Patents and Export Control Compliance: Managing Risk and Avoiding Unintentional Violations

Description

Running afoul of export control laws is surprisingly simple. If an American inventor in his Chicago lab hands data related to a patent application to a visiting Chinese scientist, this may be "deemed" an export. Likewise, distributing or outsourcing information by email, surface mail, or the cloud accessible outside the U.S. for patent application preparation purposes may be an export and regulated by U.S. law.

Many U.S. companies fail to realize that some commercial technologies are subject to the International Trafficking in Arms Regulations (ITAR) or the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) as defense or "dual-use" technologies. ITAR or EAR may govern sharing technical data and information in a patent application.

Violations of export control laws, even inadvertently, expose parties to potential stiff civil and criminal penalties and denial of export privileges. Counsel must understand the intersection between patent law and export control law to avoid any unintentional export violations.

Listen as our authoritative panel of patent and international trade attorneys provides an overview of export control laws and the challenges that patent owners face. The panel will discuss when and where export control issues arise, review licensing issues, and offer best practices for compliance with export control laws.