64th Annual Conference On Intellectual Property Law
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Plano, Texas, USA
Registrar: +1.972.244.3404
ILT: +1.972.244.3437
E-Mail: ilt@cailaw.org
Overview
The ILT’s flagship conference, the annual IP law conference brings together intellectual property lawyers from around the United States for two days to discuss emerging issues in IP law, as well as providing a comprehensive review of developments in IP law over the year.
Conference Co-Chairs
Natalie LeVeck
Senior Counsel
Google
Addison, Texas
Megan LaDriere White
Baker Botts L.L.P.
Dallas, Texas
Module Chairs
- Niky R. Bagley, Toyota Motor North America, Inc.
- Tyler Boyce, King & Spalding LLP
- Josue Caballero, Samsung Electronics America
- Brad Y. Chin, Duane Morris LLP
- Matthew Chuning, ONEOK, Inc.
- Tara Clothier, EssilorLuxottica
- Kandace D. Walter, Walter Legal PLLC
- Vlada Wendel, Caldwell Cassady & Curry P.C.
Registration Rates
Early registration pricing is available through October 8, 2026.
- $695/$745 - Regular Registration Fee
- $0 - ILT Advisory Board Members (Advisory Board Members will be emailed a special registration link. Email ilt@cailaw.org with questions.)
- $545/$595 - ILT Supporting or Sustaining Member Employee
- $545/$595 – ILT Young Technology Professionals Committee Member
- $545$595 – Full-Time Government or Non-Profit Employee
- $250 - Full-time U.S. Law Professor
- $125 - Full-time U.S. Law Student
Schedule and Faculty
Thursday, November 5
7:45 AM Women in IP Breakfast — Transformative Technologies and Our Professional Responsibility
Join our presenters for a conversation on how transformative and advanced technologies are testing our legal system and the delivery of legal services. Drawing on themes from Not Built for You — a work of serial nonfiction about how the development of artificial intelligence has carried externalized costs — human lives and creative work converted into training material without consent, compensation, or obligation — and why our existing legal frameworks have failed to register those costs. Together, Kate and Sabrina will explore what these technologies demand of us as lawyers: our professional responsibility to our clients, the next generation, and the community.
- Kathryne (Kate) M. Morris, Carrington Coleman Sloman & Blumenthal, LLP; Author of Not Built for You: Artificial Intelligence, Concentrated Power and the Fight For What Money Cannot Buy, Dallas, TX
- Sabrina Thomas, CEO & CLO, Duke Motorsports, Inc.; Principal, Amos James Strategies LLC, Garland, TX
8:50 AM - Welcome
9:00 AM - Patent Law Developments 2026
New technologies and litigator strategies continue to generate law for both courts and the PTO. This year the Federal Circuit and Supreme Court have given new guidance on validity, standing, infringement, remedies, claim construction, ethics and patent office procedures.
- Lori Ding, Baker Botts L.L.P., Houston, TX
- Michael Hawes, Baker Botts L.L.P., Houston, TX
9:45 AM - Session TBA
10:30 AM - BREAK
10:45 AM - Trademark and Copyright Update
This session will recap some of the most interesting and consequential trademark and copyright decisions of the past year.
- David Diamond, Richard Law Group, Dallas, TX
11:15 AM - Keynote
- Kaleisha Stuart, Deputy General Counsel, Dallas Cowboys, Frisco, TX
12:00 PM - Luncheon
12:20 PM - Luncheon Presentation - TBA
1:20 PM - BREAK
DAY 1 AFTERNOON MODULE
Niky R. Bagley, Managing Counsel, Toyota Motor North America, Plano, TX
Kandace D. Walter, Walter Legal PLLC, Richardson, TX
Judges, examiners, PTAB panels, and opposing counsel often read on autopilot until something forces them to stop and think harder. This session explains the underlying research in cognitive science, then applies it to persuasive legal writing across IP practice, from patent prosecution and appeal briefs to litigation and post-grant filings. It then tackles a distinctly modern risk: while LLM hallucinations are well known, AI-injected fluency errors are not. Because AI-drafted language is fluent by design, its errors are especially difficult to catch under standard reading habits. The session closes on the professional responsibility stakes. Competence now includes understanding how these tools fail, and every signature on a filed paper certifies a reasonable inquiry — fluency is no defense. Attendees will leave with practical techniques for writing more persuasively and for building a review process that catches what fluency hides.
- Srini Chakravarthi, Ph.D., SlaterMatsil, LLP, Dallas, TX
2:15 PM - Gray Market Goods in the age of Kirtsaeng: First Sale, Material Differences, and Modern Enforcement Strategy
- Joshua Newcomer, McKool Smith PC, Houston, TX
3:00 PM - BREAK
3:15 PM - Design Patents are Having a Moment: Prosecution and Litigation after LKQ
Design patents are drawing new attention from prosecutors and litigators alike. This session examines the state of design patent practice since the en banc Federal Circuit overruled the Rosen-Durling test in LKQ v. GM, including how the Patent Office and the courts are applying the Graham factors to design claims. Panelists will examine how the shift is reshaping prosecution strategy, enforcement tools, and invalidity defenses in litigation.
- Patrick Colsher, Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg LLP, New York, NY
- Ariane Mann, Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing, Dallas, TX
4:00 PM - Intellectual Property Trivia
Presented by the Young Lawyers Committee of the Dallas Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Section
5:00 PM - RECESS
5:05 – 6:30 PM - Wind-Down & Connect Reception
Friday, November 6
PATENT PROSECUTION AND PATENT LITIGATION — CONCURRENT TRACKS
PATENT PROSECUTION MODULE
Brad Y. Chin, Duane Morris LLP, Washington, D.C.
Tara Clothier, Associate General Counsel – IP North America, EssilorLuxottica, Dallas, TX
8:45 AM - Global Patent Prosecution Strategies: European and Chinese Patent Practice & Law Updates
- Sameer Gokhale, Oblon, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, Alexandria, VA
- Ina Schreiber, Plasseraud IP, Paris, France
- Stephen Yang, IP March, Beijing, China
10:15 AM - BREAK
10:45 AM - PTAB and Post-Grant Proceedings Strategies
- Christopher “Kit” L. Crumbley, Bracewell LLP, Houston, TX
- Chris Tyson, Duane Morris LLP, Washington, D.C.
11:30 AM Navigating the USPTO Guidelines Regarding AI Usage
- Sujohn Das, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Houston, TX
- Thomas Wade Orsak, Ph.D., Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP, Austin, TX
PATENT LITIGATION MODULE
Josue Caballero, Senior Legal Counsel, Samsung Electronics America, Plano, TX
Vlada Wendel, Caldwell Cassady & Curry P.C., Dallas, TX
8:45 AM - When IPR Isn’t a Sure Thing: PTAB Discretionary Denials and the New Parallel-Forum Playbook
IPR Petitioners of late often find themselves unwelcome at the PTAB; not because validity challenges are weak, but because the current administration, as a policy, has chosen to bestow a measure of certainty on patents that have inspired commercial investment or gone unchallenged for a period of years. Opinions vary on the wisdom and effects of that policy, but this session will focus on ways to navigate its reality. Post-Grant Review (PGR) is still favored, the USPTO remains notably more receptive to Ex Parte Reexamination (EPR) requests, and Inter Partes Review (IPR) is sometimes still the most-powerful option. But the decision tree bears poisonous fruit, so this session will offer suggestions for navigating an uncertain landscape, whether as a petitioner or patent owner.
- Eagle Robinson, Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP, Austin, TX
9:30 AM - Managing Multi-Jurisdictional Litigation: In-House Perspective
- Sadaf Abdullah, Sr. Director of Licensing, InterDigital, Inc., Plano, TX
10:15 AM - BREAK
10:45 AM - AI in Patent Litigation: Tool, Evidence, or Liability?
Practical issues involving AI-assisted review, hallucinated citations, privilege, discovery, expert analysis, and preservation of evolving models.
- Ricardo Bonilla, Fish & Richardson P.C., Dallas, TX
11:30 AM - Venue on the Move: Transfer Practice in Texas Patent Litigation
The presenter will discuss trends in transfer decisions in the WDTX, as well as explain how different judges and courts apply transfer law differently in Texas.
- Peter Tong, Russ August & Kabat, Dallas, TX
DAY 2 AFTERNOON MODULE
Tyler Boyce, King & Spalding LLP, Houston, TX
Matthew Chuning, Senior Attorney, ONEOK, Inc., Tulsa, OK
12:15 PM - Networking Luncheon
1:00 PM - Title TBA
- Saurabh Vishnubhakat, Professor, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, New York, NY
1:45 PM - Director Squires Plays the Final Boss: Inside the Nintendo ‘Subcharacter’ Patent Reexamination
In November 2025, USPTO Director John Squires took the rare step of personally ordering an ex parte reexamination of Nintendo's newly granted "summon subcharacter" patent — the first director-initiated order of its kind in over a decade. This session digs into why Squires acted and how uncommon director-led reexaminations really are in practice. Using this Nintendo/Pokémon-adjacent dispute as a jumping-off point, we'll also survey broader trends in reexamination practice worth knowing for prosecution and post-grant strategy.
- Tom Cecil, Cecil Law PLLC, Dallas, TX
2:30 PM - New Technology, Same Concerns: The Intersection of AI, Ethics, and IP
This panel will discuss the overlap between AI usage, legal ethics rules, and IP matters. We will highlight recent court rulings addressing AI usage and the unique interactions with privilege and confidentiality. Further, the panel will discuss emerging trends in IP law that are being driven by AI.
- Ahtoosa Amini Dale, King & Spalding LLP, Dallas, TX
- Kyle Dockendorf, King & Spalding LLP, Dallas, TX
3:30 PM - ADJOURN
Overnight Accommodations
Numerous options are available near The Center for American and International Law (5201 Democracy Drive Plano, TX 75024). A partial list of potential hotels is included in the document. Rates show estimated price of accommodation Wednesday, November 4 – Friday, November 6 (standard king). Note that services and rates may have changed.
Sponsorship Opportunities
Platinum Sponsor – $4,250 (Limited Availability)
- Exclusive recognition as a sponsor of a premier event or session (e.g., Day 1 Lunch, Day 2 Lunch, Day 1 Breakfast, Day 2 Breakfast).
- Prominent signage at sponsored event/session.
- Top-tier placement of logo in the conference program, break slides, and on the conference website.
- Acknowledgment in e-marketing and social media campaigns.
- Benefits:
- 3 complimentary registrations.
- 1 exhibition table for promotional materials.
- Priority booth placement for exhibitors.
Gold Sponsor – $3,500
- General recognition as a gold sponsor.
- Prominent logo placement in the conference program, break slides, and on the website.
- Acknowledgment in e-marketing and social media campaigns.
- Benefits:
- 2 complimentary registrations.
- 1 exhibition table for promotional materials.
Silver Sponsor – $2,500
- General recognition as a conference sponsor.
- Logo displayed in the conference program, break slides, and on the website.
- Acknowledgment in e-marketing and social media campaigns.
- Benefits:
- 1 complimentary registration.
Exhibitor – $1,750 (Non-law Firms Only)
- Logo displayed in the conference program, break slides, and on the website.
- Acknowledgment in e-marketing and social media campaigns.
- Benefits:
- 1 complimentary registration.
- 1 exhibition table for promotional materials.
Early Bird Discount: A discount is available for sponsors who commit and pay for their sponsorship prior to July 1.
For more information about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Licia Maria Hogarth, Sponsorship Director, at 972.244.3424 or lhogarth@cailaw.org.
Custom sponsorship packages may be available if your organization has unique needs. If you’re interested in this option, please let us know.
Other Information
Photo/Audio/Video Release
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Press Policy
All ILT conferences are held under the Chatham House Rule. Participants, including journalists, are free to use any information received, but comments may not be attributed to any speaker or participant identified by name or affiliation.
Nondiscriminatory Policy
The Center for American and International Law does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other protected status in educational activities, scholarship programs or admissions.
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