Overview

The conference will feature world-renowned experts on patent information for technology research and planning, for legal organizations, for patent offices and for overall corporate IP management (technology licensing and related activities). The conference will include many opportunities for discussion and part of the activities on the Tuesday of the conference will be dedicated to visiting the exhibit hall to learn about the new patent information tools and developments within the industry. Many professionally enriching workshops will also be held in conjunction with this conference (before, during and after the technical sessions).

Attendees typically have a professional, scientific, economic or technical interest in patents and represent a multitude of organizations including corporations, universities, government agencies, non-government organizations and non-profit organizations. Previous conferences from 2015 - 2019 were held in Alexandria, VA, Atlanta, Georgia; Vancouver, Washington; and Lombard, Illinois. Each drew around two hundred attendees from all over the world including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Netherlands, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States. In 2020 and 2021, the conferences had to be held as totally virtual due to the impact of COVID-19. Those conferences again had participants from all over with attendance numbering around 200 each.

Join us for a truly great conference to meet others with a professional interest in patent information within a block of the USPTO.  We will be utilizing a new enhanced Meeting App which we purchased from Socio Labs, Inc., The company and its platform was acquired by WebEx and is now known as Webex Events.  Instructions for downloading will be found on a separate Meeting App page when available along with instructions for building your personal schedule and helpful tips. The app itself also contains instructional pages within its design. The app will be used for sending push notifications during the conference in order to keep the schedule current and notify you of important announcements from PIUG while in Alexandria and conference related announcements afterwards.

This year we will have a slightly different format.  There will be some speakers but there will also be some unconference sessions.  Participants will vote on unconference sessions that they would like to participate in and then break into small group sessions.  We are trying to facilitate as much interaction as possible.

The in-person plenary sessions at the Westin Alexandria run from Monday, May 1 to Wednesday, May 3, but you’ll have many great opportunities to learn and connect throughout the conference.  Wednesday, May 17th will be our Annual Business Meeting which will be open to all registrants and PIUG Members.

Sponsorship Opportunities

PIUG welcomes new and returning sponsors to join us for networking and showcasing your products or services to our international audience of patent information users. Please see the summary of Sponsorship Opportunities.

PIUG gratefully acknowledges the generous support of all our sponsors and exhibitors.

Program Committee

Program Chair –Martha Yates
Members – Devin Salmon, Barbara Miller and Yateen Pargaonkar

Planning Committee

Planning Co-Chairs:  Martha Yates & Ken Koubek
Members:  Chris Baldwin, Ron Kaminecki, Kartar Arora, Jane Thompson
Stu Kaback Business Impact Award Committee:  Kartar Arora (Chair), Chris Baldwin, Martha Yates

Brian Stockdale Award Committee:  Dominic DeMarco (Chair), Ken Koubek

Evaluations:  Shelley Pavlek
Gifts:  Ken Koubek
Meeting Book:  Diane Webb
Sponsorship & Exhibits:  Jane Thompson (Chair) & Ken Koubek
Webpages:  Rick Williams
Workshops:  Martha Yates