Look for us next week at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, which is hosting its 14th Annual Independent Inventors Conference Nov. 5-6 at is campus in Alexandria, Va.uspto_seal

I’ll be meeting with new USPTO director David Kappos for an upcoming profile Thursday afternoon. I’ll have some free time before 3. Want to meet? Give me a tweet @inventorsdigest.

The two-day event will include breakout sessions by USPTO experts about patents, patent searching, claim drafting, trademarks, trademark searching, obviousness and tips for seasoned inventors.

Each day also will include general sessions with some dynamic presenters. Thursday morning’s presenters include Michael Lee, vice president of the Licensing Executive Society (USA/Canada), who will discuss commercializing intellectual property through licensing, and Thom Ruhe, director of Entrepreneurship for the Kauffman Foundation, who will discuss how the entrepreneurial spirit is transforming the global economy and rebuilding the future. Louis Foreman is creator of the Emmy Award winning PBS TV show Everyday Edisons and publisher of Inventors Digest, who will discuss how a great idea becomes something that generates a profit.

William Morris, III, trademark counsel for Under Armour Inc. will share some insight into the importance of the mark that defines your product. And successful inventor Don Skomsky, winner of the NASA’s Create the Future Competition, will be featured on Friday, Nov. 6, to share his experiences.