The USPTO recently announced that it along with the United States Chamber of Commerce will be presenting two free seminars outside of the Washington, DC, area regarding intellectual property counterfeiting and piracy. The first seminar will be held on Wednesday, June 13th in Raleigh, North Carolina, and the second will be held on Monday, June 18th in Detroit, Michigan. According to the USPTO, “[c]ounterfeiting and piracy cost the U.S. economy between $200 and $250 billion per year in lost sales, and that “It is responsible for the loss of 750,000 American jobs and poses a real threat to health and safety.” Speakers at the Raleigh conference include Jon Dudas, the Director of the USPTO and Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property & Director, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Rob Calia, the Senior Manager of the Global Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy Initiative at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Lynn Crutchfield, the President of The Brand Protection Alliance, and Brian Monks, the Vice President of Anti-Counterfeiting Operations for Underwriters Laboratories. Speakers at the Detroit conference include Dudas, U.S. Senator Carol Levin, Brian Moskowitz, the Special Agent in Charge for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Katie Wilson of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Registration information is available for each conference at their respective links below.

USPTO General Announcement: LINK (scroll to middle of page)
Raleigh, NC Conference Webpage: LINK
Raleigh, NC Conference Agenda (PDF): LINK
Detroit, MI Conference Webpage: LINK