15-16/08/2019 – Chicago/St. Charles Workshop on IP for Plants

Testimonials:
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Workshop:
In August 2019, the CIOPORA Academy will return to the US with a two-day event including a full-day/five-module Workshop on IP for plants (Aug 15), the traditional networking event (Aug 15), and a business excursion at the Ball’s premises in West Chicago (Aug 16).
Registration:
Registration closedBy registering you are agreeing to our Terms & Conditions
Book your accommodation at a special rate!
Until July 23, Baker Hotel is currently keeping a block of guest rooms for the CIOPORA Academy group. The CIOPORA Academy participants receive a special rate of $ 95.00++ per night incl. continental breakfast.
To receive the CIOPORA Academy group rate, please indicate your group affiliation at the time of the booking. Room reservations can be undertaken via phone or email:
Phone: +1 630 584 2100 Keyword: “The CIOPORA Academy, Aug 15”
Email: Download the reservation form.
Please indicate “The CIOPORA Academy, Aug 15” in the email subject line.
When?
August 15 – 16, 2019
Where?
Hotel Baker
100 W Main St
St. Charles
IL 60174, USA
T: +1 630 584 2100
http://www.hotelbaker.com
Aug 15 – Workshop program:
08:30 – 09:00 – Arrival & registration
09:00 – Module 1: U.S. Utility Patents for vegetatively reproduced plants by Audrey Charles, Patent Agent and Trademark Administrator at Ball Horticultural Company
10:15 – Coffee break
10:45 – Module 2: Plant Variety Protection for vegetatively reproduced varieties in the USA by Travis Bliss, Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney PC
12:00 – Networking lunch
13:15 – Module 3: UPOV, the Breeder’s Exemption, and U.S. Plant Patent Law by Matthew Chivvis, Partner at Morrison & Foerster LLP, USA
14:30 – Coffee break
15:00 – Module 4: Patent for plant innovations in the EU – new developments by Fleur Tuinzing-Westerhuis, Houthoff, The Netherlands
16:15 – Coffee break
16:45 – Module 5: The European Court of Justice ruling on New Breeding Techniques and its consequences for the horticultural business by Fleur Tuinzing-Westerhuis, Houthoff, The Netherlands
18:00 – End of the workshop
19:15 – Group meets in the hotel lobby, leaves for the dinner venue
19:30 – Networking Dinner at Francesca’s By The River, St. Charles
Aug 16 – Visit at Ball, West Chicago:
The visit is free-of-charge, generously sponsored by Ball!
09:00 – Arrival at Ball premises
09:00 – 10:00 – Welcome by Anna Ball, CEO & President. Brief overview of the Ball Horticultural Company; Presentation about new R&D initiative at Ball and the importance of IP protection
10:00 – 11:00 – Tours of the Ball’s Seed Processing Center and Seed Distribution Center
11:00 -11:15 – Coffee break
11:15 – 12:30 – Tour of Ball gardens
12:30 – Lunch on the grounds
1:30 – END of program, the group returns to the Hotel Baker by bus.
Meet the speakers
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Audrey CharlesPatent Agent and Trademark Administrator at Ball Horticultural Company, USA
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Travis Bliss, Ph.D.
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Matthew A. ChivvisPartner at Morrison & Foerster LLP, San Francisco, USA
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Fleur Tuinzing-Westerhuis

Audrey Charles

Travis Bliss, Ph.D.
Travis Bliss
Partner at Panitch Schwarze Belisario & Nadel LLP
Travis Bliss counsels a variety of clients ranging from individual inventors to small businesses to Fortune 500 companies in nearly all aspects of Intellectual Property law. Travis prepares and prosecutes patent applications; litigates patent, Trademark, and other IP disputes in federal and state courts; represents clients before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board; counsels clients in a variety of IP issues, including due diligence, FTO, infringement, and patentability; and prepares and negotiates IP licenses. From a technology standpoint, Travis’s practice falls largely within the life sciences field and also includes a large focus on novel plant varieties in the agriculture, horticulture, and cannabis/hemp industries. Travis has been a lawyer member of CIOPORA since 2014.

Matthew A. Chivvis
Matthew Chivvis protects his clients’ intellectual property and defends his clients wrongly accused of infringement. His hearing and trial experience is extensive. Intellectual Asset Management 1000 remarked that Matthew is “a skilled technical lawyer and brief writer who can handle large and nuanced cases.” He has litigated patent matters in many of the top patent venues throughout the United States.
Matthew is a registered patent attorney, and his considerable experience includes practicing before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, especially in inter partes and post-grant review proceedings. He also regularly advises clients on plant and agriculture intellectual property matters, including strategic use of plant patents, plant-variety protection certificates, and trademark rights.

Fleur Tuinzing-Westerhuis
Fleur Tuinzing-Westerhuis
Counsel at Houthoff
Fleur Tuinzing-Westerhuis is a Counsel at Houtfoff (The Netherlands) and specializes in technology-related Intellectual Property matters, with focus on Patents and Plant Variety Rights. In her daily practice, Fleur represents a wide variety of domestic and international companies that are active in technology-intensive business sectors, such as agrifood and biotech. Fleur is an experienced patent litigator and is one of a handful of lawyers in the Netherlands with extensive experience in litigation relating to national and Community Plant Variety Rights. Over the past seventeen years, Fleur has litigated in various cases before the Dutch courts, the Dutch Board of Plant Varieties and the CPVO. Furthermore, Fleur has broad experience in advising on commercial contracts, including R&D agreements, license and technology transfer agreements.