Patent Conference 14

Overview

The Patent Conference (“PatCon”) is the largest annual conference for patent scholars in the world. The conference is a cooperative effort among the University of Kansas School of Law, Northwestern Law School, University of San Diego School of Law and Boston College Law School to hold an annual conference where patent scholars in law, economics, management science and other disciplines can share their research.

Registration

The conference is open to anyone. There is no cost to attend.

Schedule

Thursday, April 9, 2026

6-8 p.m. | Welcome Dinner at Lawrence Beer Company

Friday, April 10, 2026

8:30-9 a.m. | Check-in and Breakfast at Green Hall

9-9:30 a.m. | Welcome

• Chancellor Douglas Girod
• Andrew W. Torrance, David Olson & Dave Schwartz

9:30-10:15 a.m. | Keynote Address

• Fredrick Shelton IV

10:15-10:30 a.m. | Break

10:30-11:30 a.m. | Panel on Patent Practice

• Crissa Cook (Hovey Williams)
• Greg Skoch (Hovey Williams)
• Kent Erickson (AVEK IP)
• Anna Quinn (AVEK IP)

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Session One

• Jake Sherkow
  • “Patent Eligibility, Secure Computing, and Genomic Data-Sharing”
• Lisa Ouellette & Jason D. Reinecke
  • “Examining Patent Disclosures”
• Bernard Chao
  • “Profits Beyond Scope:  The Case against the Convoyed Sales Doctrine”

12:30-1:30 p.m. | Lunch

• Patent Lifetime Achievement Award
• Dietmar Harhoff
• Address: “Markets for technology and licensing – empirical evidence and policy options”          

1:30-2:30 p.m. | Session Two

• Andrew Michaels
  • “Mistaken Belief Defenses in Patent Law”
• Francisco Tschen
  • “Thaler’s Mistake: The Patent Act Protects Discovery Too”
• Jason Rantanen
  • “Human Mistakes”

2:30-3:30 p.m. | Session Three

• David Schwartz, Jason D. Reinecke & Christopher B. Seaman
  • “Bifurcation: An Experiment from Patent Law”
• Michael Woeppel, Elif Guler & Alexander Montag
  • “How Does Patent Protection Affect Venture Capital Investment?”
• Timothy Holbrook
  • “ANDA Litigation and Article III”

3:30-4 p.m. | Break

4-5 p.m. | Session Four

• Amy Semet
  • “Implications of Ebay on Patent Litigation 20 Years Later”
• David Olson
  • “Narrative Amplification in Drug Patent Scholarship”
• Jeremy Bock
  • “The Supreme Court of Patent Law”

5 p.m. | Adjourn

5:30-8 p.m. | Reception & Dinner - Banners Pub, Allen Fieldhouse
 

Saturday, April 11, 2026

8:30-9:10 a.m. | Check-in and Breakfast at Green Hall

9:10-10:30 a.m. | Session Five

• Andrew Morriss & Andrew W. Torrance
  • “Caribbean Patent Law”
• Jorge Contreras
  • “The Function of Director-Ordered Reexaminations in the Patent System”
• Jonas Anderson
  • “Reliving the Past: The Reemergence of the Eastern District of Texas”
• Andres Sawicki, Alice Guerra & Francesco Parisi 
  • “Rewarding Failure”

10:30-11 a.m. | Break

11 a.m. - 12 p.m. | Session Six

• Tim Hsieh
  • “The Five Paths of Allowance over 35 U.S.C. 101”
• Saurabh Vishnubhakat
  • “Managing Precedent without Consensus: A Federal Circuit Case Study”
• Michael Sinha, Alexandra Kerr & Kate Foppe
  • “Patenting Health AI Tools: Subject-Matter Eligibility, Disclosure, and Inventorship in AI-Enabled Health Tools”

12 p.m. | Boxed Lunch Available

Call for Papers

If you'd like to present a paper, please email an abstract of no more than 500 words to Andrew Torrance at torrance@ku.edu by February 28. This can be a work-in-progress or a recently published paper (within the last 12 months). Anyone, including academics in all fields, post-docs, students and independent researchers, may submit abstracts. To request a specific day/time slot, please indicate your preference when submitting your abstract.

Stipends

The University of Kansas School of Law is offering a limited number of $750 travel stipends for the purpose of presenting at PatCon 14, to be held on April 10-11, 2026. Availability will be restricted to those financially unable to attend and present without receiving the stipend. The members of the PatCon Executive Committee (David Schwartz, Ted Sichelman, David Olson and Andrew Torrance) will make the final decisions to award travel stipends. Request for travel stipends are due no later than March 6, 2026. Applicants will be notified by March 11, 2026.

To request a stipend, please complete the PatCon 14 registration form.

Accommodations

SpringHill Suites by Marriott Lawrence Downtown
One Riverfront Plaza, Lawrence, KS 66044 (map and directions)
To book a room, call 785-841-2700
Mention: Patent International Conference
Last day to book is March 11, 2026
Rate: $174 per night

TownePlace Suites by Marriott Lawrence Downtown
900 New Hampshire, Lawrence, KS 66044 (map and directions)
To book a room, contact Rebecca Wilcox at rebecca.w.wilcox@marriott.com
Mention: PatCon
Last day to book is March 9, 2026
Rate: April 9 - $159; April 10 and 11 - $299 per night

Eldridge Hotel
701 Massachusetts, Lawrence, KS  66044 (map and directions)
To book a room, call 785-749-5011
Mention: International Patent Conference
Last day to book is March 9, 2026
Rate: April 9 - $135; April 10 and 11 - $309-$339 per night

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