PatCon 2, the annual Patent Conference, will be held May 11-12 at Boston College Law School. The Conference will begin at 8:30 a.m. Friday, May 11th, and conclude around noon on Saturday, May 12th.

The Patent Conference, or Patent Con, is a cooperative effort between the University of Kansas School of Law, the Chicago-Kent College of Law, the University of San Diego School of Law, and Boston College Law School to hold an annual conference where patent scholars in law, economics, management science, and other disciplines can share their research.

In 2010, the founders of PatCon, (David Olson, Dave Schwartz, Ted Sichelman, and Andrew Torrance) realized that the growth and importance of research in the area of patents required an exclusive forum that would enable participants to share their research with other experts and explore links across the legal and business side of patents. The first PatCon was held April 8, 2011, at the University of Kansas. Link. PatCon II will be hosted by Boston College Law School on May 11-12, 2012. Future annual conferences will rotate among the member institutions.

PatCon II will take advantage of its location in Boston, a leading center of public and private research and development. The 2012 Conference will offer a special plenary panel featuring general counsel from leading Boston-area companies that engage in cutting-edge research and development. These attorneys will discuss recent patent law and business developments and their practical effects, with a special emphasis on the life sciences. A Federal Circuit judge, who will also give a keynote speech during lunch, will moderate this panel.