Summary:
The panel of five distinguished scholars and practitioners will outline the current law on patent protection and any prevailing doctrine of equivalents in each of five different patent systems: United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and Canada, and will review the history and development of those laws. The panel will also consider attempts at harmonization of the doctrine of equivalents including WIPO’s basic proposal that a patent claim should be considered to cover not only all the elements as expressed in the claim but also their equivalents. Finally the panel will discuss the principles, policies and the concept, illusive or not, of an ideal doctrine of equivalents.
Moderator:
Mr. Ronald Dimock, Partner, Gowling WLG, Toronto, Canada
Panelists:
Ms. Megan Woodworth, Partner, Venable/Fitzpatrick, Washington, DC, USA
Sir Robin Jacob, Professor, UCL, London, UK
Mr. Laurent Massam, Partner, Gowling WLG, Toronto, Canada
Ms. Lea Tochtermann, Professor, University of Mannheim, Germany
Mr. Philip Kerr, Senior Patent Counsel, Quinn Emanuel, Sydney, Australia