The annual Utah IP Summit was held in downtown Salt Lake City yesterday. Congratuations to Sam Straight, chair of the Utah State Bar Intellectual Property Section and the rest of the committee on a job well done.

Speakers included: Judge Randall Rader, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, John Love, Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Judges Dee Benson and Dale Kimball of our local federal Court, and several local and out of state attorneys.

Some interesting hightlights:

- The Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has nearly 800,000 pending patent applications waiting to be examined.

- In 2006, the PTO completed examination on 332,000 application. The average time from filing to first examination is a little over two years. (In the late 1980s, the goal was completed examination in 18 months).
 
- In 2006, 54% of cases were allowed - the lowest percentage on record.

Anyone who has significant IP responsibilities should consider attending next year. Likewise, any out of state attorneys who need CLE and a mental health brake (9 ski resorts within a 1 hr. drive) should be here next February.