Events

Maryland Tech Council's Use of Patents and Trade Secrets in the Era of Artificial Intelligence, Internet-of-Things and Blockchain Technologies (A Webinar) - Whiteford Speaking

While patents and trade secrets have long been used to protect various corporate innovations, strategies that combine their use can be a challenge. Knowing when to apply which for a given developmental effort can present even greater challenges for those on the cutting edge of artificial intelligence, Internet-of-Things (or “IoT”), and blockchain technologies. Challenges surrounding the patenting of software-implemented inventions have caused much distress in these fields, with innovators often turning to reliance on trade secrets – but such abandonment of patent protection is not always the best choice. Likewise, insisting that patent protection is necessary to obtain the next round of funding leads many early stage tech companies to jump to filing patent applications, only to discover that their invention is not patentable during the examination process – at the cost of having disclosed the invention and permanently lost any available trade secret protection! 

Greg Stone will discuss the fundamentals of patent and trade secret protection, and particularly how they differ with respect to these increasingly pervasive technologies, and provide practical guidance on how to develop and implement strategies that combine these intellectual property protections to maximize your competitive position in the marketplace.

For more information, please contact events@wtplaw.com.