Young Lawyers and Agents Committee Hosts Lunch & Learn Event on LEAP - July 22, 2025

On July 22, 2025, the PTAB Bar Association’s Young Lawyers and Agents Committee presented its first in-person event in the Lunch & Learn Series in Washington, DC. The program discussed the PTAB Legal Experience and Advancement Program (LEAP) and explored topics related to the panelists’ experiences with LEAP practitioners and the overall benefits of the program. The panelists also examined topics such as how to advocate for the opportunity to be a LEAP practitioner. The panelists included Acting Deputy Chief Judge Kalyan Deshpande, United States Patent and Trademark Office; Kristi Sawert, Fish & Richardson PC; Michael Milea, Groombridge, Wu, Baughman & Stone LLP; and Carlos Duarte-Guevara, Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP. The program was moderated by Rachel Wu Hankinson, Paul Hastings LLP.  Logged-in members of the PTAB Bar Association can access the slide deck from the presentation at the following members-only link: Young Lawyers & Agents Committee, Lunch & Learn Series, PTAB Legal Experience and Advancement Program (LEAP) (July 22, 2025).

About the PTAB Bar Association
The PTAB Bar Association is a voluntary bar association of over 700 members, most of whom are in private and corporate practice. Members represent a broad spectrum of individuals, companies, and institutions involved in practice before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (“USPTO”) and in patent, administrative, and appellate law more generally.  The Association is dedicated to helping secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive resolution of every PTAB proceeding, and serves as an avenue for constructive dialogue between the bar community, the PTAB, and other stakeholders.