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.  We will again be utilizing a new enhanced Meeting App which we licensed 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 Chicago and conference related announcements afterwards.

Again this year, we will have 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.

This year, the Annual Conference will again combine the traditional Annual Conference with the Biotechnology Conference.  It begins with the Welcome Reception on Sunday, May 5th and the in-person plenary sessions at the Drake run from Monday through Thursday, May 6th through 9th with some workshops on both Tuesday, May 7th and  Wednesday, May 8th, and the Biotech Plenary Sessions on Thursday.  You’ll have many great opportunities to learn and connect throughout the conference.  Wednesday, May 22nd will be our Annual Business Meeting which will be held virtually and open to all PIUG Members.

The Program Page  has been posted with more details including a last minute optional in-person Event  tied to a final two week extension of the Early Bird Registration Deadline.

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 contact Sponsorship@PIUG.org to discuss the Sponsorship Opportunities.

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

Program Committee 

• Program Chair: Martha Yates, Greg Roland
• Members: Shelley Pavlek

Planning Committee

• Planning Co-Chairs:  Martha Yates & Ken Koubek
• Members:  Chris Baldwin, Kartar Arora, Monica Weiss-Nolen, Aditi Nagardeolekar
• Stu Kaback Business Impact Award Committee:  Kartar Arora (Chair), Chris Baldwin, Martha Yates, ShelleyPavlek
• Brian Stockdale Award Committee:  Dominic DeMarco (Chair), Andrea Davis, Ken Koubek,  Shelley Pavlek
• Evaluations:  Shelley Pavlek
• Gifts:  Ken Koubek
• Sponsorship & Exhibits:  Ken Koubek (Chair), Chris Baldwin,  Martha Yates
• Webpages:  Ken Koubek
• Workshops:  Monica Weiss-Nolen, Aditi Nagardeolekar