Panel Discussions:
Advances in IP Rights and Case Law related to Artificial Intelligence in the Oil and Gas Industry
1 Hour Panel Discussion
Artificial Intelligence has become a hot-button topic recently, seemingly infiltrating every aspect of technology and of consumers’ everyday lives. While AI has received a lot of attention lately, its history in the traditional oil and gas industry is long and varied. Its first use can be traced all the way back to the 1970s, when producers began using AI to determine supply and demand models that would dictate exploration, production kick-off, and production wind-down amongst assets located worldwide. More recently AI is being used to make exploration, drilling and production safer, more reliable and more efficient, cutting down on human error and allowing for production to be more environmentally friendly. This technology can now be found throughout the entire upstream and downstream areas of the oil and gas industry.
This panel discussion will look far past the 1970s use of AI in the oil and gas industry, and will discuss current, new uses of AI in O&G. The panel speakers will represent both oilfield services industry players’ views and usage of AI, and producers’ newer uses of AI. The panel’s outside counsel speaker will offer advice on how to achieve the best possible claims on the usage of AI for various positive outcomes, and will explain the importance and ability of O&G patentees to expand their claims focus outside of oil & gas for newly developed technologies that can benefit many industries. Recent case law affecting the ability to obtain or enforce oil and gas related AI intellectual property will also be discussed.
Speakers
Moderator: Shayne Phillips, MS, MBA, US Patent Agent, Director, Analytics Solutions, Anaqua (former Senior Portfolio Manager, Intellectual Asset Management, Halliburton)
Panelists:
Torie Reinhart, Global IP Counsel, CGG
Benjamin Matthew, Partner, Novak Druce Carroll LLP
Candice Landry, PhD, MBA, Technology Commercialization Manager, Chevron (former)
Marlene Valderrama, MBA, US Patent Agent, Senior Portfolio Manager, Intellectual Asset Management, Halliburton
Intellectual Property Considerations in the Agricultural Space
1 Hour Panel Discussion
Food security and scarcity, combined with an ever-growing global population, makes intellectual property rights and the advancement of technology related to the agricultural industry, a subject that requires a considered and nuanced approach. Technologies related to this industry include further mechanization of the planting, maintaining and production of crops and other foodstuffs, as well as the development of new plant species and varieties that are able to produce higher yields, be more weather tolerant, and provide nutrients critical to their intended consumer population. However, there has now come about another side to consider regarding IP in the agricultural industry, this being the subject of ag-related data creation, data rights, and data sharing, and how this information can impact agricultural industry players’ trademark and branding rights.
This panel discussion will take into account agricultural industry consumer and in-industry-generated data creation and capture trends, and will speak to company and consumer rights to their data by geographical region (for example, European GDPR concerns), and how best to structure collaboration contracts where data creation, storage and usage may come into play. The panelists will also speak about branding and trademark rights when data collected about one’s own organization and/or consumers may put their good brands and good marks at risk if this data is used improperly. Considerations on how to mitigate these risks will be discussed and this panel is represented by both outside counsel and inside counsel actively working in the agricultural industry.
Speakers
Moderator: Heather Antoine, Partner, Stubbs Alderton & Markiles, LLP
Panelists:
Kevin Tamm, Senior Counsel, SI Group
Mark Leonard, General Counsel, Sunsweet Growers Inc.
Vincent Bergeron, Partner, Robic
Licensing Healthcare Related Technologies Coming out of the Incubator Environment
1 Hour Panel Discussion (Partial ETHICS Content)
Houston, Texas is home to a number of technology incubators and open collaboration spaces geared towards helping start-ups move their technologies ever closer to commercialized products. Two spaces in Houston, in particular; Johnson & Johnson’s J-Labs and the Texas Medical Center’s TMC Innovation (formerly TMCx), focus their work on healthcare related start-ups. Incubators, accelerators and open labs provide inexpensive, vital work spaces and equipment to inventors with new ideas at the earliest stages of their development. Another perk for start-ups utilizing incubators are on-staff experts that can help these entrepreneurs further flesh out critical aspects of their technology as they work within the lab space. Careful documentation of these experts’ input in specific terms thus becomes important when start-ups get close to graduating from the incubator space and are ready to begin marketing their technologies.
Serious conflicts of interest can quickly arise as far as inventorship and ownership of a start-up’s intellectual property is concerned, when incubator on-staff technical experts become irreversibly intertwined with the original founder(s)’ technology. Additionally, conflicts may also arise depending upon how incubator/start-up contracts are drafted, with many contracts specifying that the incubator’s commercialization arm gets first right of refusal of any products arising from the relationship. This arrangement may put the start-up at risk of being forced to accept commercialization terms unfavorable to them. Alternatively, if the incubator decides to pass on the technology and the start-up chooses to then pursue outside funding or commercialization opportunities, the industry-standard known right of first refusal by the incubator may continue to hamper the start-up’s ability to generate much needed capital or sales. This panel will discuss how to potentially avoid these conflicts in an ethical manner and will give real-world examples for contract negotiation that will put the start-up on a more level footing with the lab spaces they choose to work with.
Speakers
Moderator: Kilian Scharli, Partner, MLL Legal
Panelists:
Eric Garcia, IP Counsel, Medtronic
Sherry Rollo, Partner, Hahn Loeser
Brad Rossacci, Creative Director, Accenture
Merri Moken, Attorney, Paul Hastings
Updates to Claims Attainment and Rights Enforcement of High-Tech Inventions Worldwide
1 Hour Panel Discussion
As truly groundbreaking technology continues to be invented at a rapid pace recently, patent offices from around the world are often having to modify their definitions of patentable subject matter; and are also having to change the way their patent office examiners determine which aspects of this cutting-edge technology are worthy of enforceable claims. While there’s always been debate about what constitutes “high-tech”, the list of leading-edge subject areas maintained by the Licensing Executives Society (LES) is a good place to start. LES defines high-tech as encompassing: Aerospace, Computer Hardware, Communications, Consumer Electronics, Digital, Mobile Devices, Firmware, Medical Devices/High-Tech Focused Healthcare, Telecom, Semiconductor, Nanotechnology, Software, and Non-Aerospace Transportation.
This panel discussion will choose many of the aforementioned high-tech areas and discuss evolving patent office eligible subject-matter guidelines, as well as provide tips and tricks for patent practitioners on how to craft the broadest claims possible related to high-tech inventions. Additionally, this panel’s speakers represent professionals from around the world, allowing them to give the audience a global perspective on this topic (with the speakers hailing from Europe, Canada, the United States and Latin America). Finally, the panelists will point out any recent case law that may have an impact on the ability to obtain or enforce claims related to high-tech inventions in geographies critical to companies inventing in this space.
Speakers
Moderator: Patrick Heckeler, Partner, Bardehle Pagenberg
Panelists:
Robin Evans, Deputy Commissioner for Patents, US Patent & Trademark Office
Natalie Raffoul, Managing Partner, Brion Raffoul
Octavio Espejo, Partner, Becerril Coca & Beccerril, SC
Please see below for a list of recommended hotels near our events. Note that the below listing does not guarantee availability and that many rooms may be sold out due to another event in the area. All room reservations are first come, first served. We strongly recommend booking early for the best rates and availability, since prices fluctuate based on room availability.
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