There he was responsible for the development and successful worldwide introduction of new products into the environmental, electronics, metals and food industries. His initiatives generated over $300 million in sales.

He is also an inventor on 17 US patents and was appointed Corporate Research Fellow for the commercial impact of his inventions.

Mark has a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford and a Bachelor's degree with honors in Aerospace, Mechanical Sciences and Engineering Physics from Princeton. His academic awards include the Sigma Xi award for most outstanding Mechanical Engineering research at Princeton and the Union Carbide Award for Academic Excellence and Leadership in Mechanical Engineering, also at Princeton.

Mark has been quoted as a patent expert in The New York Times, Stamford Advocate, and Bloomberg Wealth Manager. He was also recently interviewed on NEWS 12 regarding the dramatic growth of patents in social media such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Bio for John Yankovich

John Yankovich is a patent attorney with over 35 years of experience in the fields of electronics and patent law. He is presently a partner at the law firm of Ohlandt, Greeley, Ruggiero & Perle, LLP (OGRP), where his practice is primarily directed to preparation and prosecution of patent applications, and drafting of opinions relating to patentability and infringement. His work at OGRP has been concentrated in patents relating to telecommunications, computer systems and peripheral equipment, medical imaging, optics, electrical circuitry, software processes and Internet applications.

Prior to joining OGRP, Mr. Yankovich was employed as an electrical engineer and a software analyst by Lockheed Martin, where he designed hardware and wrote software for radar warning receivers. Prior to that, Mr. Yankovich was employed by Picker/Cambridge Medical Instruments, where he supervised a staff of electronic technicians engaged in production of a variety of medical test and imaging equipment.

Education: Westchester Community College, AS, Business Administration Pace University, BS, Computer Science, Polytechnic University, MS, Electrical Engineering Pace University School of Law, JD

Admissions/Affiliations Connecticut New York Registered Attorney, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Connecticut Intellectual Property Law Association, past President

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Pictures of the panelists are available here: