Law360, New York ( September 28, 2016, 6:36 PM EDT) -- Over the past seven years, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has made patent quality a major priority, launching initiatives and taking executive action to, among other things, reduce application pendency, enhance prior art search capabilities, bolster examiner training, increase clarity of the record, enhance transparency, and calibrate examiner incentives. With the goal of putting these efforts in context, Duke Law School's Center for Innovation Policy and Santa Clara Law School's High Tech Law Institute organized two patent quality conferences, inviting input from policymakers, academics and stakeholders. Discussion began Sept. 9 in Santa Clara, California, and will resume Dec. 13 at the USPTO in Alexandria, Virginia. From now until December, Law360 will share insights from conference participants, beginning here with Laura Sheridan, senior patent counsel at Google Inc....