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The following workshops are being offered in conjunction with the PIUG 2025 Annual Conference. You must register for each workshop you wish to attend. This can be done when registering for the conference itself or afterwards. Virtual registrants will need the Meeting App as well, which will be available next month in order to attend the workshops. The app will only be accessible to conference registrants. Therefore, the workshops listed below are for conference registrants only. The workshop schedule will change as more information is provided by hosts and more workshops are requested. You can register for all workshops at one time by using the following link LINK. The PIUG Course in the Edison D will be streamed live as well as being recorded for later viewing. The PIUG Course listed is for anyone and is not restricted to conference registrants so the App is not necessary to attend it. Sunday, May 4 - PIUG Course
Monday, May 6
Tuesday, May 6
Wednesday, May 7 - Workshop Day
Workshop Abstracts and Biographies PIUG Course - Essential Techniques for Finding Freedom-to-Operate (FTO) John Zabilski, Chair of the PIUG Education Committee Abstract It’s known by several names including Freedom to Practice or a clearance search. Without Freedom to Operate you may not be able to make, use or sell your invention. An FTO search looks for in-force patents in a geographic area of interest to avoid potential infringement. Discover what is required to complete a comprehensive search and identify what is still legally protected to better inform business decisions. This course provides understanding of the fundamental concepts of FTO, identifies essential resources for finding FTO and includes search examples demonstrating suggested approaches for FTO searches. Also learn how to utilize freely accessible resources to determine what is legally in-force such as INPADOC and national patent office registers as well as vendor-based alternatives. Whether you are new to performing FTO searches or more experienced, this course provides focused techniques that save your time and make you more effective in achieving accurate results. Available live in-person/virtually online or access on-demand afterwards! Biography Previously John held several positions for over 40 years at Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), a division of the American Chemical Society (ACS, including indexing (database building), development (database creation), training and consulting on how to search for patent information. John has provided onsite and online training in the agrochemical, biotech, chemical, pharma and polymer areas for many organizations including 3M, AbbVie, Corteva, Dow, Eli Lilly, Lubrizol, P&G, Pfizer and multiple universities. Some of his personal milestones include training at 10 patent offices around the world, contributing to presentations for the WIPO Technology Innovation Support Centers (TISC), and presenting at AALL, ACS, PIUG, SLA and world online meetings including the China Patent Annual Conference in Beijing. John is a Registered U.S. Patent Agent and a Qualified Patent Information Professional (QPIP). From Raw PDFs to Actionable Intelligence: How AI Transforms Patent Data Edward Vineall, Account Director, Patsnap Abstract Patent documents are rich in insights but often trapped in raw, unstructured formats. In this hands-on workshop, we’ll walk through the AI-driven transformation of a patent—from OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to NER (Named Entity Recognition) and beyond. Discover how Patsnap’s proprietary technology extracts and refines patent data more effectively than traditional systems like the USPTO. Learn how superior digitization enhances searchability, analytics, and decision-making, empowering IP and R&D professionals to act faster with better data. Biography Ed Vineall is an Account Director at Patsnap with over seven years of experience in IP and four years specializing in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. He partners with IP teams to ensure Patsnap’s solutions seamlessly integrate into their workflows and meet complex analysis requirements. Ed has played a key role in shaping Patsnap’s product development, collaborating closely with the product team to design and manage new capabilities that drive value for clients. His expertise lies in small and large molecule IP, helping develop functionalities tailored to the unique challenges of these technologies. Throughout his career, Ed has successfully managed teams and worked within customer success, leading multiple on-site engagements with some of the world’s largest companies. His ability to build lasting client relationships and translate industry needs into product innovation has made him a trusted partner in the biotech and pharma IP space. Mastering Patent Research: Advanced Search Strategies and Practical Tips for Optimal Results Andrew Klein, Principal Solution Consultant, Minesoft Abstract In today’s rapidly evolving IP industry, leveraging patent analytics and competitive intelligence is essential for making informed strategic decisions. This session will explore how AI tools, custom workflows, and integrated data sources can enhance search and analysis, making them more efficient and targeted. Discover tips and tricks to refine your focus using data and unique workflow solutions, to streamline your research processes and uncover critical insights while minimizing unnecessary complexity. Biography As Principal Solution Consultant at Minesoft, Andrew helps corporations and law firms use patent information and analysis to meet their IP goals, innovate faster, and save time and money in the process. He leverages his experience and expertise as a former librarian and patent searcher to help streamline workflows, discuss best practices, and simplify complicated tasks related to prior art, FTO/clearance, company portfolios, due diligence, technology landscaping, competitive intelligence, business development, litigation support, and more. He looks forward to speaking with you about how Minesoft products and services can solve your patent data problems. New Capabilities from CAS Darryl French, Customer Success Specialist, CAS Abstract Learn the latest news about CAS STNext® and CAS SciFinder®. CAS has been busy introducing new content and functionalities on new and existing platforms. We will discuss enhancements to STN, SciFinder, the new BioFinder platform, and preview exciting semantic and AI searching capabilities. Gain insight into new product features, content, and what you can expect from CAS in the coming year. Biography Darryl French has been a proud member of PIUG for over three years. After graduate school in chemistry, he worked as a document analyst and structure editor at CAS with a focus on polymeric materials. After a tenure at CAS of four years, he transitioned to working as a STIC searcher at the USPTO in the electrical engineering and chemical arts areas. Once again after four years, Darryl rejoined CAS as a Customer Success Specialist. For the last several years he has trained in such CAS tools as the CAS SciFinder Discovery Platform and CAS STNext. Return to TopBuilding integrated IP Reports and Visualizations John Willmore, VP, Product Development, BizInt Solutions, Inc. Abstract A look at the benefits and challenges of different techniques for integrating IP search results into reports and visualizations. This workshop will look at unique content from different IP databases, and explore how to leverage this content with the BizInt Smart Data Integrator. Biography John Willmore is Vice President, Product Development, for BizInt Solutions, Inc. and manages the development of all aspects of the BizInt Solutions product line. John has over 30 years of experience in processing, analyzing and integrating patent and drug pipeline information, and has worked closely with patent and drug pipeline publishers over that period. He was the head of the TRW Smart Charts team at TRW, Inc. and along with Diane Webb, founded BizInt Solutions in 1996. John spends his free time doing woodworking, playing amateur ice hockey, and competing with the dogs. He is an American Kennel Club judge for earthdog, dachshund field trials, and agility. AI That Knows IP: How Human-Authored Patent Summaries Unlock the Power of AI for Patent Specific Use Cases Matt Weber, Mark Bauer, and Laura Bantle, Clarivate Abstract Join the Clarivate product team for an insightful workshop on applying new AI solutions to patent-specific use cases. Find out how new AI solutions can improve productivity without sacrificing quality for prior art searching, portfolio benchmarking, threat detection and chemistry research. Learn how new Clarivate AI tools are trained, and how human-authored patent summaries improve the speed and precision of new AI solutions. We'll also share an update on Derwent Chemistry solutions and the Derwent Chemical Patents Index. Biographies Matt Weber has served as the Director of Product Management for Search and Watch at Clarivate since 2023. His primary focus is on developing tailored solutions for expert patent searchers, including Derwent Innovation and SequenceBase. Prior to joining Clarivate, Matt worked at Elsevier, where he helped highly innovative companies digitally transform their R&D processes using machine-readable research information. He champions customer-centric product development and is dedicated to creating solutions that address the unique challenges faced by clients. Mark Bauer is a principal consultant for Clarivate’s Patent Intelligence team. His role is to help clients realize their vision for an efficient and effective patent research and analysis solution. Mark helps clients make the best use of Clarivate patent offerings to help support IP workflows. As a former bench chemist, Mark has a been instrumental in guiding product teams to find the right fit for R&D consumers. In recent years this includes helping to develop Clarivate’s chemistry research platform. With over 30 years of customer facing experience Mark has met with thousands of patent researchers. His depth of experience with customer workflows has proven invaluable in answering the challenging questions facing scientific discovery and innovation professionals. Laura is the Principal Solution Consultant for the Derwent business at Clarivate. Laura is a registered US patent attorney and a member of the Minnesota Bar, with over 10 years of experience in IP due diligence, patent and legal research, litigation strategy, and contract drafting. Her primary goal is working with customers to successfully develop and implement their patent research, analytics, and portfolio strategy. Laura earned her B.S. from the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota, and graduated magna cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Cybaris® Intellectual Property Law Review. Prior to joining Clarivate Analytics, Laura gained corporate industry experience in pharmaceutical regulatory compliance, patent licensing, and M&A due diligence. 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