The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will host its first Trade Secret Symposium on Thursday, January 8, 2015, at USPTO Headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. The symposium will provide an opportunity for members of the public to hear from representatives of academia, government, legal practice and industry on important trade secret issues facing innovators today.

The panels will touch on a variety of topics, including legislative proposals regarding trade secret protection, the challenges to estimating losses due to trade secret theft, the intersection of patents and trade secrets, issues in civil litigation involving trade secrets, international considerations, and the response to trade secret theft in the U.S.  The schedule will allow time for questions from the audience.

The symposium will be held at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Madison Building, Madison Auditorium South, 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, Virginia  22314.  The symposium will begin at 9:00 a.m. and end at 3:00 p.m.  The agenda will be available a week before the symposium on the USPTO Web site, www.uspto.gov/.

Registration is available at www.uspto.gov/ip/init_events/trade_secret_symposium.jsp.  Attendees may also register at the door.  Attendance is free.

Further information about the symposium may be found in the Federal Register Notice.