At the end of September, September 26-29, the Licensing Executives Society is hosting its annual meeting in Chicago at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers.  The meeting, themed "Deals, Deals and more Deals" will focus upon IP’s critical role in business strategies and ways to use IP to maximize deals and profitability.  There are an impressive array of presentations and workshops, headlined by the following very impressive plenary sessions, as described by the Society:

  • The SuperFreakonomics of IP Licensing – Do Patents Slow Innovation? – Steven Levitt, co-author of the New York Times best-seller Freakonomics and its recent follow-up SuperFreakonomics, will present a keynote address on the unintended impact of the patent system on innovation. He will also discuss his groundbreaking research on the effects of incentives on economics and market behavior as they relate to innovation. A book signing will follow Mr. Levitt’s presentation.
  • Is the U.S. Patent System Under Siege: Congress, the PTO, the FTC and the Supreme Court -The Honorable Judge Paul Michel, retired Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit will look at the many challenges facing the U.S. patent system including the reform legislation currently pending in Congress, the USPTO’s efforts to reduce backlogs and improve the quality of issued patents, and increased scrutiny by the Supreme Court and FTC.
  • IP as a National Responsibility: A Global Outlook for Strategies, Policies and Laws – Economist and Former Vice Presidential Candidate Pat Choate, will join John Whealan, Associate Dean of Intellectual Property Law at George Washington University Law School and Suzanne Michel, Deputy Director of FTC’s Office of Policy Planning to discuss how the United States, Europe, Asia and developing countries might leverage IP to secure future wealth and what this could mean for commercial collaboration across national boundaries.
  • IP100 Recap: IP Hot Topics 2010 – Over the course of 2010, LES has hosted innovative IP100 forums comprised of high-level IP leaders who have analyzed several hot IP topics. This panel will revisit the topics, review previous findings and discuss what we’ve learned from the world-class IP100 panels about best practices in licensing. Key ‘take-aways’ will be included in a white paper available after the meeting for attendees.

Click here for registration information.  I plan to attend, and hope to see you there.