2026 AI Patent Symposium Agenda
Presented by NCPP and NAPP · All times Eastern
CLE Session 1 · Governance
2 hours CLE* (1 hour general, 1 hour ethics)
The Rules of the Road for AI and Patent Practice
Patent professionals are already confronting questions about confidentiality, privilege, accuracy, disclosure, client communication, supervision, and professional responsibility. This session focuses on the governance decisions that affect AI-assisted patent preparation and prosecution.
Timothy Snowden, CPP, CLP+
Confirmed
AI Issues: Present Pressures and Future Possibilities
This panel will explore how AI is changing the work and expectations of the patent profession, including how firms and organizations can train new personnel to use AI effectively and responsibly. Panelists will also discuss legal ethics questions practitioners are facing today and those likely to arise as AI becomes more integrated into patent practice.
Governing the Patent Workflow: AI from Intake to Prosecution
Joycelyn Brown+
Joycelyn Brown will approach this topic from a legal ethics perspective, addressing permitted AI use cases, human review, confidentiality protections, documentation, output validation, and responsibility for final patent work product.
Insurance
TBD
This topic is expected to approach insurance-related issues from a legal ethics perspective, including client confidentiality and privilege, tool selection, anonymization, use limits, data retention, vendor access, inaccurate outputs, and practical safeguards for AI-assisted patent work.
The Human Judgment Requirement: Ethics in an AI-Assisted Practice
Kimberly Kelleher, USPTO Office of Enrollment and Discipline+
Kimberly Kelleher will approach this topic from a legal ethics perspective in light of recent USPTO Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) disciplinary cases involving AI. The discussion will address competence, supervision, diligence, candor, confidentiality, client disclosure, vendor oversight, and independent professional judgment.
CLE Session 2 · Operations
2 hours CLE*
From AI Experimentation to Repeatable Legal Workflows
The challenge is deciding which work should be automated, how people should use the tool, how outputs should be reviewed, and how AI can improve patent operations without creating rework or new risk.
Keynote on AI Operations
Ann McCrackin, AI-Enabled Attorney & Adjunct Professor, UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law
This keynote will examine how AI is changing patent preparation, prosecution, legal-service delivery, staffing, training, workflow design, and the economics of professional work.
AI Tools
Tammy Pennington+
This topic currently plans to address process mapping, task selection, review points, exception handling, documentation, and the difference between AI-assisted work and unsupervised output.
Deploying Workflows in Operations
Ian Schick, Ph.D., Esq.+
This topic currently plans to address international AI and intellectual-property developments and their practical relevance to patent preparation, prosecution, disclosure, and global strategy.
Making It Work in a Firm: From Pilot Program to Practice
Lestin Kenton, Sterne Kessler+
This topic currently plans to address stakeholder alignment, training, adoption, practice-group differences, client expectations, governance ownership, and scaling AI without compromising quality.
CLE Session 3 · AI in the Wild
2 hours CLE* (includes technology credit)
Sponsored by IPRally
The Real World of Patent Practice
AI adoption looks different in every patent practice. This session uses four panels to compare large law, small law, in-house, and technology-tool perspectives.
Large Law: Scaling AI Without Losing Control
Kean DeCarlo, Womble Bond Dickinson+
Jessica Schulze, Harrity & Harrity
Phil Harris, Holland & Hart
Large firms must implement AI across practices, offices, attorneys, staff, workflows, and clients. This panel will address adoption, training, workflow consistency, quality control, security, and client expectations.
Small Law: Doing More Without Adding More
Ted Wood, Wood IP Law+
Yau Chan, YHC IP, founding member, Synchrony IP+
Lisa Schreihart, BSEE, MSEE, MBA, J.D., CPP+
Small firms and solo practitioners need AI solutions that fit limited time, staffing, budgets, and infrastructure. This panel will address practical adoption, tool selection, confidentiality, supervision, quality control, client communication, and incremental implementation.
In-House: AI Under Business Pressure
Adam College, Lenovo+
Braxton Davis, Meta+
Richard Bragg, EE, MS, JD+
Patrick Evans, Microsoft Corporation+
In-house teams must connect AI adoption to business priorities while managing data governance, internal policies, risk tolerance, security, outside counsel, and accountability.
Technology Tools: AI in Patent Practice: Tools That Do the Work
Technology-provider panelists — to be announced
This panel will examine how AI tools are used in patent drafting, prosecution, prior-art analysis, claim review, portfolio work, and client service. The discussion will emphasize actual patent-practice use cases, demonstrations or representative matters, failure modes, output verification, and practical criteria for choosing tools that fit a specific practice.
* MCLE credit is being requested and is subject to approval by the applicable state CLE authority. This Symposium is expected to qualify for 6 hours of MCLE credit. NACLE will try to accommodate requests for CLE credit in your state. Attorneys may be eligible to receive CLE credit through reciprocity or attorney self-submission in other states. For more specific information about CLE accreditation please contact sdornbush@nacle.com.
Featured Sponsors
Featured Sponsor: Minesoft
We deeply appreciate the sponsors of the 2026 AI Patent Symposium! Visit their websites to explore how they can help in AI-amplified patent practice.
MinesoftMinesoft helps IP and R&D teams find, analyze, monitor, and collaborate around patent information.
Track Sponsors
Minesoft · Featured Sponsor
Minesoft is a patent intelligence company founded in 1996. Its platform brings together patent search, analytics, monitoring, collaboration, and due-diligence tools for IP and R&D teams. Minesoft describes its approach as combining high-quality patent data, intuitive workflows, and AI-assisted analysis to help users find relevant information, uncover insights, and make better-informed decisions.
IPRally · Practice Track Sponsor
IPRally builds AI-powered patent search, intelligence, and drafting tools for IP professionals. Its patent-specific technology helps practitioners find and understand relevant patent information, review evidence, explore portfolios and technology landscapes, and support protection workflows. IPRally emphasizes evidence-linked results, human control, and professional judgment. As Practice Track Sponsor, IPRally is proud to support practical discussion of which AI outputs to trust, where AI fits in patent workflows, and where professional judgment remains essential.
Supporting Sponsors
Return to the symposium overview.
Timothy Snowden, CPP, CLP
Timothy Snowden is a registered patent practitioner, patent strategist and the founder of Definitive Patents, an independent patent prosecution agency and patent portfolio development consultancy, and also co-founder of Synchrony IP, a network of independent professionals serving IP-focused high-growth companies. With more than 15 years of experience in IP spanning patent preparation, prosecution, appeals, licensing, and portfolio strategy, he fills the role of a fractional Chief IP Officer, helping companies turn innovation into commercially focused patent assets. His work spans medical, agricultural, mechanical, electrical, software, energy, and consumer technologies. Timothy graduated magna cum laude from Texas A&M University in Biomedical Engineering, with a minor in mathematics, and conducted published honors research on cardiovascular regeneration mechanics. He is a Certified Patent Practitioner, a Certified Licensing Professional, and a member of the National Association of Patent Practitioners. He also volunteers with the National Council on Patent Practicum, including work supporting standardized qualification and expanding opportunities for patent practitioners. As a Christian, Timothy views innovation and entrepreneurship as part of humanity’s responsibility to steward God’s creation. His mission is to glorify God by helping entrepreneurs develop, protect, and responsibly commercialize their innovations.
Dan Smith, CPP
Dan Smith is the Patent and Licensing Strategist and Innovation Coach at Lenovo and Motorola Mobility, where he works on patent licensing, broader IP strategy, and Innovation Training. He previously managed his own private practice, The Patent Smith, where he focused on standard essential patents (SEPs), was the Special Attorney General for the State of Colorado managing the State’s patent portfolio, and was the Director of Patents and Innovation Coach at CableLabs. Dan has experience connecting technology development with patent protection and commercialization. As President of the National Association of Patent Practitioners, Dan also works on issues affecting the patent practitioner community. Dan is also a named inventor on over 20 patents covering satellite, optical, and wireless communications. He brings an inventor, law firm, government, in-house, and professional-association perspective to the opportunities and challenges AI presents for patent legal practice.<
Ann McCrackin, AI-Enabled Attorney & Adjunct Professor, UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law
Speaker profile details coming soon.
Ian Schick, Ph.D., Esq.
Ian Schick is a patent practitioner and physicist who has spent the last decade building the technology that drafts patent applications. He founded Specifio in 2017 — the legal field’s first automated content generator — and in 2023 co-founded Paximal, where he serves as CEO. He previously spent about ten years in patent preparation and prosecution, primarily at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. He is a Stanford CodeX Fellow, a member of AIPLA’s AI Task Force, and a top-ten most-read guest author at Law360, and holds a Ph.D. from the Colorado School of Mines and a J.D. from the University of San Diego.
Richard Bragg, EE, MS, JD
Richard Bragg is General Counsel at Banner Engineering Corp, a global industrial automation company, where he guides legal and intellectual property strategy and advises on AI-related matters as needed across the company’s operations. He works across engineering, legal, and business teams to protect innovation and support its commercialization. Earlier in his career, Richard developed imaging systems and electronic medical devices at 3M. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Minnesota Intellectual Property Law Association and holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering Technology from Purdue University, an M.S. in Technology Management from the University of St. Thomas, and a J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law.<
Patrick Evans, Microsoft Corporation
Assistant General Counsel, Intellectual Property Group, Microsoft Corporation
Patrick Evans is Assistant General Patent Counsel at Microsoft, providing legal guidance and support to in-house clients with a focus on Artificial Intelligence. Patrick is patent portfolio manager for the Microsoft Research AI and Machine Learning division, and has experience in acquisitions, joint developments, licensing, IP conflicts and risk mitigation, as well as AI tools design and architecture. Patrick has a Juris Doctor from Seattle University, a Masters in Computer Science and Engineering from the Paul Allen School at University of Washington, and an undergraduate in Computer Science from the Lassonde School of Engineering at York University, Canada.