Patent Protection for Internet-Based Ideas - A View from Yahoo!
September 3, 2008

SPEAKER:
Duane Valz
Vice President & Associate General Counsel, Global Patents
Yahoo! Inc.

WEBINAR OVERVIEW:
As the number of patent applications related to computer-implemented inventions continues to grow, it is clear that such patents are playing an increasingly important role in software and Internet marketplaces. Smart companies must respond to this growing concern by taking the necessary steps to avoid risk and maintain a competitive edge within their industries.

Yahoo! Inc. has been successful at patenting its existing and emerging technologies on the Internet.

As the nascent Internet industry continues to grow and develop, Internet-related products and services are becoming ever more sophisticated and encompass a widening array of technologies. Beyond basic “business method” patents, Internet companies have been successful at obtaining protection for hardware, software, user interfaces and various technologies for propagating content and services.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

•    Existing and emerging technologies and business models on the Internet
•    Exemplar patents featuring different approaches to protecting key elements of such technologies and business models
•    Disclosure and claim strategy: contending with new Section 101 and 103 considerations
•    International considerations

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Duane is presently VP & Associate General Counsel, Global Patents at Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO). In that role, he leads a team of attorneys and engineers responsible for the company’s worldwide invention harvesting, patent filings and portfolio management. Additionally, Duane advises on IP-related litigation, licensing, policy and strategic corporate development matters.

Duane has counseled a wide variety of emerging growth, private and publicly held companies on intellectual property and technology matters. Immediately prior to joining Yahoo! in May 2006, Duane served as Director of Intellectual Property for Quantum Corporation (NYSE: QTM), a producer of high capacity data storage systems and devices. In that role he oversaw execution of the company's IP creation, management and enforcement strategies. Before joining Quantum (a former client) in February 2003, Duane maintained a private practice providing legal services and strategic business counseling to executives, emerging growth and public companies in the software, hardware, Internet and entertainment industries.

Duane began his career as an attorney with the law offices of Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin in San Francisco, CA, where he was an organizer of the firm's Intellectual Property Practice Group. Duane received his J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Hall), serving as Submissions Editor of the Berkeley Technology Law Journal. He also earned his B.A., with Honors & Distinction in General Scholarship, from the University of California at Berkeley.

Recording:  $259